What are the most compact, yet affordable panels?

[inetdog]

Apparently there's fine print. No I didn't read every word of the many pages of legalese most sites have. But I'd be curious if you can point to the forum rules that are relevant to this discussion, I certainly didn't see them and assumed this forum was like most others I've participated in. I've spent many, many hours in various sponsored forums and none have censored links to competitors.

You can remove my membership if you want. It's of little use to me if I can't speak my mind.

It looks to me as if russ was aiming at crotalus and not at you and missed! I also do not see any problems with what you have posted. If there are, a pointer to a specific post would be useful.

Crotalus: Posting of links is a sensitive subject, both because of implied endorsement and because they raise the search ranking and clickscore of the linked site when they appear in a "reputable" forum like this. Either copy an image or link directly to it, quote some text, or put the link in a non-clickable form with a disclaimer.

[russ]

I should chase your wild goose? No thanks you can find whatever you want yourself.

Basically we control what is posted which is normally no problem though some manage to create a nuisance.

Like I noted - your choice whether you are here or not - it is not like we would be losing a valued contributor.

[Mike90250]

.... I've spent many, many hours in various sponsored forums and none have censored links to competitors.....

The forum is hosted by SolarTown, which sells solar gear. It's poor taste to have links to other sellers of the same gear. Other solar forums do the same.

And we do not allow links to any of the power4free scams.

When "this" site/forum allows links, it also enhances the "rating" or "validity" of that link by search engines, and if they are links to competitors, it directs searchers away from our host.

[dylanear]

Let's just say I think it's misleading to have a forum called "SolarPanelTalk", labeled "Solar Energy Discussion Community." And then limit it to the discussion of products of only one reseller. I did see when signing up that it was a sponsored site, but figured surely that was of little consequence, if it was only to discuss SolarTown products surely it would be called "SolarTown Community", "SolarTown product forums" or something to that effect and there would be a clear and unmissable statement of rules if the discussion was enforced to such a narrow topic.

I've looked through the FAQ and can find no rules that mention linking to or mentioning competing products. Is it unrealistic to ask to see the rules I'm supposed to follow? I'm not asking anyone to "chase a wild goose." I'm trying to assess what the forums rules actually are and if I want to participate.

Simply mentioning a non SolarTown product on a SolarTown sponsored site being considered bad taste is pretty questionable to me. Censoring it is another thing entirely. It's not like I was asking about a SolarTown product and someone came in and said, "No this is much better, SolarTown products are lame!". That's bad taste to me. To me, censoring for no good reason is in much poorer taste than trying to answer someone's question when there is no SolarTown product that seems to fit the bill.

Perhaps there is no rule per se, but the mods/admins will censor anything they "feel like" and that just felt wrong at the time. There may be other sites with similar censorship, but I assure you other sponsored sites take a much more hands off approach in my experience. I do participate in many, many other online forums, several solar related, many sponsored in various ways. I won't give the name, but one forum in particular I'm thinking of has the same name as it's sponsor retailer for full disclosure, and yet even then they have no problem with the discussion of other resellers' products. At least I see it done all the time with no interference.

Probably I should just spend my time there it would seem, but if I've misunderstood and this was not typical I'd like to be in multiple forums for as many perspectives as possible. If not, I've not gotten a lot of information on here and it's been indicated I'm not valued here, so no big deal either way for any of us it seems.

[crotalus]

dylanear,

I have gone over the user agreements looking for anything about linking to external sites. The only thing available is this.

"14. AFFILIATED SITES. We have no control over, and no liability for any third party websites or materials. We work with a number of partners and affiliates whose Internet sites may be linked with or made available by a SolarTown Site. Because neither the Company nor any SolarTown Site has control over the content and performance of these partner and affiliate sites, we make no guarantees about the accuracy, currency, content, or quality of the information provided by such sites, and we assume no responsibility for unintended, objectionable, inaccurate, misleading, or unlawful content that may reside on those sites. Similarly, from time to time in connection with your use of the SolarTown Sites, you may have access to content items (including, but not limited to, websites) that are owned by third parties. You acknowledge and agree that we make no guarantees about, and assume no responsibility for, the accuracy, currency, content, or quality of this third party content, and that, unless expressly provided otherwise, these Terms of Use shall govern your use of any and all third party content."

However the moderators make the rules and if they don't want to allow links to other wholesale/retailers that sell solar products I can live with that. The message could have been done with a little more finesse by the original moderator. The subsequent comments about the subject were very well elucidated. I will pull in the complete document and run it through grep to verify the link use in the document.

There is an great deal of information on this site and order use it you have to understand they control the sandbox

[dylanear]

I don't mind playing in someone else's sandbox, but only if they don't mind me having my say in general. I'm a pretty respectful and friendly forum member for the most part, but censorship by undeclared, undefined parameters better be used sparingly or I'll loose interest in that sandbox fast. I don't mind not cussing or discussing controversial themes. But I better be able to openly discuss the declared topic of a forum in that forum. There's some very helpful, interesting and open minded sandboxes on the internet. No reason to waste my time places I can't talk openly.

[russ]

Solar Town is a store - links to the sites of other stores (competitors) are generally not allowed.

Links for advertising purposes are not allowed.

Links to scam sites are not allowed.

[ppreceipt]

"a good DC wire from the tow vehicle."

"a good DC wire from the tow vehicle."

this sounds like the best solution yet. I dont' know a lot about solar, but I think a standard car alternator could charge two batteries? Especially if you are driving all the time. I guess if you are camping for more than a few days solar or generator would be needed.

[billvon]

The first is a ridiculous policy. Seemingly not consistently enforced and not declared anywhere except by mods when they feel like enforcing it.

I moderate another forum and we have a similar policy - no commercial ads.

I'd like this policy clarified by an admin or even better the site owner if possible. Bullying and censorship are poor sales tools. Why should I buy from someone who won't tolerate the discussion of products they don't even sell?

??? I have seen many other products discussed here. As far as I can tell you just can't advertise.

[russ]

No more problem with the fellow - he is gone

[Jason]

From SolarTown: SolarTown is the host of SolarPanelTalk and the main purpose of the Solar Forum is to allow both experts and novices to talk about solar energy and solar energy products and get some guidance and suggestions from our moderators and other Forum users. We do not allow advertising in the Forum. If a member wants to advertise, the member can contact us to become a sponsor of the Forum or to place ads on the Forum. The moderators sometimes allow links to products to the extent they are used for the purpose of discussing products or product specifications. If there are any questions about these policies, then the member should use the “contact us” button in the footer or simply send a message to “Jason,” which is the current name that SolarTown uses on the Forum.

[ppreceipt]

seems fair enough to me