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[idea] Site Owner Claim Form

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[idea] Site Owner Claim Form
GT: Here is an idea for the next release ...

Background
Many LSQL projects, perhaps most, have a large number of links which have been added by admin or by editors, ie: the LSQL LinkOwner is not the real owner of the link. I think most of us would agree that maximizing user participation is desirable, and that having users maintain their own links is the best way to keep the database up to date. What we need is a simple and friendly way for site owners to claim a link that has been added by somebody else, and for admin to track and respond to the claims.

How it might work
A link to a form on detailed pages without a Contact or where LinkOwner==admin, eg: ...
"Are you the webmaster, owner or manager of this link? Would you like to assume responsibility for keeping its description accurate and relevant? We would be happy to assign this privilege to you -- all you have to do is log in (please sign up if you are not already a registered user) and fill out the Site Owner Claim Form for this link"
... which would be something like .../cgi-bin/directory/link-claim.cgi?id=234

The form would include a text area field to allow the users to state and explain their claims. The admin control panel would have an "Accept Claims" link with the usual buttons to accept or reject (with or without emailed reasons). If accepted, the LinkOwner, Contact_Name and Contact_Email column values would be replaced with the new User data.
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Hi,

I already do this on categories in a round about way. The cliam comes by way of replying to an email which is sent to the site in question for verification purposes. I just provided an explaination on how to claim a link, a form for claiming the link and of course I told my editors about the process in their editing guidelines. It works well.


http://www.iuni.com/...tware/web/index.html
Links Plugins
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Re: [Ian] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
 ... but it would be nice to have it built in to LSQ ... especially if you are planning a campaign to find owners for 1000+ links.
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Yes, yes, yes! I've been working around this for a long time. This would be very useful. Extend this to include "Reviews" as well and you have a buyer! Smile

Safe swoops
Sangiro
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Re: [sangiro] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Well, I am not sure I would make a new plugin (I am down a computer at the moment) but I might just add it into one of my existing plugins.

IMO, I don't think something like this needs a whole plug-in of its own.

The system on my site is purely html, a bit of javascript and a few lines of perl code, nothing too specialSmile. Actually I made a version with a PHP mailer as well.

EDIT: now that I think about it, Webmaster33 is making an extended links plugin... you could see if he is going to put it in their also.

Last edited by:

Ian: Sep 5, 2002, 8:55 AM
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Re: [Ian] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Continuing on another slightly related theme;
I'm currently setting up a new site on a new domain using LinkSQL 2.1.1.
I originally gathered lots of links on another domain using Links 2.0. The majority were entered by me, filling in the contact name and email address gathered from the site I was adding.

I'd like to email these people (who are probably unaware that they feature on my site), and give ownership of the link to them. Is this possible? I'm assuming the imported user information (from Links 2.0), will automatically have validated them? I really want to send a friendly email allowing them to log on and modify their link.

Any ideas really appreciated?

Piers
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Re: [Piers1] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Hmmm, I like that idea.

Sending out a friendly email... but where are you getting all the email addresses from? When I imported the data for mine, maybe only 10% of them came with email addresses.
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Re: [Ian] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Mine all came either by submissions as the first site got busier, or by trawling the net looking for specific companies and discovering the email address myself (very dull, but worthwhile for the overall quality of the links I now have).

This can't be a unique problem.
Someone must have informed their Links 2.0 users that their site has changed to LinksSQL. Surely I could send an email out using something similar to the forgot password email? How would I trigger this? How do I automatically generate a password for a user who didn't need one when they used the Links 2.0 version of the site?
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Re: [Piers1] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
This thread looks like something slightly complex for me, but was a darn good read and ever so relevant;

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/...i?post=131564#131564

How do I this simply?
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Hi,

I did something like this on one of my sites. I think it can be stuffed into a plugin, but it was actually just a script, that didn't need all that overhead.

I add most of my links. I try to add in contact information where I can. Obviously, there's large amounts of links that don't have this information, or for which it's changed. People who lose their password may also lose their email address, and can't get hints.

So, what we have is a fairly simple logic-gate (like in the puzzle books).

