Question

Umm, i was told in Bio that we aren't allowed to post links anymore, is this true?

Answer 1

Not allowed to post links anywhere to an EXTERNAL site.

Answer 2

that's stupid

Answer 3

Meaning anywhere other than OS

Answer 4

yea good luck with that

Answer 5

I'm sure other educational sites are fine.

Answer 6

but, i would post a link to wiki and quote from there to help explain something

Answer 7

Links are allowed as long as it has information that you can use. But the links cannot have the answer or that is against the code of conduct because that would still count as a direct answer. I usually just take an important paragraph from a site and just cite it on the post.

Answer 8

o no, what i do is ask someone what they think the answer is

Answer 9

then if they guessed wrong, i explain why with wiki and stuff

Answer 10

if they guess right, i still explain

Answer 11

and is this in the CoC or TaC anywhere?

Answer 12

It should be.

Answer 13

http://openstudy.com/terms-and-conditions

Answer 14

Yes. Somewhere, it talks about links. I remember the part about external chat links. Those definitely aren't allowed.

Answer 15

so, am i allowed to continue my previous method?

Answer 16

I would assume so. I would still ask an online mod. @phi or @tkhunny

Answer 17

I got In trouble for posting a link to youtube.

Answer 18

I think in anywhere other than the chats, youtube links aren't allowed.

Answer 19

It was in chat.

Answer 20

"OpenStudy values the Learning process - not the ‘Give you an answer’ process
Don’t post only answers - guide the asker to a solution.
Don't provide someone with just the answer - explain the process, and help guide them through understanding the problem." quoting the CoC and doing that with my methoid

Answer 21

http://prntscr.com/6yw51j

Answer 22

cant see prntscr at school

Answer 23

.-.

Answer 24

ohh. Then again, different mods have different views on what should be appropriate on the site. One mod might delete a youtube link, another might not

Answer 25

gtg to class now :l

Answer 26

oh good, so its up to mods if i can

Answer 27

welp, i gtg to class, bbl

Answer 28

1) External links must be owned by the one posting the link, or
2) External links must be directly related to the study subject at hand and allowed by the owner for this purpose.
3) Since no actual studying goes on in the Chats, by definition, this disallows ANY external link in ANY Chat.
4) If you have a relevant link for a Forum question, feel free to post it.

Answer 29

So basically if we have a video of us playing an instrument or something we can't post it?

Answer 30

You can post it in the music section I think.

Answer 31

what do you mean by "owned"? how do we own a link??

if i see a math question, and want to explain it by posting a link to like, purplemath.com or something, is that allowed?? all of this is confusing to me

Answer 32

Wait? really?!? that sucks :/

Answer 33

@AriPotta

1) Links must be related to studying.
2) There is NO studying in the chats.
3) Relevant links to PurpleMath are placed there for the purpose of posting. They are fine.
4) NO External Links IN THE CHATS.
5) YES Relevant Links in the Forums.

Answer 34

thank you for that information; it's very clear :)

Answer 35

There is no direct CoC or TaC section on external links. However, there are several parts that do apply. For one, the posting or random links is advertizing. That is not allowed in any sense. The ad program has a button on the main page and the ads do not show up inside the questions as replies, so there is no way posting any sort of promotional link is allowed by that part of the TaC. There are also sections on offensive materials. This includes the content of the links. As others have noted, there is the direct answers part of things. A link to the same question, with a direct answer, is no better than doing the direct answer yourself. Another thing is that even if it is not an ad or giving away an answer, it can also be spam if it is say to a joke or anything else that is not on topic. Finally, due to all sorts of fights and an incident of child pornography in a video chat link, a specific ban on all chats was put in place by the administration under the "content that we deem to be" clause of the TaC.

So what you need to do is ask yourself a few things about any links:

1) Is it a learning resource that can help the person find the answer, if they take some time to read, which does not just give the answer away?

2) Is it in any way just promoting a product?

3) Is it to a chat site?

4) Is it being done for some purpose other than to add to the educational value of the reply?

Because if it gives things way, is an ad, is a chat, or does not have educational value, then it is a violation of one sort or another and unwanted on the site.