Linking to sites
I belong to various lists and newsgroups. One of these is a group of cloth doll makers. I have learned a lot from this group. Recently one of the members found that a free pattern she has on her site was linked to a site that she found slightly objectionable due to some of the content and links. She asked the owner to remove the link which the owner did in pretty short order. Which I find to be very good internet manners. This lead to a discussion about linking to sites and favorite links on a web site.
I find that the favorite links page of many web sites is a wonderful way of finding other web sites with your similar interests. I have found some really great sites through links. Some web sites encourage linking and have easy ways for you to do so. They may ask that you use specific sorts of links to their site for various reasons including bandwidth.
I do have a bit of a problem with someone linking their page to a free pattern or something that the person on the other site is allowing people to use without recompense. I have seen this a number of times. To me, it is almost like taking a bit of credit for another work. Now if you linked to the site so that it ws obvious that this was not your site nor did you have anything to do with the creation of it, I have much less of a problem with it.
I do think that web site owners do have the right to request not to be linked to a web site that has objectionable material to them. This is a matter of personal taste and your own social morays. In broad strokes (and this is an extreme example), I would object to a pedophile linking to my mac site since I have pictures of underage children on my site (my daughter) and I strongly object to what pedophiles believe is right. I have a friend who is a Christian and she asked that a pagan group not link to her site please because she was not comfortable with being associated with Pagans. This was her comfort (or lack of) zone. I am Irish Catholic and have no problem if pagans link to me but then again it has to do with my comfort zone.
Asking permission before you add any site seems like a good idea and nice manners, but it is not always practical. There are sites I like that haven’t been updated in years, but they are good reference for me and I think others who have similar interest might like to see it. There are others that sheer volume of traffic do not allow for a reply. I think it is more practical for one web owner to ask the other to remove the links that they find objectionable when they find them. The hope is that the other owner will honor the request and remove the link.
I find that the favorite links page of many web sites is a wonderful way of finding other web sites with your similar interests. I have found some really great sites through links. Some web sites encourage linking and have easy ways for you to do so. They may ask that you use specific sorts of links to their site for various reasons including bandwidth.
I do have a bit of a problem with someone linking their page to a free pattern or something that the person on the other site is allowing people to use without recompense. I have seen this a number of times. To me, it is almost like taking a bit of credit for another work. Now if you linked to the site so that it ws obvious that this was not your site nor did you have anything to do with the creation of it, I have much less of a problem with it.
I do think that web site owners do have the right to request not to be linked to a web site that has objectionable material to them. This is a matter of personal taste and your own social morays. In broad strokes (and this is an extreme example), I would object to a pedophile linking to my mac site since I have pictures of underage children on my site (my daughter) and I strongly object to what pedophiles believe is right. I have a friend who is a Christian and she asked that a pagan group not link to her site please because she was not comfortable with being associated with Pagans. This was her comfort (or lack of) zone. I am Irish Catholic and have no problem if pagans link to me but then again it has to do with my comfort zone.
Asking permission before you add any site seems like a good idea and nice manners, but it is not always practical. There are sites I like that haven’t been updated in years, but they are good reference for me and I think others who have similar interest might like to see it. There are others that sheer volume of traffic do not allow for a reply. I think it is more practical for one web owner to ask the other to remove the links that they find objectionable when they find them. The hope is that the other owner will honor the request and remove the link.