A theme author (http://drupal.org/user/1031208) has taken to making their entire project page the teaser. Moreover, in addition to including multiple links and solicitations for donations and paid support, the 'teasers' now include an animated progress bar begging for donations. In addition to a graphic paypal button.

They also somehow seem to have at least 1/2 dozen themes listed on the first page.

This has resulted in this one maintainer virtually taking over the themes ordered by date page-- i count 6 instances of the animated bar on the first page alone. Hardly fair to the other themers donating themes to drupal.org.

Some time ago (before the animated progress bar) I opened #1627564: policy regarding advertising on project pages and teasers to address a site policy, but imo, in the meantime, this individual case needs to be handled asap since the user seems to be escalating their abuse of the teaser the long it goes without being called out.

I have zero tolerance for users abusing drupal.org personal gain-- I'm just looking for some feedback. Is it just me or is this acceptable?

CommentFileSizeAuthor
#17 revisions.png137.89 KBWorldFallz

Comments

silverwing’s picture

silverwing commented

I agree - not acceptable. Period. (We shouldn't have paypal donate links in the teaser in /project/themes)

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

killes@www.drop.org commented

Yeah, I think "no graphical elements beside a screenshot" is a reasonable rule. These pages already take ages to load. No need in making them slower.

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

killes@www.drop.org commented

I've taken the liberty to shorten the teasers. Can somebody write a nice mail to the author?

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

thanks killes i was afk for a while-- I'll send the email (and post it here).

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

user contacted... here's a copy of the email sent:

Dear saran.quardz (http://drupal.org/user/1031208):

This is to let you know your theme teasers on drupal.org have been altered to a more appropriate length. Including the **entire** project page in the teaser is clearly against the entire principal of having separation between the teaser and the project page. Moreover, including multiple requests for donations as well as multiple donation graphics, including a really tacky animation, affects page performance as well professionalism. It also has the adverse affect of overwhelming the by-date theme listing thereby short changing other theme contributors-- hardly the spirit of 'community'. To participate in the discussion that resulted in this action see http://drupal.org/node/1670204. 

I've also created http://drupal.org/node/1627564 to address the issue of multiple donation requests/advertising on project pages.

We appreciate your contributions and hope you will agree to respect the community and other theme contributors and not abuse the project page or teaser listings.

WorldFall
drupal.org site maintainer
devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Active » Needs review

Hi..

Really Sorry for my Mistake.. I have removed the donation graphics links and I have shortened the Project teaser..

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Status: Needs review » Fixed

thanks for your cooperation.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)
WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

fyi, there's no need to do that-- it's done automatically after 2 weeks.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Active

looks like we might to review these again.

A different user posted an issue regarding policy (now the themes have a purchase this other theme type link): #1716126: Elegant Theme.

Looking for opinions.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

and again, this request for funding appears in the teaser.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Active » Closed (fixed)

Intially, It wasnt brought it into my notice.. Now, I removed it..

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Active

I'm also thinking the insane amount of edits on each project page (se http://drupal.org/node/1423266/revisions for an example) is nothing more than gaming the 'new themes' listing. Very rarely is that page not loaded with these themes.

I'm about over this bad behavior and tire of having to monitor-- but I'll wait for other opinions.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

We shouldn't have to monitor these themes to repeatedly have to bring these types of issues to your attention.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Active » Closed (fixed)

Editing the Project page will not make top listing in the 'new themes' listing..

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Active

Please don't close the issue-- I'm asking for other webmaster feedback. Thanks.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
StatusFileSize
new revisions.png137.89 KB

i'm getting really tired of babysitting these themes. I just scaled back the teasers AGAIN as they grew back to include lots of inter-theme links even after killes shortened them the first time. Teasers are meant to be just that-- a teaser about the theme in question not marketing for every other theme you maintain.

And really, what's up with this:

revisions

All these themes have a crazy amount of revions. You're right, it doesn't game the new themes listing but what's up with that (a lot of them have 'no visible changes').

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Status: Active » Fixed

ok, so much for the spirit of cooperation. No sooner were the teasers trimmed, than they were elongated again. I had originally left them longer than killes' original edit-- now they've been trimmed back to that level and set to full html.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

Hi WorldFallz,

I am really sorry.. Please forgive me.. I will leave the trimmed teaser.. Please allow me to edit.. I would like to add "View Demo" link and small Feature about the Theme.. Please.. I realized myself..

