The Projects Collection forum

Thread Starter

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Unfortunately, this popular project (more than 10,000 hits) has now become useless, because the project presentation relied on a non-AAC link.

I believe that the AAC policy requiring any project to be completely presented within the four walls of AAC needs to be emphasized and followed without exception.

6. In the interests of manageability and security, project files/code/schematics must be locally stored. Links may be used to provide supplementary information, however they must not provide the substance of the project.
I know we cannot fix spilled milk, but I sense a somewhat loose adherence to that policy, which will have the predictable result seen with that popular thread. If a poster cannot for whatever reason meet that requirement, then the project would better be presented as a regular thread in one of the other sub-forums, e.g, The Projects Forum.

John
 

bertus

Joined Apr 5, 2008
22,270
Hello John,

You are right about the information loss due to an external site that has "lost" the needed pictures.
I think we should promote the use of the local storage of pictures and documents needed.

I think the TS of that thread did not realize that the info can get lost.

Greetings,
Bertus
 

Thread Starter

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I agree AAC should promote local storage of images for all posts for a variety of reasons. I hate clicking on one of the photo hosting sites and having to endure all of the advertising and cookies.

My comment, however, was related specifically to the Projects Collection forum. The main difference I was considering is that with a typical thread, after a few months there is virtually no further interest in it. So, off-site hosting while it may be annoying has very little impact on value.

In contrast, projects posted to the Project Collection are frequently viewed long after they were posted. Loss of critical information from a non-AAC host destroys the project's value.

I am equally certain that the TS did not intend for the information to get lost. But, it did get lost. In brief, I was suggesting that the policy exists, let's be more rigorous in following it. The post I picked was just one extreme example. There are others where that potential risk also exists.

John
 

jrap

Joined Jun 25, 2006
1,125
You brought up some good points John. I agree that things should be hosted locally to preserve posts.
I wonder if vBulletin has a plugin that automatically detects linked images, and hosts them locally. I will search around and see if one exists, and possibly hack one up over my reading week if not.

Rob
 

eblc1388

Joined Nov 28, 2008
1,542
I agree that things should be hosted locally to preserve posts.
Just let the project poster knows in advance that if in future the external image or document links to the project is reported broken or unavailable, the whole project will be removed from the forum.
 

jrap

Joined Jun 25, 2006
1,125


Hey guys. I have installed a caching module for externally linked images. Please let me know if you experience any problems with it!

Thanks
 
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