What are best practices for adding a collapsible section to a theme?

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Has the SMF crew ever remotely locked down a forum or had to deal with any bad apples legally or otherwise ever?

SMF has no back doors, so to the first - no, but to the latter - yes.

[I Agree]

I've thought about it. And I think you guys are being a little reactive here.

Since this seems to be a precedent (well amongst the people who've seen the topic so far) here's my take after actually thinking about it (something I probably wouldn't have done if this hadn't just come up like this)


A) Virtually no piece of software has a copyright always visible.

B) They sometimes do have a trademark.

C) In this case, there is actually a trademark... in that the first bar prominently reads Simple Machines Forum (as in our SMF)  ...  I actually thought about putting a TM/C on there (as a compromise) but thought it was gratuitous/ugly/not really appropriate.

D) Generally how you find the copyright etc for some graphical software is an About dialog or something.

E) In this case, if the user was actually visiting for the very first time, and someone unbeknownst to them had previously collapsed the copyright info on the browser they were using...

F) What kind of person (knowing the name of the website was not Simple Machines Forum) would be able to resist the urge to click on that + to see what it was hiding?

G) Finally, even if they are a very not curious kind of person. How is that much different from an About dropdown on a shared computer?

True, maybe you don't get a splash screen or whatever. But all things considered, it seems like a better deal than micro print at bottom of the page no one will ever pay mind to anyway. And even as a technicality, what is there technically here really to protect? Versus say what you gain in SMF advocacy.

Just my two cents. I'll of course work with you guys if its really worth your trouble

Peace.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

I've thought about it. And I think you guys are being a little reactive here.

Since this seems to be a precedent (well amongst the people who've seen the topic so far) here's my take after actually thinking about it (something I probably wouldn't have done if this hadn't just come up like this)


A) Virtually no piece of software has a copyright always visible.

Actually - very often web software allows you to remove the copyright notices, in exchange for money, or otherwise you are forced to keep them intact.

B) They sometimes do have a trademark.

Trademarks are a different thing completely, Simple Machines is a registered trademark (r).

C) In this case, there is actually a trademark... in that the first bar prominently reads Simple Machines Forum (as in our SMF)  ...  I actually thought about putting a TM/C on there (as a compromise) but thought it was gratuitous/ugly/not really appropriate.

Where exactly would you have added a TM/C? Simple Machines is (r). Also, because Simple Machines is a registered trademark, you should avoid making your forum suggest you have any affiliation to Simple Machines.

D) Generally how you find the copyright etc for some graphical software is an About dialog or something.

Actual Software is quite different, because in order to find their copyrights etc. you already know what software you are running

E) In this case, if the user was actually visiting for the very first time, and someone unbeknownst to them had previously collapsed the copyright info on the browser they were using...

What we are speaking of, is wether or not making it possible to hide it is allowed or not, it has little to do with how it works in practise, it's legalese....

F) What kind of person (knowing the name of the website was not Simple Machines Forum) would be able to resist the urge to click on that + to see what it was hiding?

I don't know, but I'd say many.

G) Finally, even if they are a very not curious kind of person. How is that much different from an About dropdown on a shared computer?

Like I said, actual computer software is a very different case all together, and can't really be compared here.

True, maybe you don't get a splash screen or whatever. But all things considered, it seems like a better deal than micro print at bottom of the page no one will ever pay mind to anyway. And even as a technicality, what is there technically here really to protect? Versus say what you gain in SMF advocacy.

Just my two cents. I'll of course work with you guys if its really worth your trouble

Peace.

Lastly, I would like to point out I'm still unsure if you would be allowed to do that or not So don't take this the wrong way

[I Agree]

Where exactly would you have added a TM/C? Simple Machines is (r). Also, because Simple Machines is a registered trademark, you should avoid making your forum suggest you have any affiliation to Simple Machines.

No I get this. I would've used (C) unless I could find an example somewhere and would've assumed (R) anyway. TM is just what people think about when you say trademark for obvious reasons. Was just being facetious/not really thinking while typing that, sorry.

Actual Software is quite different, because in order to find their copyrights etc. you already know what software you are running

Not really. A lot of the time About dialogs will include multiple mentions of library dependencies and etc which the user would not otherwise be conscious of... especially in a shared environment. You can argue a webpage is like a document, but something like SMF is really more like software. But I'm not arguing.

Lastly, I would like to point out I'm still unsure if you would be allowed to do that or not So don't take this the wrong way

I think it's silliness personally (don't you guys have better things to do) but out of respect I'll stay posted. IMO if people want to do something that might abridge a copyright they have to look for the copyright their self. I mean if SMF just wants credit, in this case at least, the word "simple machine forums" is right there. I liked how it looks personally, but you can't have a collapse widget with no context.

Please anyway, add something practical to your license agreement about collapsing the copyright. It seems pretty clear that can be done respectfully and with good reason.

PS: I get if you've a prefab license which must be adhered to by the book. That's well over my head legal nonsense wise. But if it's just a personal preference thing, it should not be offensive. I hope we don't need a digital millennium act or anything to clarify this to someone.

I'd think a folding document would be a fine argument. Like because a piece of paper folds, that doesn't obscure its copyright for any purposes.

[Joker™]

Any comment on this topic? Can we mark it as solved now?

[I Agree]

^Yes we can...

And for the record I did get around to adding a perma-copyright to the bottom of the theme