Now that the big batch of shady, hidden SEO links have mostly been removed, you should probably add some kind of disclosure about the hidden link back to your service that will automatically be on every Drupal site that uses your module. I'm sure most users won't mind or care about one hidden link too much, but that information should still be made available so that users can make their own descision about the hidden link and if they want to remove it. Something along the lines of "listen, you can use this for free, but by default, we add some links to your pages. you can disable them by editing the code..." seems reasonable.

Comments

boris mann’s picture

boris mann commented

Just to be clear, I actually think you should include *visible* links in various places. For instance, Dave maintains a number of modules and has some donate and other links in admin areas and so on. This is perfectly acceptable -- there are many different ways to promote your company and desires.

I always liked what the Gallery project did -- when an admin user was logged in, they would see a big "donate" button in various places.

So, I would encourage you to not have any hidden links.

Also: rather than a blanket "Kaltura" login here, it's best practice to just have the actual person have a real account name, then we know who we're talking to.

Welcome, and looking forward to more great innovation around video.

lishkee’s picture

lishkee commented

Thanks for the comments and feedback. I'm Lisa from Kaltura, and Gonen is the core developer of our module. Looking forward to getting more involved in the community.

kirkcaraway’s picture

kirkcaraway commented

While I can't condone slipping hidden links into a module, I reported the first issue on this module, and it's been a real pleasure working with Gonen to resolve it. He's been very responsive and helpful. Welcome to the community, and thanks for the helpful module.

lishkee’s picture

lishkee commented

Due to some additional internal discussions and feedback from within the community, we have updated the module to allow an opt-out option regarding the links discussed above. Specifically, site-owners will be able to opt-out and remove the links from within the module settings (without having to change any code, as was the case before).

We have left two links that are geared towards promoting the open source video movement and Kaltura's efforts in this area - including the Kaltura Directory of content, the world's largest repository of legally remixable content, which is in the making. Seeing as the links are highly relevant and do not harm any of our publishers or Kaltura itself, we hope that the majority of the community will join us in this effort and leave the links in.

Additional feedback is welcome, of course!

Lisa
Kaltura

boris mann’s picture

boris mann commented
Status: Active » Fixed

Lisa, I see you've updated your user account. That's great -- it's been excellent to see you guys respond so well to feedback. It's been constructive and you've been a pleasure to deal with.

I'll refrain from further feedback until I install the module myself and experiment. Let's consider this issue closed for now, and we'll open a new one with any further feedback -- e.g., I really don't think you should have ANY hidden links -- make them visible and public and opt out via a config setting. As I said, more specific feedback once I install it myself. Cheers!

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for two weeks with no activity.