Moderator
Jan Dembowski
(@jdembowski)
Forum Moderator and Brute Squad
That’s not nice of them and not cool at all.
You can see a list of the changes via trac.
I’ve installed the 1.5.1 version on my test install, the option to opt-in is definitely removed. The older version has the option there as you’ve noted.
http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/ultimate-coming-soon-page.1.4.2.zip
I’m sending an email plugins [at] wordpress.org that’s really the best way to report these issues.
I checked with plugins@wordpress.org. Here’s my correspondence:
“I noticed that by default WPTouch embeds a link on the mobile theme that say Powered by WordPress & WPTouch. Is this OK according to the guidelines as long as you don’t post it on the main public theme?”
Here’s the response by Mika Epstein:
“Yes, that one’s okay.
It has to do with it being a theme, which are allowed a link like that. It’s a lot to do with the intent of the plugin, which in this case is to show a theme, and it promotes both WP and themselves, but in a well-intentioned way.”
Thread Starter
Baden
(@baden03)
Interesting. Well, let’s wait and see if the plugin author wants to weigh in with a response. In the meantime, there is the above solution for manually removing the hardcoded credits. If the author chooses not to address this, we can always re-release a ‘cleaned’ version of this plugin.
Reminds me a bit of Dennis Hoppe and his (now removed) Audio Link Player.
I am the author. I signed in with my .edu address. I will make this opt-in but it’s not blackhat and it within my rights according to the WordPress guidelines and as confirmed by the email.
You personally attacking me is what is not with the guidelines.
Moderator
Jan Dembowski
(@jdembowski)
Forum Moderator and Brute Squad
Guys? This is just a disagreement, let’s keep it civil. I’ve edited Baden’s comments slightly; reasonable people can and do disagree sometimes.
@john Turner, I’m not on the team that reviews plugins (good thing too!) and I’ll always defer to Mika. She’s very wise. 😉
That said, I’m not sure the comparison to WPTouch is really apples to apples as WPTouch is a theme/plugin/theme/something. The guidelines for themes and plugins are different.
I’ve sent an email and if it’s an issue it will get addressed. If it’s fine then all is good in the world. If it’s not then you’ll get an email.
Edit: It probably doesn’t need to be said, but please do not post the email you received on the topic. If it’s been addressed already I’ll take your word for it. We’re all grown ups after all. 😉
Thanks Jan for your response and clarification would be nice.
Thread Starter
Baden
(@baden03)
Hello John,
Glad to hear that you will make this an opt-in.
Sorry that you feel personally attacked, opposite of my intention. This is a open community and anyone that participates as you do is rock-solid in my book. The plugin was a very nice plugin, but v.1.5.1, however, offensively add hardcoded (non opt-in, non nofollow) links back to seedprod and WordPress.
Oh, one final question: Do you consider the ‘Coming Soon’ screen that this plugin displays as part of the main public theme when it’s activated?
Baden, when I mentioned main public theme I was referring to the theme selected under appearance.
WPTouch and my plugin both override the main theme via hooks under certain conditions. It’s my understanding that both are considered themes because you can add template tags to the page and they will render.
It’s a gray area because themes are allowed to place credit links by default and plugin are not. (http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review#Credit_Links)
Themes may optionally include a public-facing credit link in the Theme footer.
If used, Themes are required to include no more than one such footer credit link.
Credit link, if used, is required to use either Theme URI or Author URI.
Credit link anchor text and title are required to be relevant and appropriate with respect to the linked site. Spam or SEO-seeded anchor text and titles may subject Themes to automatic rejection.
A second “Powered by” link for WordPress is also acceptable, with the link pointing to http://wordpress.org.
But a plugin can be a theme as mention in Mika’s email.
Here’s a screenshot of the email. http://screencast.com/t/8SjOaBFu
