cag8f

Jan, I can honestly say I’m not trying to break the rules, nor looking for a wink-wink-loophole, nor looking to debate the rules with you. I am just trying to understand the rules, their intent, and see if I can work within them to possibly resolve my issue. Sorry if I’ve been a little daft so far.

>> Plugin authors who do that risk getting banned and their plugin closed. That has happened in the past because they present on face and hide behind anonymity with their other account. That’s trolling and that has a very short life here.

Well I don’t think that’s *always* trolling. I certainly wouldn’t use it to troll. BUT…I can see how it could enable trolling.

Anyway, your last message made it clear that what I want to do is patently against the rules. I think the documentation behind all this could be improved, as it still seems to contradict you a bit. Nevertheless, I will abide by the rules you have made clear in this post. Thanks for being patient. I am glad that is now clear, and we can move forward ??

>> In a short while I am closing your non-plugin author cag8f account. Please stop and confirm that’s what you want to happen between the two accounts. No more looking for a loophole please.

OK. But I’ve asked this question a few times: if you close the cag8f account, what will happen to the WP forum posts that were recently created by that account—those that are still open (example)? Will they remain open? If so, will I receive an email notification when someone replies?

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by cag8f.

What if I removed the carlgross user, and the plugin, for now. After, would I be able to do anything so that I could (within the rules) post to other forums from the cag8f user, and also upload/manage my plugin/plugin forum from another (more public) user? Everything you’ve said today indicates ‘no.’ But, this page seems to indicate otherwise. It reads,

>> If you want to have two accounts, where one is your personal account and the other is “You at the company” that’s totally fine.

Isn’t that exactly what I’m requesting? I mentioned earlier that I don’t have an officially registered company. But I do have an unofficial company name, under which I do business. Would I be able to start over, use that company name, and with it, “…have two accounts, where one is your personal account and the other is ‘You at the company’…?” Wouldn’t that accomplish what I want? Or would I not be eligible for that?

I guess I’m asking: who exactly is eligible for a company account? Would I be able to start over and create a company account (without breaking the rules)? If so, would I then be able to continue to use the cag8f account (without breaking the rules)?

>> The multiple accounts exception is a very limited exception for plugin and themes related support.

I think you’re saying that separate ‘company accounts’ are allowed only if the company has a specific plugin or theme in the WordPress repo they are supporting. Would that be accurate? If so, then I understand why I would not be able to create separate ‘company accounts’ for each of my clients, and post questions on their behalf.

If that is the case though, why wouldn’t carlgross be eligible to be a ‘company account?’ Is it because that account doesn’t actually represent any formal, registered company? (to be clear, it does not) If that is the reason, then I understand.

I appreciate your information so far. In light of everything, here’s my point of view. Until now, I have been able to post end-user type questions to the forums with relative anonymity, using the cag8f account, which does not display my name, bio, etc. Now that I’ve built a plugin on the WordPress repo. It seems to me that, if I want to manage it in a more public manner, from an account that *does* display my name, bio, etc, then I have to give up all the end-user anonymity I previously enjoyed. Giving up that anonymity is just a bit of a bummer. It seems like I’m being punished for wanting to maintain my plugin publically.

I definitely understand that a lot of nefarious forum activity comes from multiple accounts. But it seems to me there is some collateral damage with the wide net being cast here. Good people doing productive things are being stifled a bit. On the surface, it seems that this could be alleviated if one person could maintain a more public developer account on the forums, and a separate, more private, end-user account on the forums.

OK no worries—I understand you have a job to do and I respect that.

>> by noon my time say 4 hours I will close your old account unless you say close the new one before that.

OK I hear you. But what about the questions I asked? Specifically, if you close the cag8f account, what will happen that user’s existing, unanswered, forum posts? Will I still receive email notifications if someone replies?

Also, let’s say I choose to relinquish the cag8f account, and keep the carlgross account. I have a related question about company accounts in that case. First of all, I realize the carlgross account is not a company account, nor am I hoping to convert it to one. But let’s say one of my clients is a real estate company named Island Real Estate. Would it be OK for me to create a WordPress account specifically for that client–https://www.ads-software.com/support/users/islandrealestate/–and use that account to post all activity related to the work I do for Island Real Estate? To be clear, I’m not trying to circumvent any rules—-I want to be compliant. But by the way you’ve defined ‘company account,’ it seems like such accounts are intended for just this purpose, i.e. use that account to post all activity related to that company. If so, I think it would alleviate some of the privacy concerns that I’m having. Specifically, until now, the cag8f account has been able to post with relative anonymity—as desired. If, in the future, I post all activity from the carlgross account, that anonymity will be gone (since the carlgross account contains my full name, bio, etc). If I can create separate company accounts for each of my clients, I would be able to continue to post to the forums—regarding client websites–with relative anonymity. Again, my plugin is not related to any of my clients.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by cag8f.

