Most amazing website for Budgets and Spreadsheets

abby1234519

ahhh maaaaaa gaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

What does it matter!?!?! I've been using the debt reduction spreadsheet for years I love it. I doubt the owner of the site is going to go nuts at FireWyrm. I think the main issue is the copyright, if it hasn't been removed then we are all good in the hood.

cydney65

Brilliant as always FireWyrm...thank you

Vertex42

FireWyrm,

First, thank you for trying my spreadsheets and telling other people about them. I appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm glad that you've found them useful.

I really appreciate it when people tell others about my website. There are many ways to do that including social shares and sharing the links to the web pages on the site.

However, distributing the files themselves by uploading to a public dropbox location is indeed against both my terms of use and copyright. I understand that you are just trying to be helpful, but I would ask that you remove the files from the public dropbox location. Instead, if you wanted to mention specific files, you could share the links to the specific web page(s) on my site.

It also might be possible to create shortcuts to the relevant web pages (not directly to the .xlsx files please) and list the shortcuts on the dropbox location rather than the files themselves.

If people reading this want me to explain why a web business offering free downloads might not want their files hosted on other sites, I could do that. But for now, I think it is sufficient to just say that I do not want my files hosted on the public dropbox location.

Thank you!

abby1234519

Vertex42 wrote: »

FireWyrm,

First, thank you for trying my spreadsheets and telling other people about them. I appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm glad that you've found them useful.

I really appreciate it when people tell others about my website. There are many ways to do that including social shares and sharing the links to the web pages on the site.

However, distributing the files themselves by uploading to a public dropbox location is indeed against both my terms of use and copyright. I understand that you are just trying to be helpful, but I would ask that you remove the files from the public dropbox location. Instead, if you wanted to mention specific files, you could share the links to the specific web page(s) on my site.

It also might be possible to create shortcuts to the relevant web pages (not directly to the .xlsx files please) and list the shortcuts on the dropbox location rather than the files themselves.

If people reading this want me to explain why a web business offering free downloads might not want their files hosted on other sites, I could do that. But for now, I think it is sufficient to just say that I do not want my files hosted on the public dropbox location.

Thank you!

Actually I would like to know, purely out of curiosity, I concede I was wrong!

Keith1985

Vertex42 wrote: »

FireWyrm,

First, thank you for trying my spreadsheets and telling other people about them. I appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm glad that you've found them useful.

I really appreciate it when people tell others about my website. There are many ways to do that including social shares and sharing the links to the web pages on the site.

However, distributing the files themselves by uploading to a public dropbox location is indeed against both my terms of use and copyright. I understand that you are just trying to be helpful, but I would ask that you remove the files from the public dropbox location. Instead, if you wanted to mention specific files, you could share the links to the specific web page(s) on my site.

It also might be possible to create shortcuts to the relevant web pages (not directly to the .xlsx files please) and list the shortcuts on the dropbox location rather than the files themselves.

If people reading this want me to explain why a web business offering free downloads might not want their files hosted on other sites, I could do that. But for now, I think it is sufficient to just say that I do not want my files hosted on the public dropbox location.

Thank you!

Talk about making a mountain out a molehill!! Zzzzzzzzz

Roland_Sausage

Keith1985 wrote: »

Talk about making a mountain out a molehill!! Zzzzzzzzz

It's really not. The website makes money from advertising and also by selling some templates.

Of course he is not going to want people just taking the free product without browsing the site.

It would be like a shop giving a free chocolate bar to all customers who enter the shop. And then someone going "Hey guys, I took all the free chocolate bars and am giving them away in the street, to save you the bother of having to go into the pesky shop!"

Whilst it may have been done with the best of intentions, it's still going to annoy the business owner and defeat the point of the free product.

Vertex42

@abby1234519 ... because you are curious ...

- Like many blogs, download sites, and online calculator sites, my website uses the business model of providing informational content and earning revenue from the advertising on the site. Compensation only comes from having people visit the website (because most of the content is free to read or download). So, if the content and files are hosted on other sites, then people are not having to visit the original website to get the files.

- The amount of lost advertising revenue due to a single user sharing free files with a dozen or so other people is pretty much inconsequential. Even though that may still be a copyright violation, it is not the main problem for this particular business model.

- The most damaging part of having other websites hosting an author's content and files comes from Google, Bing, and other search engines listing those other sites in search results rather than the original author's website. Because most of the traffic may come from search, if the sites hosting the duplicate content end up competing with the original site, then that can result in a very substantial loss of traffic for the author's site. If still other websites decide to link to the alternate source instead of the original website, than that compounds the problem.

- Because of the importance of having the original content found in search results instead of the duplicate content, molehills can become mountains. In other words, what might at first seem like an insignificant violation can later turn out to be a huge problem.

- Unfortunately, it is extremely common for sites listing duplicate content to show up in the search results above the site with the original content, so we try to do what we can to fix the issue early before it becomes bigger are harder to deal with.

- Other important reasons for not wanting files hosted on other sites have to do with security, trust, version control, and perceived authorship. It can be hard enough to trust that files downloaded from the original source are safe, let alone having to trust a secondary website.

[Roland's explanation was accurate as well]

FireWyrm

Vertex42 wrote: »

FireWyrm,

First, thank you for trying my spreadsheets and telling other people about them. I appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm glad that you've found them useful.

I really appreciate it when people tell others about my website. There are many ways to do that including social shares and sharing the links to the web pages on the site.

However, distributing the files themselves by uploading to a public dropbox location is indeed against both my terms of use and copyright. I understand that you are just trying to be helpful, but I would ask that you remove the files from the public dropbox location. Instead, if you wanted to mention specific files, you could share the links to the specific web page(s) on my site.

It also might be possible to create shortcuts to the relevant web pages (not directly to the .xlsx files please) and list the shortcuts on the dropbox location rather than the files themselves.

If people reading this want me to explain why a web business offering free downloads might not want their files hosted on other sites, I could do that. But for now, I think it is sufficient to just say that I do not want my files hosted on the public dropbox location.

Thank you!

I have removed them as per your request. I see !!!!!! just couldnt let it go and had to go and tell teacher. Frankly, pathetic - his behaviour, not your perfectly reasonable request. I didnt see it as anything wrong, I was just trying to help people on this site. I have not in any way infringed the copywrite on the files themselves, offering only a convenience and nothing more. I advised !!!!!! to go directly to your site to download them. Obviously, he decided to play silly games. Lesson learned - people are petty and foolish. I'll think twice about helping in future.

Seasidegal58

FireWyrm - as a long time lurker and soon to be DFW diarist, I have always found your posts and threads immensely helpful, down to earth and eminently sensible and I and I know all the regulars who have followed your thread know you only wanted to be of assistance to others. Please don't let this put you off of posting your very useful advice in the future.

System

I didnt see it as anything wrong

Even when it was pointed out to you . That is what I call severe myopia