The restrictions are how "secure" do you want this to be. I like security, so I wanted to have control over it. But, if you allow people to submit links, you can set it up so that any link "owned" by "Admin" can be "acquired" by any registered user (I restricted it to users with NO current links, since I only allow one listing per site on most of my sites without some sort of compensation.)

All this script did, was check to see if the user was logged in, if not, sent them to the logon screen. Then, it presented a form that allowed them to change only the contact information. This was then sent to the Modify system. I'm pretty sure because the contact information had not been changed in the on-line database, there was no further modifications that were to be allowed. (Unless that is where it turned into a plugin, and I quit further development -- ie: storing the "change" data pending admin approval.)

Once the modifications were approved, the new contact information was in effect.

It was painless, relatively, but it required the following key security checks:

1) user log on
2) user had NO other existing links
3) Link went into the modify queue pending approval
3a) Admin/editor approval of the modifications.

It will fail if the user name is *not* a registered user, but since the LinkOwner field was changed to the logged in user, this was not an issue.

Also, I am the only one in charge on most of my sites, so my security features are usually limited to outside attacks, not internal ones (ie: editors or multiple admins).

You want to block spam and malicious attacks by someone who can figure they can modify all your links. If you don't use the 3 blocks above, there is a potential for this.


PUGDOG� Enterprises, Inc.

The best way to contact me is to NOT use Email.
Please leave a PM here.
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ClaimLink plugin In reply to
I am currently building a plugin that allows registerd users to claim a link that doesn't belong to them.

What the plugin does:

1. a link that is entered by the admin be marked 'claimable' or 'not claimable'. Normal user submitted links are 'not claimable'.

2. when adding a link, the admin can enter an email address of somebody he thinks might be interested in becoming the owner of this link. An email is sent to them, inviting them to register and become the owner of the link.

3. a registered user can click on 'Claim Link' for those links that are marked 'claimable', and the user is then asked to fill out a form, basically just indicating why he wants to own the link

4. an email is sent to the admin, when a user claims a link

5 the admin can accept or reject claims in the admin panel. in both cases, emails are sent to the user (very similar to the validate link function).

I need this plugin for my site, that's why I am building it. If people are interested, I can make this a public plugin. It might cost something, though.

Ivan
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Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
DOH! I knew I should have checked in the forum if someone was already working on this, before starting it Frown

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk
Want to give me something back for my help? Please see my Amazon Wish List
GLinks ULTRA Package | GLinks ULTRA Package PRO
Links SQL Plugins | Website Design and SEO | UltraNerds | ULTRAGLobals Plugin | Pre-Made Template Sets | FREE GLinks Plugins!
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Re: [Andy] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Whoever's doing it, I'd love to get it.
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] [idea] Site Owner Claim Form In reply to
Certainly this is a great idea. However and respectfully and with a great deal of admiration perhaps we have a few other issues to look at on the other side of the coin.

1. Given the short fuse of many Webmasters and the huge size of some of your Directories, I can almost guarantee a few Spam complaints. It's safe to say that most of us are on dedicated boxes with a bit more leverage but as a guess, mail 10K and I bet you get a few dozen. I certainly don't wan't to debate weather this is Spam or not and only mention this as an issue to think about. I like the idea and would use it :)

2. Could anyone guess at what the success rate would be? In some respects this could be related to my first point: risk/reward. Run the chance of a Spam complaint in return for x number of positive responses. I mean, I get dozens of we added your site to our bla bla bla and never have the time to respond and rarely the inclination. Obviosouly, your Directories are all high quality and not some less than perfect link farm at the bottom of the ocean.

geek/talk Forums @ GeekVillage.com
Quality Forums For Webmasters & Merchants

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Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
In Reply To:
2. when adding a link, the admin can enter an email address of somebody he thinks might be interested in becoming the owner of this link. An email is sent to them, inviting them to register and become the owner of the link.