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

I was adding teaser after seeing few theme which has bigger teaser like http://drupal.org/project/at-commerce

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

Please forgive me.. I will not Repeat again.. Give me last chance..

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Fixed » Active

Please forgive me.. I will not Repeat again.. Give me last chance..

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Active » Fixed

Please Forgive me.. I wont repeat this mistake.. I love to bring quality themes to Drupal community. Please give me access to edit the Project page.. I wont repeat the mistake.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Fixed » Active

I have released nearly 12 themes which is used by more than 15,000 drupal sites.. I have spend nearly 6 months of hard work to develop those themes.. Recently, My edit access to my own project page was denied because of having large teaser..

Please provide me access to my own project pages.. I wont repeat the mistake.. I love to bring quality themes to Drupal community. I dont deserve this punishment for my small mistake..

I would have to have 8 lines of Features about the theme.. I want to correct the few mistakes in the project page.. I dont split the summary of the project page.. Please forgive me and I am extremely Sorry. I wont repeat this mistake..

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented
Status: Active » Postponed

@saran.quardz - I propose that your access to edit the project pages be blocked for the next week. In that time, I ask that you please read through the handbooks to find some of the documentation about how to write a good project page and what the policy is for advertising on project pages. Please read that documentation and, if you find it lacking in any way, update it. Then please provide links to that documentation here.

A hint - the two pages I referred to are in http://drupal.org/contribute/development

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

Thanks greggles.. I will go through the entire policy carefully.. Thanks for the link..

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Postponed » Active

Hi Greggles,

I have gone through the entire documentation..

Drupal Documentation links for good Project page is http://drupal.org/node/997024 and http://drupal.org/node/7765..

Other links for good Project page is http://growingventuresolutions.com/blog/module-owners-how-make-your-modu...

My Recent Theme Project page is http://drupal.org/project/premium_corporate

If there is any mistake in it.. Please let me know..

If there is no mistake in that project page. Please provide me the edit access to my 11 theme project pages..

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented
Status: Active » Postponed

And:

what the policy is for advertising on project pages
WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

my main concern here is not the problems with the project pages themselves so much as the constantly recurring problems. This is not that difficult. We have hundreds if not thousands of maintainers and in 5+ years I have not seen such recurring poor community behavior issues.

drupal.org is not your own private theme marketing engine-- please stop treating as if it were. It's for the benefit of every contributor.

It's actually quite simple, PLEASE:

  • Stop making giant teasers that take over the entire theme listing pages.
  • Stop adding multiple donation pleas/buttons/links all over the project pages (and none in the teasers-- even after all this, your brand new theme had a donation button in the teaser until you removed it).
  • Stop constantly editing your projects pages with miniscule changes so often.
  • And above all, Stop flirting with the line of acceptable project pages. If you're not constantly dancing around the edges of acceptability you're not as likely to cross the line.
devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Postponed » Active

Hi Greggles,

Guidelines regarding advertising and Drupal projects - http://drupal.org/node/439226

Hi WorldFallz,

My recent Project page is http://drupal.org/project/premium_corporate which i made it according to your guidelines..

  • It doesnt have Giant Teaser
  • It has a single donation link (No Graphical Button). "It is a appeal for financial contributions to help support further development" mentioned in http://drupal.org/node/439226 .. Donation link is not added in teaser.
  • I will not edit the project page hereafter.
  • It has single links to other themes which is located in drupal.org

If there is any mistake in my recent mentioned project page.. Please let me know..

If there is no mistake in my recent mentioned project page. Please provide me the edit access to my 11 theme project pages.. I would like to add features and description to those 11 themes like http://drupal.org/project/premium_corporate.. I promise that I will follow all the policy and guidelines of drupal community strictly.

Please provide me the edit access to my 11 theme project pages..

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented

@WorldFallz - I'm inclined to change the input format back on those project pages. Does that seem OK to you?

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

yep... I'm willing to give it another try. Though I think this should be the last time.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

Thanks Greg and WorldFallz.. I promise that I will follow all the policy and guidelines of drupal community hereafter. I am really Sorry for troubling you much..

