Probably a stupid Question!!!

calliopeia

Do you have to get permission from a web site before you put a link on your own website???? Stupid, but I don’t want to offend!!!:rolleyes:

tba

Nope, most websites will be happy with the traffic.

Ph3n0m

tba wrote:

Nope, most websites will be happy with the traffic.

actually that is very misleading.

http://www.allbusiness.com/articles/Contracts/653-1551-1861.html

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=permission+to+link+to+a+website&btnG=Search&meta=

Most sites prefer a link direct to the homepage and not just an internal page. The best option is to seek permission.

tba

Ah yes there is the odd pedantic webmasters, but a good rule of thumb is to link to them as you would want the to link to you.

calliopeia

Ok, thats helpful. Would I contacted the webmaster/site admin or the company? I would like to link to boards, cos I think its a great site and I've gotten so much help here all ready! Would have to have my site up and running before hand so they could take a look and see if they want me linking to them? thanks

Ph3n0m

webmaster/site admin would normally be the people I approach

rsynnott

(IANAL)

It was once a big deal, these days it has died down a bit. The upshot is that there is nothing preventing you linking to websites generally, with or without permission. Conditions where linking might be dubious:
- To a site which contains copyright violations
- Bypassing some security system (though any security system based on people not typing a particular link is of course fatally flawed)
- Setting yourself up as an alternative index for a site and linking directly into lots of articles (at least in Germany this is illegal, and there was an unresolved legal case in the UK).
- If the title or context of your link is defamatory (ie. link with title "This company steals peoples' money" or similar)

There have been a few legal cases based on linking, but all of them have involved many, many links, and money being made. Just linking to someone's website/blog post/whatever is allowed, and to be honest in this day and age I wouldn't see any need to ask, either.

Interestingly, I have been imaginary-internet-sued by a member of this forum on this issue: http://blog.rsynnott.com/categories/smeggles-threats/ This forced me to read up on the issue a bit, though the entertainment value may have been worth it. So, if you don't want annoyance, don't link in an uncomplimentary way to the Timecube guy or similar. But linking to normal people should be fine.

calliopeia

Thank you both for your advice! You have both been very helpful. I'm probably going to ask, just to be nice. There's no harm in it, it just polite! Thanks again.

Karoma

It may put a strain on their resources. However, if it's causing an issue for them then they should block the referral or contact you. Just go for it, don't ask. It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Linking to Boards.ie shouldn't be a problem

rsynnott

Karoma wrote:

It may put a strain on their resources.

Oops, yes, that's a point, actually. If you have an audience of millions, it's very impolite to link without asking. (I once has 50,000 or so people turning up on one of my websites in a 2 hour space; I was mentioned in one of those 'what's on the web' newsletters. I was not best pleased.

Dar

rsynnott wrote:

Oops, yes, that's a point, actually. If you have an audience of millions, it's very impolite to link without asking. (I once has 50,000 or so people turning up on one of my websites in a 2 hour space; I was mentioned in one of those 'what's on the web' newsletters. I was not best pleased.

Also known as the Slashdot Effect. This has been known to bring webservers to their knees within minutes. Send a website 1000 visitors and you're a saint. Send 1,000,000 visitors and you're their worst enemy .