Skywatch Friday is there to have fun. It is all about the visitors and their Skywatch Experience.
We - as the team don't really want to put out a bunch of big rules and then go around and police them. Instead we suggest a Netiquette - a voluntary code of conduct - that should provide a comfortable environment for viewers, participants and commenters alike.
Joining:
You're welcome to put your link in at any time during the week. But please - have your Skywatch post posted, BEFORE you do. Note that all links will be taken off, when a new round begins.
You can link several times, if you have several sites with individual (but not identical) SWF posts. Please do not link more than once per site.
Commenting:
Anyone who participates in SWF probably noted an increase in comments. That is a neat and welcomed side effect of SWF's popularity. So return the favor! Go visit other participants and comment on their efforts. The more sites you do visit, the more comments you will probably get. So - the post and run participant will not fare well, while those who get actively involved and contribute their comments to this community, will find a lot of visitors.
Unfortunately there always be some bad apples, that try to take advantage of SWF's success and to harness that to gather link popularity, or to solicit their site, services etc. We're not really happy about that and will remove the obvious attempts - like linking to commercial sites, sites with no SWF content, multiple links to identical sites etc.
Your input is very welcome to identify the black sheep! ;)
UPDATE:
Just to clarify the issue of links being removed.
1. If there is no Skywatch Post - we remove. So please post BEFORE you link.
2. If there is no indication that it is a Skywatch post - even if it shows the sky.
Please mark your post as a Skywatch Post and do link back to the main Skywatch site.
(So that visitors have the chance to see more images by skywatchers or even participate)
3. If the site you post on is not a regular Photo Blog of sorts (basically the skywatch
image is the only Photopost around on several pages), and is clearly a site, that is
commercially oriented (Paid reviews, Sales of Products and Services, Link Exchange,
Traffic Booster etc.) we probably will remove your link, even if the Skywatch post itself might be ok.
While Skywatch usually increases your visitor count - we don't like to send you visitors, if
you try to get them only to show your commercial offerings, up your ratings or things of that
nature.
4. If you as a skywatcher use commenting, to solicit business, chances are, that we will take
down your link. Skywatch is strictly non-commercial, non -profit. Please respect that and the
efforts of all 300+ Skywatch participants and don't try to exploit this meme for commercial gain.
And if you comment - be kind and don't do the copy and past kind of commenting. It's not really polite, we think. Don't solicit visits to your site. Usually people go and visit those who comment on their own posts anyway. Besides - don't you think it looks kind of weird if you see 20 comments and everyone says: "Come visit me!" ?
Again - we're not policing it and aside from obvious misbehaviour are not going to do anything about it.
So go out and visit others and comment!
But if you do encounter problems, we will try to help sort it out.
If you have a content related problem, contact Tom, IMAC, or Sandy, if it's technical, ask Klaus.
We closed the post for comments. Questions can be fielded on the Questions page.
We - as the team don't really want to put out a bunch of big rules and then go around and police them. Instead we suggest a Netiquette - a voluntary code of conduct - that should provide a comfortable environment for viewers, participants and commenters alike.
Joining:
You're welcome to put your link in at any time during the week. But please - have your Skywatch post posted, BEFORE you do. Note that all links will be taken off, when a new round begins.
You can link several times, if you have several sites with individual (but not identical) SWF posts. Please do not link more than once per site.
Commenting:
Anyone who participates in SWF probably noted an increase in comments. That is a neat and welcomed side effect of SWF's popularity. So return the favor! Go visit other participants and comment on their efforts. The more sites you do visit, the more comments you will probably get. So - the post and run participant will not fare well, while those who get actively involved and contribute their comments to this community, will find a lot of visitors.
Unfortunately there always be some bad apples, that try to take advantage of SWF's success and to harness that to gather link popularity, or to solicit their site, services etc. We're not really happy about that and will remove the obvious attempts - like linking to commercial sites, sites with no SWF content, multiple links to identical sites etc.
Your input is very welcome to identify the black sheep! ;)
UPDATE:
Just to clarify the issue of links being removed.
1. If there is no Skywatch Post - we remove. So please post BEFORE you link.
2. If there is no indication that it is a Skywatch post - even if it shows the sky.
Please mark your post as a Skywatch Post and do link back to the main Skywatch site.
(So that visitors have the chance to see more images by skywatchers or even participate)
3. If the site you post on is not a regular Photo Blog of sorts (basically the skywatch
image is the only Photopost around on several pages), and is clearly a site, that is
commercially oriented (Paid reviews, Sales of Products and Services, Link Exchange,
Traffic Booster etc.) we probably will remove your link, even if the Skywatch post itself might be ok.
While Skywatch usually increases your visitor count - we don't like to send you visitors, if
you try to get them only to show your commercial offerings, up your ratings or things of that
nature.
4. If you as a skywatcher use commenting, to solicit business, chances are, that we will take
down your link. Skywatch is strictly non-commercial, non -profit. Please respect that and the
efforts of all 300+ Skywatch participants and don't try to exploit this meme for commercial gain.
And if you comment - be kind and don't do the copy and past kind of commenting. It's not really polite, we think. Don't solicit visits to your site. Usually people go and visit those who comment on their own posts anyway. Besides - don't you think it looks kind of weird if you see 20 comments and everyone says: "Come visit me!" ?
Again - we're not policing it and aside from obvious misbehaviour are not going to do anything about it.
So go out and visit others and comment!
But if you do encounter problems, we will try to help sort it out.
If you have a content related problem, contact Tom, IMAC, or Sandy, if it's technical, ask Klaus.
We closed the post for comments. Questions can be fielded on the Questions page.