I think this should be an option. Better to send a personal email to the potential owner -- don't take the risk of sending a message that might be mistaken for spam. Of course, personal emails take more time -- but it is a better solution for owners of relatively small, niche directories. A date column named 'Personal_Email_Sent_Date' might be useful.
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
True. I'm not really sure if Yogi, or me, are working on the Plugin. If Yogi see's this, please let me know which one of us is working on it (no point both of us writing the same pluhin...lol) Wink

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk
Want to give me something back for my help? Please see my Amazon Wish List
GLinks ULTRA Package | GLinks ULTRA Package PRO
Links SQL Plugins | Website Design and SEO | UltraNerds | ULTRAGLobals Plugin | Pre-Made Template Sets | FREE GLinks Plugins!
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Re: [YoYoYoYo] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Yes, this is an option. At the moment, the plugin just looks if an email address is entered into the input box, and if yes, an email is sent, if no, nothing happens.

Andy, I am writing this plugin for my site and I am going to release it if people are interested.

Ivan
-----
Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Ok, no problem. I'm almost ready to release my Spider plugin :)

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk
Want to give me something back for my help? Please see my Amazon Wish List
GLinks ULTRA Package | GLinks ULTRA Package PRO
Links SQL Plugins | Website Design and SEO | UltraNerds | ULTRAGLobals Plugin | Pre-Made Template Sets | FREE GLinks Plugins!
Quote Reply
Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Ivan,

I'd be interested. I'd be very interested if you extend it to claiming reviews as well. I migrated a lot of old reviews that are now without owners.

Safe swoops
Sangiro
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Re: [sangiro] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Hi,

here are some screenshots of the plugin.

1 - user: claim form
2 - user: claim success page
3 - admin: list of pending claims
4 - admin: reject claim page

At the moment, the plugin supports claims for links. Support for claiming of reviews might be added later, but this has no priority at the moment (might be done as a custom job, though).

The plugin is working on my website, you can try to claim a link from the following detailed page:
http://www.iyengar-yoga.com/...scussion_Forum_L305/
(click on 'Become Owner' in the top right corner). You will be rejected, though....

Ivan
-----
Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Looks very nice, good work Smile

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk
Want to give me something back for my help? Please see my Amazon Wish List
GLinks ULTRA Package | GLinks ULTRA Package PRO
Links SQL Plugins | Website Design and SEO | UltraNerds | ULTRAGLobals Plugin | Pre-Made Template Sets | FREE GLinks Plugins!
Quote Reply
Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
you could have the plugin also send them a string of numbers that could be used as an automated ownership transfer from registered user (the admin?) to the actual user owning the site it links to... The string of numbers would have to be random (d'oh!).

;)


btw: I need a custom header/footer for traffic coming from certain places (using referer), I am basically wanting to create a 2nd set of static pages that look differently and have no links to the first in the least bit. I have seen in the manual that it is supposedly doable, but I haven't yet seen how. Any links/suggestions? Thanks
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Re: [Peter544] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
I'm getting this error in the email that is sent when a claim is accepted.



Code:
Error: Unable to load module: Plugins::IYR. Reason: <blockquote>Can't locate Plugins/IYR.pm in @INC (@INC contains: .. /home/ccunet/mychristianweb-www/cgi-bin/guide/admin /usr/lib/perl5/5.6.1/i686-linux /usr/lib/perl5/5.6.1 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/i686-linux /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl .) at GT::Template::_call_func line 732.
,<br>
Can't locate Plugins.pm in @INC (@INC contains: .. /home/ccunet/mychristianweb-www/cgi-bin/guide/admin /usr/lib/perl5/5.6.1/i686-linux /usr/lib/perl5/5.6.1 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/i686-linux /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl .) at GT::Template::_call_func line 732.
</blockquote>


Anyone have any clues. Yogi???

CCUnet
my Christian web
Quote Reply
Re: [ccunet] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Oops.

You should change the template of the email that is sent out when a claim is accepted (right now, it's just my original template, which uses a function in my custom website plugin...). The file is email-claim-accept.txt, and it should be in your default template set.

Hope this helps.

Ivan
-----
Iyengar Yoga Resources / GT Plugins
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Re: [yogi] ClaimLink plugin In reply to
Thanks yogi,

I missed that. Just figured it was a call to the plugin.

There is one other bug I discovered which you may want to update. The claimable column was not updating after a link was accepted. I posted a fix. See this thread.

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/...rum.cgi?post=214675;

Andre

CCUnet
my Christian web
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