To the DPF Community,
Thank you so much for your passion, enthusiasm, and love of both this hobby and community. You are what makes DPF into more than a website, into the amazing online family that it is. But just as in the best families, mistakes and miscommunications sometimes happen. We, being the DPF Staff, apologize for this and want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we listened (read) closely to your comments, taking everything you said (posted) seriously, and worked hard to find the best way forward. But going back to the beginning:
When the necessity of moderating outside links and websites was broached, we believed it was a significant problem that required action. We had been receiving reports and complaints of websites being posted/shared on our forum by members new or unfamiliar to our community. Our concern was that this would devolve into a new form of spamming the forum; people signing up for membership, advertising or sharing their databases and sites, and then leaving. After some discussion, debating the pros and cons of being perceived as suppressing open discussion and any unwanted content vs basic forum etiquette (is it appropriate to register for a forum to only use it to promote your own?), we discussed moderate new rules to contain just that.
To provide some context for that thinking, the reason we have posting requirements in the marketplace is to provide a measure of protection from scammers to the community without being extreme. We do not want people to sign up for DPF, create posts, establish (high end) trades, and then just vanish without completing any of them. We want to (gently) encourage people to integrate into our community before they start posting their own threads. As an additional benefit, once those posting requirements have been attained, the members should at least be somewhat known around the forum and it should be a little easier to find/make trades as they will not be complete strangers. We are aware that scams still can happen, but if that is one's sole purpose, one likely is not going to stick around and complete the posting requirements.
Just as we have minimum requirements for creating posts in the marketplace to protect our community, the reason being that we do not want someone to just join DPF, make a bunch of trades with which he/she never follows through, and then disappear, we thought we should have similar guidelines for sharing posts about other Disney sites. We do not want to stifle sharing about the Disney community, but we do not want to create an environment where people can just advertise their sites and leave, with no intention of joining our community.
And just to clarify: when we say sharing posts about other sites, we mean creating threads advertising the existence of those sites, encouraging people to investigate and join them. If there is sufficient posting activity and interest, we will consider creating a sub-forum dedicated to the discussion/promotion of new/other forums at some point, just for the purposes of convenience and organization. Until a dedicated sub-forum can be established, we would decide the best place for these posts, most likely the Help Desk. Casually mentioning/linking a new/different site in conversation would not apply and it would be business as usual. This is solely for those whose intention is to generate interest and traffic in their sites. The purpose of these new rules was to prevent members from 'drive by spamming' the forum - that is, creating an account, advertising their sites, and leaving our community.
So now we can hear the question: what have the moderators decided? And where does this leave DPF?
So the 'bad', but not we hope, unreasonable news first. DPF is adhering to the no direct links to eBay, Facebook, Instagram, etc. (although the sites certainly can be discussed openly here). There is no 'gray area' that those are not Disney sites and when it comes to pin trading/selling, it is caveat emptor. It is highly improper for someone to suggest that a 'better' trade/price can be found elsewhere; if said 'better' trade/price does exist, it is the buyer's responsibility to find it.
Now onto the 'good' news. You can disregard all of the new rules in Pin Databases - List Them Here ONLY - they are null and void and no longer apply. Please keep the following in mind:
-DPF or its Staff neither guarantees the accuracy nor legitimacy of any links provided by its members. You use all provided links at your own risk; DPF or its Staff cannot and will not be responsible for any and all unintended consequences, included and not limited to computer viruses and computer damage. It should go without saying that links reported as spam will be sorted (deleted) as soon as possible.
-DPF Staff requests that members who are creating threads whose sole purpose is to advertise/generate traffic towards a pin database or other site please post all such in the Help Desk. DPF Staff will create and maintain a master list of pin databases in the Help Desk for quick reference. If the need arises, DPF Staff will create a sub-forum in the Help Desk for discussing pin databases.
-Casually mentioning, linking, or sharing a new or different site as part of a discussion or thread remains unchanged and business as usual.
-These rules may be adjusted or edited as required, but not casually or without cause.
Thank you once again for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact any member of DPF Staff. We are here to help and just a mouse click away.
