SANParks.org Forums

How many PM's did you get?

Five,

all different

and all appreciated

UKB

Thanx to everyone understanding the mods' position.
You are making a great contribution in keeping our forum Spam free!

Split to here.

Hi JenB, I'm a bit confused. Am I right in saying that you are allowed to post links, if it is to a non commercial site. And you are allowed to post commercial names.(Like PnP or Spar or maybe Frikkie's Panelbeaters) But no link.
What is commercial? When is a link commercial? What is spam?

Hi Picnic,

I'll try to clear up some confusion.

Yes, that is correct.
See here: RULES for posting on the SANParks Forums

Some members post links to personal blogs and photo sites which is fine.

A commercial site is a business site, a site which sells something.

Correct. Because this forum is also one giving information to members, you are allowed to give advise about the best car rental company, where to do shopping on your way to the park and such. No links are allowed for the reasons explained earlier in this topic.

Frikkie's Panelbeaters might be frowned upon unless it is directly relevant to information given to other members, information relating to a visit to a SANPark.

The fact that you are asking is a feather in our mods' cap because it shows that we are doing our jobs properly.

Spam is a post which is made purely to publish commercial links. A spammer is a guy who registers on this forum with the sole purpose of distributing commercial links. Spammers never contribute anything positive, they just feed off this site and are not welcome on most sites on the internet.

We at times also get legitimate members making a mistake by posting a commercial link but that is a forgivable mistake and easily rectified.

The downside of having such a successful website is also that it is a very high priority site for spammers. Successfully getting their links here kicks their Google ratings up high. Some mornings we have to delete a list of them before our morning coffee and we are continuously scanning posts and new members for possible spammers. Fortunately we have a few tools in our kit to distinguish between genuine members and spammers.

Hope that answers your questions.

Thanks JenB think I've got it. If the site sell something it is a no-link to that site.
If you answer a member who may have a question about, or needs info about something, then you are allowed to mention a commercial's name in your post, that is okay.(Topic related information)
Please correct me if I'm understanding anything wrong.

No misunderstanding on your part.
....... And if you need to give a commercial link to someone, do so by PM. No problem doing that.

Thank you JenB. And thank you Mods, for clearing the spam before it gets onto the forum.

One thing I forgot to mention...

Because this is a marketing site for SANParks, we ask that the name of other accommodation not be mentioned. Should someone ask where he could stay over outside the park, we ask for such info to be exchanged via PM. All other information like car rentals, supermarkets and such is fine to be named on forum.

So if there is no accommodation available in the Park which is very very often the case, people should not be informed where they can try for accommodation so that they can visit their country's major National Park?

Sounds a bit draconian to me.

Yes Robbie, it can. Via PM.
There are not that many requests and quite easy to communicate off open form.

We've also had instances before where owners of B&B's and hotels outside the parks register here just to promote their own accommodation.

JenB, accommodation via PM.

Hi Jen, maybe a blonde question, but I would just like clarity.

I saw a very moving and painful u-tube video on a certain facebook site. It had to do with the death and mulilation of Rhinos that had been semi hand reared on a private farm. I had thought of posting, but in a specific context of fund raising and spreading awareness. It would take a cold psychopath not to be deeply touched.

The name of the Game farm is very clearly displayed and I wondered what the rules would be in a case like this?

Hi MM,

I know which video you are referring to.... ..... I just could not bring myself to watching all of it....

In short, we would prefer for you not to post it. The reason is twofold.

Firstly like you rightfully said, the name of the game farm was clearly displayed so that would be against the rules. I know in this instance it sounds insensitive but we need to have clear boundaries when it comes to the enforcing the rules.

Secondly and I know it's off topic here, as you said too, that video was deeply disturbing but reality never the less. Because we also have very young members on board, we need to be sensitive about what we expose them to on this forum. Yes, pics and videos are posted about kills and such but that is the course of nature. In this instance the animals suffering was inflicted by humans and could be traumatic for younger members to watch.