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented

@WorldFallz - agreed that this is a "last chance" situation.

http://drupal.org/project/business
http://drupal.org/project/responsive
http://drupal.org/project/fresh
http://drupal.org/project/corporate
http://drupal.org/project/company
http://drupal.org/project/professional_theme
http://drupal.org/project/clean_theme
http://drupal.org/project/black_premium
http://drupal.org/project/elegant_theme
http://drupal.org/project/splendio
http://drupal.org/project/responsive_business

This issue is still "active" until the themes are fixed (which will hopefully be within the next few days).

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented
Status: Active » Needs review

All those theme project pages have been fixed as suggested and am sure I've done the necessary, But I'd be thankful If you could kindly review and let me know for any concerns..

Thanks for your kindness,
Saran

mr.baileys’s picture

mr.baileys
Primary language Dutch
Location 🇧🇪 (Ghent)
commented

Related to #1772284: What are the thresholds for support for a project on drupal.org?

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

wow... I just read the other issue. IMO enough is enough. My trigger point has been breached but what do you think greggles?

greggles’s picture

greggles
he/him
Primary language English
Location Denver, Colorado, USA
commented

As long as people change their behavior when they've been asked to do so I'm pretty lenient. In my experience saran.quardz has been fast to improve their behavior so I'm willing to give advice and let them change.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

The thing is-- how many variations of attempting to use drupal.org for personal gain should be allowed? The amount of times this has been attempted over and over again with the user then claiming "sorry, I didn't know" strains credibility. Sure, they change that specific behavior when caught-- but then go ahead create a brand new one.

And I hadn't even seen the attempts at holding users hostage in the issue queues-- which I consider far more egregious than the teaser issue. highrockmedia was familiar with drupal.org to know that was unacceptable behavior, but how many new users, who wouldn't know better, were turned off?

imo maintainership should be revoked-- if not permanently, then at least temporarily.

danny englander’s picture

danny englander
(he/him)
commented

I feel like I opened a can of worms with the issue I opened but I guess it was already opened. I have been doing a lot of lurking here on drupal.org for several years now helping out when I can in the forums, filing issues, helping test patches etc... I am definitely not a Drupal big wig though, I am just on the cusp of starting to contribute projects and patches and learning the proper way to do things.

With that said, you guys might be in a situation where you will always have to baby sit this situation unless a harsher action is taken so I tend to agree with @WorldFallz but it's not my decision to make, I just thought I would add a few of my 2 cents here. cheers.

BTW, in regard to #17 above and the revisions, I think what it does do is bump recently revised themes up to the top if someone sorts by date but I am not positive about that.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

I understand the mistake which i done on Issue Queue, recently.. Hereafter, I will not repeat those mistakes..

damienmckenna’s picture

damienmckenna
Location TN, USA
commented
Project: Drupal.org site moderators » Drupal.org content
Component: Content moderation » Other

@saran.quardz: One request I would ask is to change the description on your themes to be a little less of a sales promotion. Currently the Responsive Business theme's description is:

Responsive Business is a premium Drupal 7 theme. Please consider a Small Donations.
Paypal ID : donation@devsaran.com. Developed by devsaran.com.

The description should explain something about the theme, not be used exclusively as a sales pitch. Something like the following would be better:

Clean two-column design with some responsive capabilities. Optional premium support is available upon request from the author.

This both provides a brief explanation of the theme's features and provides a simple, unobtrusive link for the optional support.

devsaran’s picture

devsaran commented

Hi Damien,

I will fix it in all my themes in this weekend.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

constantly having to police these themes is getting really really old.... just sayin.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented
Issue summary: View changes

added link for theme page

mgifford’s picture

mgifford
he/him
Primary language English
commented
Issue summary: View changes

Can we mark this fixed?

dsquaredb’s picture

dsquaredb commented
Status: Needs review » Fixed

Closing since there has been no activity for quite a while.

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

avpaderno’s picture

avpaderno
he/him
Primary language Italian
Location Brescia, 🇮🇹 🇪🇺
commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Fixed

I am giving credits to the users who participated in this issue.

avpaderno’s picture

avpaderno
he/him
Primary language Italian
Location Brescia, 🇮🇹 🇪🇺
commented
Project: Drupal.org content » Drupal.org site moderators

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.