Geesh, everyone who sponsors a template for a directory should go to the sites for sale forum and check out any directory for sale. Also check the link sales forum and the advertising forum for directories selling advertising and links. I just found one seller not having the sponsored by link in the footer. Can't believe people pass on templates after removing the sponsored by links or trying to sell a site.
Its life, but the system doesn’t work very bad, and its self regulating, expert submitters normally give the warning that the link was removed.
Over on phpLD we are currently ramping up our licensing, and will be tracking people who are in violation of the license. By the beginning of 2007, we will be starting to take action against people that are clearly pirating the software. I will try to develop a plan to use the same technology we are using to help template developers track and stop people as well. People work hard to develop templates and software, and when people take advantage of the situation and don't follow the rules, it makes it a lot harder to continue to offer templates, etc. I hope that people will have a sense of community here, and help protect each other. There is a lot of truth in the idea that by working together we all benefit, and I hope people will take this to heart.
This sucks but like ! Ask ! just posted they usually get found out eventually I just know that there are more folks that want to stop these practices, so the ethical methods will prevail in the end We like you iowadawg support and advocate transparent and fair business practices and methodologies
Its like stealing the hard work of others and saying that its your own. Its also matter of respect for fellow webmasters's hard work. That's the reason I create my own templates.
Always wondered how you kept track, now I see you rely on honest people. Sad, is it not? That there are so many dishonest people and of course the ones I can not get too mad at-the naive people who bought a directory not knowing the template and/or the script is not very legal. Never checked the phpld script used on all these directories, but someone on ebay put up like 10-20 directories at one time for sale. And thank you britishguy! I do have a stake now in the templates and template sponsoring, so as I run across directories, directories for sale, etc I do check them out. One good thing about DP, anyone trying something dishonest (whether by design or naivete) is found out pretty quick!
Joe, whats just as bad is when people take a 'base' foundation and make some modifications and then call it their own and remove the links. I believe that if anyone uses a template as a base, then they should retain respective links back to the original designer.
What's really bad is when someone uses a stock template as is, removes the links and gives some lame ass excuse such as "Oh, yeah I was looking for where to put those". What's up with that! If you installed the template and made no modifications to it whatsoever the links don't just mysteriously disappear.
Now that I see all the time, not just in directories. Sad, but true, people take a template (say the color is blue) change the color to say red, and poof! They tell the world here is a new template.
You do realize mate that the more he tells you about this technology the easier i t will be for people to hack it and remove it
I believe that if you take a template that is a derivitive of an original template (all the code was not re-written from scratch), and you edit over 50% of code (not including changing images and colors), than you can remove the link as it is not an honest reflection of the original designer.. For example, I plan to release some phpLD templates in my free time (not a lot of personal projects going on now), and I would prefer someone who modifies them to remove the links, rather than leave them, as 1.) I didn't develop the software 2.) the template is no longer what I distributed. I say this because I am going to be linking to my web design portfolio from my directory, and I don't want bad modifications reflecting as my work. Am I incorrect in my 50% thinking? Hiding a tracking script or a 1 pixel image from your server on a single rarely edited page is a good way to track
I know legally you could possibly get in trouble, but do you think that if someone used http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress/styles/sample.php?wpstyle=pink_lilies as the basis for http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress/styles/sample.php?wpstyle=blue_theme, that the original link on the bottom should remain? What I'm getting at, is since these templates are ALL based upon the original template in one way or another, at what point would you consider removing the original text at the bottom appropriate? (i know these arn't directory templates, just the first thing i found)
Only one thing you should believe, only legal sites can be admitted by everybody, illegals will be banned one day.
I have a question. For my phpld template sites, for templates demos (only v3 err...) i use versions i did not pay, well i always thought may be it is wrong, but if i had to pay for 25 demos!! lol well you see what i mean, and i would like to use demos as much as possible, i'm sure other phpld templates dudes out there have the same question It would be great if you can clarify to me that point and how stuffs works... Thank you!
OVer 50% and it is different and you can remove links? Then if I took a phpld version 2 template, recoded it to fit version 3.06, and changed a few elements, then I could say it was my own template???? Yeah, have to agree, someone was stoned to come up with that one.
First of all, you know that is not what I meant. I posted links to two entirely different templates and said if that was originally based on the other, does the link need to remain. If almost everything was changed, images, css, the code, and the resulting template was in no way like the original, would the link remain... I also didn't say the template would be redistributed, I was talking about for your own application. As far as 50%, I was saying if you change the code say about 50% (removed all the divs, tables, and what not, leaving only the basic smarty), you would have remove most of what the author of the template did, and have left over only the basic tags that are needed for the script to run (which most likely comprise over 50% of the template files "code"). There would be little of the original authors code, you would just be left mainly with the original required code. I did not mean that the template would in any way resemble or function as the original author intended. As I said, late last night my judgment must have been flawed because I realize you need to just start from scratch if you plan on distributing something. What I was getting at though.... is there a point of modification at which you guys would consider it "okay" to remove the link? I believe this is a valid question?