Thank you so much for your passion, enthusiasm, and love of both this hobby and community. You are what makes DPF into more than a website, into the amazing online family that it is. But just as in the best families, mistakes and miscommunications sometimes happen. We, being the DPF Staff, apologize for this and want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we listened (read) closely to your comments, taking everything you said (posted) seriously, and worked hard to find the best way forward. But going back to the beginning:
When the necessity of moderating outside links and websites was broached, we believed it was a significant problem that required action. We had been receiving reports and complaints of websites being posted/shared on our forum by members new or unfamiliar to our community. Our concern was that this would devolve into a new form of spamming the forum; people signing up for membership, advertising or sharing their databases and sites, and then leaving. After some discussion, debating the pros and cons of being perceived as suppressing open discussion and any unwanted content vs basic forum etiquette (is it appropriate to register for a forum to only use it to promote your own?), we discussed moderate new rules to contain just that.
To provide some context for that thinking, the reason we have posting requirements in the marketplace is to provide a measure of protection from scammers to the community without being extreme. We do not want people to sign up for DPF, create posts, establish (high end) trades, and then just vanish without completing any of them. We want to (gently) encourage people to integrate into our community before they start posting their own threads. As an additional benefit, once those posting requirements have been attained, the members should at least be somewhat known around the forum and it should be a little easier to find/make trades as they will not be complete strangers. We are aware that scams still can happen, but if that is one's sole purpose, one likely is not going to stick around and complete the posting requirements.
Just as we have minimum requirements for creating posts in the marketplace to protect our community, the reason being that we do not want someone to just join DPF, make a bunch of trades with which he/she never follows through, and then disappear, we thought we should have similar guidelines for sharing posts about other Disney sites. We do not want to stifle sharing about the Disney community, but we do not want to create an environment where people can just advertise their sites and leave, with no intention of joining our community.
And just to clarify: when we say sharing posts about other sites, we mean creating threads advertising the existence of those sites, encouraging people to investigate and join them. If there is sufficient posting activity and interest, we will consider creating a sub-forum dedicated to the discussion/promotion of new/other forums at some point, just for the purposes of convenience and organization. Until a dedicated sub-forum can be established, we would decide the best place for these posts, most likely the Help Desk. Casually mentioning/linking a new/different site in conversation would not apply and it would be business as usual. This is solely for those whose intention is to generate interest and traffic in their sites. The purpose of these new rules was to prevent members from 'drive by spamming' the forum - that is, creating an account, advertising their sites, and leaving our community.
So now we can hear the question: what have the moderators decided? And where does this leave DPF?
So the 'bad', but not we hope, unreasonable news first. DPF is adhering to the no direct links to eBay, Facebook, Instagram, etc. (although the sites certainly can be discussed openly here). There is no 'gray area' that those are not Disney sites and when it comes to pin trading/selling, it is caveat emptor. It is highly improper for someone to suggest that a 'better' trade/price can be found elsewhere; if said 'better' trade/price does exist, it is the buyer's responsibility to find it.
Now onto the 'good' news. You can disregard all of the new rules in Pin Databases - List Them Here ONLY - they are null and void and no longer apply. Please keep the following in mind:
-DPF or its Staff neither guarantees the accuracy nor legitimacy of any links provided by its members. You use all provided links at your own risk; DPF or its Staff cannot and will not be responsible for any and all unintended consequences, included and not limited to computer viruses and computer damage. It should go without saying that links reported as spam will be sorted (deleted) as soon as possible.
-DPF Staff requests that members who are creating threads whose sole purpose is to advertise/generate traffic towards a pin database or other site please post all such in the Help Desk. DPF Staff will create and maintain a master list of pin databases in the Help Desk for quick reference. If the need arises, DPF Staff will create a sub-forum in the Help Desk for discussing pin databases.
-Casually mentioning, linking, or sharing a new or different site as part of a discussion or thread remains unchanged and business as usual.
-These rules may be adjusted or edited as required, but not casually or without cause.
Thank you once again for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact any member of DPF Staff. We are here to help and just a mouse click away.
There's still room to finesse (as Hope has said about DSSH), but I think this is what the spirit of the forum is still about. 
