[wp-forums] Two profiles, one member?

[Christopher J. Hradil]

Lara @ Anubis posted :

"I know I'm not the only person on these forums who has a business.
Especially one that relates to web design, blog design, etc.
But I've been asked to take my business address out of my profile, and I
did.
I was asked not to speak up so heavily about SEO issues, and well, I try
(some things just can't bear to continue without correction, and yes, some
people do ask about SEO with WP - so I try to be helpful and answer. However
NEVER have I suggested someone contact me for more help, or anything like
that.)

I can't help but raise the "this is unfair" flag when people like this get
to skirt around the rules when the rest of us follow them.

While I understand that the WP community shouldn't be shunning people who do
give real help, this person in particular (IMHO) needs to be told that "we"
know who he is, that he's STILL breaking rules even under a new name, and
that he needs to stop "or else" (whatever the mods feel "or else" should
be).

"Gaming the forums"? This guy is it, we knew it before, we know it know, and
if he's left to go on like this, he's won a battle, on a side that some of
us are too sensible and considerate to try fighting, and which while
difficult to fight against, should still be done.

Fair is fair.
This guy's not."
 

I think that some of the recent notes about this particular situation raise
a bigger issue. I'm reasonably new to the wordpress "community", although I
have been using wordpress and a number of other open source packages for a
number of years for many many paying clients. I don't expect the wordpress
forums or community to be the place to drum up business, and as we've seen
with this one individual he might well be an extreme example of "breaking
rules". 

Now, granted, many of you don't really know me that well if at all at this
point, but I have a "personal style" in terms of the way I do things, and
that's just how it is. My personal website addy will stay in my profile,
I'll offer help via email, I'll offer to do what I can (and have time to) to
help folks out. Now technically according to the "rules" which I read before
ever signing up or making any posts, here are a few examples of my own
"violations":


here's one, I'm going to install WP, Xoops and mediawiki for the guy this
afternoon, it should take about a half an hour, he'll be happy and hopefully
pass on the word about the software he's using or help someone else down the
line. 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/73225?replies=3

another - he emailed the files, was missing a couple of ;'s in his css file,
problem solved. 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/73242?replies=5

another - ran his css through topStyle pro and linked the report - 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/73183?replies=5

another - ditto above 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/73123?replies=8

another - added third column to his theme, and posted a sample with original
theme - 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/72790?replies=14
http://www.hradil.us/sandbox/wp/



My point is, there's a gray area, and while it's true the support forums
aren't the place for folks like we've discussed today,expecting that folks
don't use resources like personal servers and email to help others out seems
a bit ridiculous, when the real issue is controlling the spammers/scammers,
etc. I for one will either continue doing things the way I do them, or I'll
spend my time supporting a project where I can make a real contribution,
without worrying about every link I post. 

Food for thought - I know that there's a "pro" mailing list, and the purpose
of that list is to support those seeking "professional" help. I also know
that the "average" user needing "professional" support isn't going to
subscribe to a mailing list to go looking for it. What's really needed is a
"professional" support forum where folks can seek "paid" or "professional
support", and those qualified and willing to provide such services can
interact with one another independantly of the "self help" support forums.
Now that would be a whole can of worms all on it's own, since, who's
qualified ? who's not ?, and you'd still end up with the same type of
spammer/abuser we've seen today. Or at the very least, a page/list on one of
the WP sites with a list of "professional service providers" with links and
contact information to those willing to provide services, again difficult,
because someone needs to decide who's "worthy" of being listed. But at least
one of these ideas would provide someone like Lara, myself, or whomever else
is interested with a means to be contacted for professional services. While
I don't know all of the circumstances, it seems on the surface obsurd to me
that anyone suggest Lara or anyone else for that matter "remove" a specific
address from their profile, never mind asking someone who could actually
know something about a topic not to talk about it. It just doesn't make
sense. 


/**************************************
Christopher J. Hradil
chradil at comcast.net
http://www.hradil.us/t
**************************************/