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Announcement DPF 'Pin Databases' Status Update

Announcement DPF 'Pin Databases' Status Update

dancecats

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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.
 
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.
Clarification on this point.

New releases, especially from International parks often come via pictures posted on Facebook pin groups and personal Instagram pages which people copy over here and give credit.

DSSH uses Facebook and Instagram as their primary information source. Loungefly and other online stores with official Disney licenses to produce merchandise announce new releases as well.

We might presume that whenever Pinpics does whatever knew they would be doing, they would make announcements via their Facebook page.

Facebook groups sometimes have more direct information about counterfeits and scrappers than DPF allows, especially when it comes to naming names. I don't remember if anyone has posted a direct link to one of the Scrapper groups main pages, but it could theoretically come up.

DPF members sharing their personal Instagram. Some for pins, some for promoting their art, crafts, "other than pin" real life hobbies they wish to share

Do these follow under the "no direct links" guidelines?
 
Yea, I agree with @hopemax. It feels like “no linking to off-site sales“ is a reasonable rule, but Instagram and Facebook often have Disney news or even just pictures members would like to share.

This update is definitely a bit move in the right direction though. You may want to update that first post in that other thread though to strike out the rules that no longer apply though, so avoid confusion.
 
Clarification on this point.

New releases, especially from International parks often come via pictures posted on Facebook pin groups and personal Instagram pages which people copy over here and give credit.

DSSH uses Facebook and Instagram as their primary information source. Loungefly and other online stores with official Disney licenses to produce merchandise announce new releases as well.

We might presume that whenever Pinpics does whatever knew they would be doing, they would make announcements via their Facebook page.

Facebook groups sometimes have more direct information about counterfeits and scrappers than DPF allows, especially when it comes to naming names. I don't remember if anyone has posted a direct link to one of the Scrapper groups main pages, but it could theoretically come up.

DPF members sharing their personal Instagram. Some for pins, some for promoting their art, crafts, "other than pin" real life hobbies they wish to share

Do these follow under the "no direct links" guidelines?
The rule we have had was no direct links to sales on sites like eBay, Facebook, Instagram, etc., and that rule stands. Those are secondary retailers and as explained in the OP, it is not appropriate for one to suggest that a 'better' trade or purchase can be found away from the marketplace; it is entirely up to the individual to do one's research before agreeing to a transaction. Direct links to sites like DSSH, DisneyShopping, Loungefly, Box Lunch, and other Disney authorized sellers is completely acceptable as they are authorized by Disney and primary retailers.

Posting images from social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. is completely permitted. These pictures have been allowed for years and we have no intention of changing that - ever. Tapatalk even facilitates the sharing of images on DPF. We were told long ago that the reason direct links were not permitted was because they would 'weigh down' the site and make operating it more expensive than it already is. Please keep in mind that this explanation was provided about ten years ago and may no longer apply, but this issue only recently resurfaced and we have not had the opportunity to ask again.

If our members wish to share their personal Facebooks or Instagrams, they can post their handles. If people are interested and have a Facebook or Instagram, they can go search for it on those sites. As for the scammer-alert Facebook pages, there are many groups; all of them have names and are searchable. We have no objection to listing those sites in the newly created 'Pin Database Catalogue' in the Help Desk.
 
This is certainly a step in the right direction. :) 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. :)

Thank you for the effort and consideration, guys!
Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk
 
Thank you so much for such a thorough response and great steps in the right direction, @dancecats
As others have expressed, I don’t and never will use Instagram and Facebook so DPF is my only source of pin news. I’m really happy to hear that it can continue being a reliable one and from the looks of the way all of this is being handled, I have high hopes it will still be an enjoyable source too :)
 
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