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I agree. The only reason we do not have any kind of "change log and notification" system is because we haven't had the time to implement it and until we have a system like that we should probably manually add a "Edited by X on DATE".

And we should probably have more clear rules what is allowed or not as well.

First of all, I did not do that. Just so we're clear. :P

Secondly, I agree that our current posting policies are a bit... nonexistent. I delete spammy posts, but beyond that, we don't really have any coherent rules for what posts are okay and what aren't. A few months ago, Ola and Markus considered implementing a "no referrals" rule, but they decided against it after a day. We should probably implement some coherent set of forum rules, in addition to adding a change log/notification system for comments. It'll make the jobs of moderators a lot more clear.

Hey, thanks for the responses. It's good to hear that we're on the same page, and that there are plans for a better system in the future. Thank you.

So if there isn't a "no referrals" rule, does that mean I'm free to put my referral code back into my comment?

Yeah, sure. I don't have a problem against referrals (except by spammers, but that's the exception rather than the rule).

Cool.

I made the edit!

Firstly I really understand your frustration, thehalynn, that you went notified - as Ola said this is not implemented yet.. Secondly I totally agree with Ola that we need more clear rules - a policy document would be great! (I'm probably the guy needing clear rules the most :) This would hopefully make it easier for users, moderators and admins to know the boundaries and avoid situations like this in the future.

In principle though, I don't think we should allow likes, comments or reviews with any conflict of interest. I know the conflict of interest is low with regard to referrals, but it is promotion for own benefit. Furthermore I don't see that direct referrals adds anything to the discussion and it gives a very unprofessional perception of the site.

As OMG says. As long as it's not from spammers AND the comment / review is not only done to add the link. There should be some kind of useable content in the post as well. According to me .. and to work on some rules would be great ;)

In principle though, I don't think we should allow likes, comments or reviews with any conflict of interest. I know the conflict of interest is low with regard to referrals, but it is promotion for own benefit. Furthermore I don't see that direct referrals adds anything to the discussion and gives a very unprofessional perception of the site.

That's a really good point. I must discuss this with Markus and we will probably try to work on some rules document soon.

I think I see what you're saying. If using a referral code gives a benefit to the person being referred, then having a referral code somewhere in the comments is useful. But if someone posts a 2nd referral code in the comments, that comment is only useful to them. If the comments became littered with referral codes, the useful comments would get drowned out.

So how do you make sure there is exactly one referral code? Maybe you could consolidate all of the referral codes in one place. Require all referral codes for an app be put on a special page, and link to it somewhere semi-prominent.

Ideally that page would treat all referral codes equally, perhaps picking one at random or showing the codes in a random order. Preferably it would also allow users to remove their referral codes, should they no longer need them.

I mean more than if someone write a lengthy review and put some time into it (and if it's unique for AlternativeTo) then it would be nice to be able to give something back by letting that person add his referral code. But that would be really hard to moderate and probably abused pretty much.

Well, will think about writing some clearer rules!

I understand the nice thought of giving something back to the reviewer, but I think it is too subjective a criteria - which is hard for moderators to judge.

For the a new user a comment that referrals are used is a nice info, but I think reviewers should just mention that they can send the a message or "google" it..