Please stop!

[MidgetMage55]

For the love of toast...

Stop Linking to offsite downloads!

If you have a fix. Upload it here as a patch or plug-in to the addon if it is enabled.

Off site download links for updates or patches will just get removed so your wasting everyone's time.

Lets not forget it is also part of the site rules for posting here.

In case you have forgotten here is a reminder link.

The Holy Site Rules of Wowinterface.com. Please direct your attention to number 8.

Also, If your link does get removed feel free to reference this post again, and again and again and .....

/endrant

[Wella]

I whole-heartedly agree, but don't you think you should be leaving this stuff to the people who are actually in charge? I understand you're angry about it, fair enough, but still, that's no need to start back-seat moderating. But either way, you speak much truth.

[MidgetMage55]

I assist when I can and how I choose on this site because I love the community and the people that run it. Anger is not a factor here.

Some people may not be aware of the rules. I chose to remind them.

Take it or leave it as you wish.

[Cairenn]

Easy MM, easy. Breathe.

[Wella]

Sorry, the huge text gave me the impression you were angry. I'm just messing with ya.

[Torhal]

Originally Posted by Wella <snip>I'm just messing with ya.

Don't do it - he'll turn you into a lamp.

[Wella]

Waits for this topic to be locked and the key to be swallowed.

[voodoodad]

Originally Posted by Wella Waits for this topic to be locked and the key to be swallowed.

Why would this thread be locked?

[Bluspacecow]

I'm Batman.

And I support this thread.

Sorry always wanted to say that

Guy's theres a very very very good reason to upload your fixes here and not at external sites or linking to downloads from them.

Well 2 reasons really.

IMHO It has little to do really with "back seat moderating" or adhering to website policies. Forget about those notions for a second here. While they are an issue they are not the chief reasons why you should not do it.

It's simple really :

(1) By uploading here you can make sure that the fix gets checked and verified as safe by the wowinterface team here. Not saying here that people will upload a virus or keylogger to you.

Just that it's safer here - you have no idea whether that external site checks all it's adds for viruses or keyloggers

(2) By having the fix here it means you can link it in to the original addon as a "patch" for it.

I can stress how important this is enough from an addon author's side of things but here goes.

Part of the reason why addon authors only upload to certain sites is then they know exactly what code is on someone's computer. They know that they fixed a certain bug with a particular version they pushed out. It's also easier to check for bug reports & tickets and what not.

They can't do this when you've uploaded it to some server somewhere. They have no gurantee that the code they are looking at is the same version that a random addon user who's downloaded it off a third party website.

There will be a disconnect between what the author is looking at and w/e code the addon user has on their computer.

So let's not make it harder on our poor besieged authors now

[Bluspacecow]

Originally Posted by Wella Waits for this topic to be locked and the key to be swallowed.

Personally I don't think it should be locked.

There are very good reasons why this rule is in place.

It would be better off to discuss this in an open thread so everyone can see why this rule has been made.

It's an opportunity to sit down and talk it our with the wow-interface admins as to why they have this rule.

IMHO If we can understand why they have this rule then it goes a long way towards respecting said rule.

"It's our website and we make the rules" isn't really going to cut it sorry MM. I like to think the wow interface crew genuinely cares for the users of this site and such can come forward and say a few words about the reasons why this rule is in place

/hangs special "attract a admin double chocolate caramel creme donut with honey , nougat and Jam" up

[Cairenn]

Our reasons for this policy are multi-fold:

1) As already pointed out by you guys, it makes sure the author and the user are talking about the same thing, the same code. If the user got random_download_001 from [ some other site ], the author won't know about it, so trying to troubleshoot errors becomes nigh on impossible, since they aren't looking at the same code;

2) By posting it here, the author can go "hey, great, that's a nice fix, thanks for the help, I'm going to incorporate it into the main addon, if that's okay with you" to the person that uploaded the patch; and

3) This is the big one. Safety. Everyone's safety. By doing it this way, we protect everyone:

a) We protect our users. People know that if they download something from here, it's been thoroughly checked to make sure that it isn't anything malicious;

b) We protect our authors. If random_user_001 starts yelling at an author, accusing them of doing something malicious, the author has us backing them up, saying that no, it's clean, the author isn't at fault for this; and

c) We protect ourselves. By only allowing links to very specific off-site locations (Curse {including CurseForge and WowAce} and Incgamers, and even there, if you get something bad from them, it's not our fault!), we don't have to worry about someone clicking on a random link on our site and ending up getting something malicious. If we allow links to off-site downloads to remain, we run the risk of someone coming back on us going "Well, you 'allowed' that link to remain, so you are responsible for my going somewhere and getting something nasty, it's your fault, you shouldn't have allowed that link to be on your site" even though we do say that if you go somewhere else it's at your own risk.

One correction I'll make to the original post, though, is the suggestion that people put patches as attachments to their forum posts. Don't do that. We don't check attachments. They don't go through our screening process, and they aren't checked every night by our automated checkers. If we see addon patches or plugins, etc. as attachments to forum posts, we will remove them and ask that they be uploaded properly as patches or plugins to the main addon.

So yeah. Don't link to random_download_location_001. The link will be removed. Don't post patches or plugins as attachments to forum posts. They will be removed. The only thing we allow are uploads as patches or plugins to the main addon itself.

[MidgetMage55]

Edited my original post to reflect this.

[voodoodad]

Originally Posted by Wella I whole-heartedly agree, but don't you think you should be leaving this stuff to the people who are actually in charge? I understand you're angry about it, fair enough, but still, that's no need to start back-seat moderating. But either way, you speak much truth.

Gee... I thought the Admins and Smods appreciated the occasional help that people like MidgetMage and many others provide...

Could I have been wrong all this time?

Have we been planting fields where we had no business being?

If you prick us, do we not bleed?

What have we done? What have we done?

/sob

[Cairenn]

*pokes voodoodad*

[voodoodad]

Originally Posted by Cairenn *pokes voodoodad*

/cries harder

and yes, I do know better...

HAH! Caught your post before you edited it ;D

[Cairenn]

*chuckles*

[Bluspacecow]

Originally Posted by voodoodad If you prick us, do we not bleed? What have we done? What have we done? /sob

Don't worry voodoo !

I'LL COMFORT YOU !

*manhugs voodoodad*
*fondle*

Seriously one of the reasons wowinterface is such a success is we have a vibrant community full of users like Midgetmage willing to step up to the plate and help the admins out when we can

I've personally write pretty much every single detailed guide on the PTR for wowinterface to date. I do this for my fellow user not to try to be a forum nazi or anything.