[wp-forums] Hack Repair Guy?

Wed Jan 30 03:45:34 UTC 2013

It makes more sense, the one post is much better than the other. But I see now that's he bozoed (not boozed, but maybe after all) again.

I just worry about opening the door just a crack to people slyly advertising, scoring work, word gets around, and then they'll be all kinds of hacks helping out just for a little cred. And so much of that time the "drive by" help isn't accrurate help at all.

-- mark

On Jan 25, 2013, at 12:22 PM, Mika A Epstein wrote:

> It's not a change, it's semantics, and I get that it's confusing.
> 
> There is a HUGE difference between a post that is entirely "You've been hacked, hire me." and "You've been hacked, here's how to fix it. By the way, I'm for hire."
> 
> The former is soliciting, the later is ... less so.
> 
> These posts are fine:
> 
> http://wordpress.org/support/topic/my-site-is-hacked-4?replies=3#post-3773170
> http://wordpress.org/support/topic/my-site-hacked-3?replies=3#post-3765990
> 
> And so on. THOSE are the ones I looked at, and I find no problem with them. He's helping, mentioning in passing he has clients, and that's... Clever :) He's giving back to the community and showing he's for hire.
> 
> I don't know if that makes sense... The phone number in the profile is silly, though.

>> Mark Ratledge <mailto:mark at markratledge.com>
>> January 25, 2013 11:08 AM
>>> If someone says "I'm hacked, halp!" and he replies "I'm for hire, here." that's ... not really a bad thing. I mean if that's his ONLY reply, then it's a small issue.
>> 
>> This seems to be a policy change from before; I thought we were always removing work solicitations and contact info in threads. And adding a link to jobs.wordpress.net, when someone asked about who to hire.
>> 
>> If people learn that they can use the forums to find work, the forums will be hammered by people posting just to find work. And fighting over customers and amongst themselves in the threads.
>> 
>> I originally emailed the list because was wondering about his phone number in his profile, as I hadn't see anyone advertising like that in the past. (I haven't deleted any of his posts.)
>> 
>> I don't see him as very helpful. He comes in afterward and adds some platitudes and general advice that duplicates what has been already posted. Other people - non-mods, too - have been much more helpful.
>> 
>> I think the text in http://codex.wordpress.org/Forum_Welcome#Offering_to_Pay needs to be more clear:
>> 
>> "If you post asking for paid help and you have posted some contact information, your thread will not be deleted but it will be closed. If you have not posted contact information, we may ask you to add it."
>> 
>> **Ask the user to add contact info?**
>> 
>> and
>> 
>> "Any thread that offers any service for money can be closed at any time. We are not against paid services but these forums are not the right place for them."
>> 
>> Close the thread? Or delete the contact info?
>> 
>> -- Mark
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Jan 25, 2013, at 11:28 AM, Mika A Epstein wrote:
>> 
>>> I removed his advertising.
>>> 
>>> Self promotion is a weird thing. If someone says "I'm hacked, halp!" and he replies "I'm for hire, here." that's ... not really a bad thing. I mean if that's his ONLY reply, then it's a small issue. We'd rather people help on the forums, like "You need to change your passwords and delete the hacked files.<basic directions>. If you need more help, I'm for hire..."
>>> 
>>> That's good advertising AND helping, and strikes me as okay. Or if he spent a lot of time helping, and once in a while said he was for hire.
>>> 
>>> it's when every post is an advert I get snippy.
>>> 
>>> Looking into those posts, he's actually okay (unless y'all have been editing them). He has a LOT of helpful posts :)
>>> 
>>> (I ran into him before looking for hacked companies for a work reason, and I remain unimpressed by his website)
>>> 
>> 
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>> Mika A Epstein <mailto:ipstenu at ipstenu.org>
>> January 25, 2013 10:28 AM
>> I removed his advertising.
>> 
>> Self promotion is a weird thing. If someone says "I'm hacked, halp!" and he replies "I'm for hire, here." that's ... not really a bad thing. I mean if that's his ONLY reply, then it's a small issue. We'd rather people help on the forums, like "You need to change your passwords and delete the hacked files. <basic directions>. If you need more help, I'm for hire..."
>> 
>> That's good advertising AND helping, and strikes me as okay. Or if he spent a lot of time helping, and once in a while said he was for hire.
>> 
>> it's when every post is an advert I get snippy.
>> 
>> Looking into those posts, he's actually okay (unless y'all have been editing them). He has a LOT of helpful posts :)
>> 
>> (I ran into him before looking for hacked companies for a work reason, and I remain unimpressed by his website)
>> 
>> 
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>> Mark Ratledge <mailto:mark at markratledge.com>
>> January 25, 2013 10:04 AM
>> Arrggg.... I will blame that on spellcheck! -- mark
>> 
>> 
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>> Amy Hendrix <mailto:sabreuse at gmail.com>
>> January 25, 2013 9:55 AM
>> I know "boozed" is probably a typo, but it would explain so much bad
>> forum behavior ;)
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>> Mark Ratledge <mailto:mark at markratledge.com>
>> January 25, 2013 9:47 AM
>> is Hack Repair Guy crossing the line again? He's already boozed.
>> 
>> http://wordpress.org/support/profile/tvcnet
>> 
>> He's adding essentially duplicate answers to threads and advertising his phone number and "Call me anytime for free advice" in his profile.
>> 
>> -- mark
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> 
> -- 
> Mika A Epstein (aka Ipstenu)
> http://ipstenu.org | http://halfelf.org
> 
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