>> Your accounts here can only be used on the www.ads-software.com domain sites and not anywhere else. They are not connected to any other site or any other WordPress installation.

OK I understand all that, although I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘WordPress installation.’ Are you simply saying my WordPress forum account would not grant me login access to any specific WordPress installation? If so, then yes, I understand.

>> Pick one to keep or I will make the choice for you.

Is it really that urgent? I would prefer it if it could wait at least until I fully understood the situation, and asked my follow-up questions (which I still have). If you absolutely need to delete one of the users right this second, I guess I could delete the cag8f user now. But before you do that—that user currently has open forum posts that are awaiting reply. If you delete the user now, what will happen to those posts? Will I still receive an email notification when someone replies to those posts? Or will those posts be abandoned, forcing me to create a new post with the carlgross user? Or something else? Can I at least have some time to note the URL of those posts, in case I need to revisit them from the carlgross user?

>> Are you saying that from now on, I will always have to post to the WordPress forums from one single account–the same account I use to manage my plugin?
>> That’s not what I am saying and it is good for you to ask.

Really? Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but to me, It seems like that this is indeed what you are saying. To clarify, you are saying that right now I have to choose to relinquish one of my two users, and continue to use one single user for all my future forum activity. Specifically, any time I post to any WordPress forum, it will have to be from that one user. That is how I am understanding this. But can you clarify any misunderstanding?

For example, you later say, “…you cannot have two accounts.” Doesn’t that validate my understanding of the situation?

I apologize for all the questions. I’m not trying to be combative. I’m asking a lot of questions only because I want to be clear on the rules, and ensure I am compliant.

OK I understand the sockpuppet guidelines now–thanks for that clarification.

And I see that you are saying one of my two users must be made into a spectator now, and that you are giving me a choice. Before we proceed though, can I describe my situation and get some clarification on protocol? I am the WordPress admin for several sites (all with different clients), and hence, ask many questions in the WordPress forums about themes/plugins/WordPress–all related to sites I manage for these clients. In my spare time, unrelated to any of my clients, I built this plugin. Are you saying that from now on, I will always have to post to the WordPress forums from one single account–the same account I use to manage my plugin? That would be a bit unfortunate–it would be helpful to be able to maintain two separate and unrelated accounts. One would be a very public account I use solely to manage my plugin (with my real name, etc), and the other with which I could post about client issues, and maintain anonymity (as I’ve done with @cag8f until now). Is that allowed with WordPress?

Thanks.

@tylerthedude OK thanks for that. I’ll have a look at git-svn. Is that what you use for plugin development?

@jdembowski Thanks for that.

>> To use that channel you need a Slack account. You can obtain one via these instructions.
>> https://make.www.ads-software.com/chat/

OK got it. Is it required that I create a Slack account using those instructions? Or, if I already have a Slack account (that I use for other purposes), can I ask the #pluginreview channel using that account?

Hello. Has anyone had a chance to look at this yet?

I am still not sure what you mean by, “plugin deactivation and activation depends upon WordPress admin.”

>> Yes, if you remove it from your Cpanel server or FTP manully it will not come again.

OK. I will now remove the plugin via FTP, and monitor it. If the plugin returns, I will open a new ticket. Does that sound OK?

Great thanks. We can consider this resolved.

Great thanks. We can consider this resolved.

Hello. Is there any update to this?

@wfscott

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I’m now currently migrating my site–both live site and dev site–to a new web host. When that completes, my dev site may be configured differently (i.e. it may be on a sub-domain, instead of sub-directory as it is now). In light of that, how about we close this ticket. When my hosting is fully migrated, I can check if this issue is still present. If so, I’ll try your latest suggestion. If there are still issues, I’ll create a new ticket, and reference this ticket at the same time. Sound good?

Hello. Any update on how I can prevent this in the future?