Promo code posts in Curious About Dreamhost?

Hi all,

What the heck is up with the recent promo-code threads and blatant content-free bumping/spamming? Is this what we have to look forward to? Is the usefulness of the board going down?

Can I plea for some modicum of "please post only if you've got something useful to say"?

-lens

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In reply to:
Can I plea for some modicum of "please post only if you've got something useful to say"?

I agree with you completely, but spamtards truly believe their promocode touting is "something to say".

Frankly, their imbecilic behavior is pretty apparent for what it is, and it seems that anyone who calls them on it generally only starts a flame war with the spamtards and their idiot supporter(s), which just "ass-erbates" (misspelling intentional) the problem. wink

The other problem is, the requirement to keep the Forums "family friendly" precludes me from responding in the manner that is most appropriate for these fools.

I understand that the promo code program helps DreamHost grow, and I'm glad to see them succeed, but I truly wish it would just go away altogether or that DreamHost would swing the banhammer more frequently over this kind of rubbish.

Thankfully, none of these fools has anything to offer in their promocodes that is "better" than that offered by legitimate forum community members - and hopefully those needing a promo code will see, and appreciate, the difference.

--rlparker

Now I'm not exactly an old user of DH, having only been using DH for a relatively small time, but I have noticed more and more posts with people either blatantly asking others to use their codes, or doing so in a slightly more (but still obvious) way.

I still haven't gotten any referrals since joining DH, and I doubt I'll get any by the time my first year is up. I'm not that bothered about that situation, in that DH offers a very competitive price plan (especially seeing as I got in just before the $97 discounts were removed). I don't really see the need to spam my promo codes all over the place just so I can get some referrals (although if anybody wants to click on it I'll be more than happy ;D).

I think it would have been better to give people more benefits from referrals the longer they had been at DH, or possibly even linking it in part to the user's participation on these forums. The spam threads all seem to come from first time users of the threads, and rarely from those who actually use the forums for what they were designed for in the first place.

I actually think the forums may also benefit from giving a couple of the more regular posters moderator rights (as long as they actually want them). They may not be DH employees, but they tend to have a far better understanding of what fits in here and what doesn't in that they're on here every day.

In reply to:
I think it would have been better to give people more benefits from referrals the longer they had been at DH...

Well, there *is* some degree of that if you opt for the ongoing "percent of revenue" reward rather than the "quick hit off the $97 dollar crack pipe" ... While I don't tout promo codes, I have a couple of referrals that have been in place under that program for years ... and that can add to up to a lot more than $97 per referral. wink

In reply to:
I actually think the forums may also benefit from giving a couple of the more regular posters moderator rights (as long as they actually want them). They may not be DH employees, but they tend to have a far better understanding of what fits in here and what doesn't in that they're on here every day.

That suggestion comes up every now and then, and it probably has some merit, but I'm not sure many would actually want to take on that responsibility.

My experience as "customer sysop" on the DH Wiki has been rewarding in its own way, but it has also resulted in a fair amount of unpleasantness as almost every decision made can produce vehement ranting and raving from one quarter or another (and I think scjessey might describe his experiences in a similar manner). It is a fact that you cannot please everyone, and the silent majority of those that appreciate your efforts and respect your motives and decisions are almost always drowned out by the lunatic fringe looking for a fight.

All in all, the freedom these forums provide is a good thing and, while DreamHost staff members *have* stepped in from time to time to deal with particularly problematic posters, the pretty much "hands off" approach seems to work fairly well (the "spurts' of "spamtardation" generally dwindle away and die pretty quickly).

That said, if DreamHost ever does want to create a "customer Forum administrator, I nominate Lensman! wink

--rlparker

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I hope we never have to go that far thought - both for my sake and everyone else for having to put up with me even more than y'all already do!

The difficulty in moderation is that one not only has to be without bias, but have the appearance of being without bias. Even worse, it would be best if it couldn't even be intimated that one could have bias. Pretty much, it's easier to be a viable Presidential candidate or candidate for sainthood before being a good candidate for board moderator.

BTW, apologies for the "y'all". I lived 4 years in Texas and that was the one thing that rubbed off on me. Well, that and an appreciation for good brisket. Well, that and the occasional yearning for chicken fried chicken. Well, that and going to a restaurant that has macaroni and cheese as the vegetable of the day.

Use the 3DOM50 promo code for 3 extra lifetime domains and $50 off
More Dreamhost coupons here!

In reply to:
... Well, that and an appreciation for good brisket. Well, that and the occasional yearning for chicken fried chicken. Well, that and going to a restaurant that has macaroni and cheese as the vegetable of the day.

... and don't forget that gravy goes with, and on, *EVERYTHING*! smile

--rlparker

The promo codes didn't really change anything about the forum.

Before them, it was just a bunch of referral links. At least this way, the new customer gets something out of the deal, other than unknowingly getting cookied and handing someone else $97 for referring them to a place they already found on their own.

The only reason there seems to be an increase in it is because of how much Dreamhost has grown since then. Actually, if you consider Dreamhost's size, this forum is pretty dead, even though it's much busier than it used to be.

The one thing that would cut down what might appear to be spamming would be if there was a member level feature built into the software. Things might look different around here if you could tell how many posters were actually even customers... or how many user names, promo codes, etc... are actually linked to one person.

With that setup, you could disable sigs for any non-customers. Since advertising promo-codes otherwise would be spamming, that should help keep the affiliate-only accounts from feeling the need to post here.

It would also keep actual customers from using multiple names to push different promo codes, since they could only put sigs in the user name they attach to their account.

As non-customers, it's not like they get how anything works here or have much to contribute anyway. Especially considering how unique the Dreamhost panel is and that it's something that often needs to be referenced when giving advice. Then there's permissions, directory structure, subdomains, etc... that work differently than they do at CPanel (puke) hosts.

Sorry for the bump but I wanted to post here to agree with what's been said about the ridiculous behaviour of some of the promo-spammers. It would be alright if they actually had something to offer in regard to advice on an OP's questions but those blatant "nothing" posts (and annoying 'pretend' questions) just to get their promocode in a thread is irritating. I'm far from being a forum Nazi but I have to say I'd be very pleased if some form of signature censorship could be applied to posters accounts who misuse their posting priviledges for little more than advertisement's sake alone.

I think part of the problem with the nonsense posts is that they're likely not even Dreamhost customers--just affiliates.

I remember somebody once answering something with a CPanel reference, something like, "check your public_html folder" or something similar that doesn't even apply to Dreamhost.

I wish Dreamhost had two levels in the affiliate program that would make it so you could tell the two apart. Even if they just limited non-customers to a $45 max discount, so they'd have no reason to post where actual customers give $50 ones... along with answers without CPanel references. tongue

In any case, it was worse before promo codes, back when you couldn't click anywhere on a page without hitting an answer wrapped in an affiliate link. It was also worse because you can't really refer someone to a place they already found.

Promo codes at least give the person a discount once they find this place... but anyone that comes here already knows about Dreamhost.

Promo code posts in Curious About Dreamhost?