Originally Posted by
Wilko Pali Sedef
I agree with G_G that these updated rules are disappointing...
I'm sorry that you feel that way
Wilko Pali Sedef. The rules are in place for several reasons. Here is my own view on them. One: they attempt to ensure that Flyertalk remains a community, with users encouraged and rewarded for contributing directly. There are many TR writers on here that do just that and are very popular as a result. It would be unfair to allow blog writers to simply 'post and run' and expect the same level of engagement. What value are they adding to the community by doing so? Two: the rules attempt to protect the users from posters that wish to abuse the community by using FT as an advertising platform and gaining clicks (and in some cases revenue) as a result. It takes no effort to visit multiple websites and drop in a link and then disappear. That practice is also against the community spirit. It's all take and no give.
I do however recognise the argument from people that just want to read good reports, no matter where they are posted. Responding to that I would argue that FT is very much about the community spirit and isn't simply a place to dump links. FT is about the discussion that takes place between members, it's not
just somewhere to pick up information or guide you to other parts of the Internet. Those that contribute need to feel valued and by supporting people who simply post a link to their site it would be doing a disservice to those that spend hours and hours of their own time putting reports together for you to enjoy here on Flyertalk.
Originally Posted by
Wilko Pali Sedef
VNAFlyer made a very good point that copying and pasting BBC code is very time consuming but not only that, once you hit your bandwidth on photobucket or wherever else, then your report is basically useless...
I write my trip reports in MS Word. I know what the code is and have a standard template now. Yes, it took some initial set up but now I can write TRs fairly easily. FT isn't a blogging site, it's not designed for it and doesn't have the same features and functionality that those sites offer. This hasn't gone unnoticed. Perhaps there would be some benefit in myself and other regular contributors putting a guide together covering the technical aspects of developing a trip report. What do you think?
Originally Posted by
Wilko Pali Sedef
...if some of us are regular contributors to other blogs where we have unlimited bandwidth I don't see why we couldn't post some of the pics here and then link to the blog. I agree of course that the content posted here should be substantial.... Anyways just my opinion.
Yes, you can do that and the rules allow for it so long as your post adds value to the community and stands alone in it's own right, those are the two main tests. Several regular contributors do just this by the way.
I hope that this was helpful.
matthandy
Moderator: Trip Reports