Anonymising Referrals From RFD

[iamnotamerican.com]

Especially when it comes to freebies, there is occasionally a problem with people clicking straight through from RFD, due to the fact that some domains block users who have been referred from sites such as RFD.

I have noticed on another (non bargain hunting) site that they use http://anonym.to/ to 'derefer' links, so the receiving web site doesn't know where the visitor is coming from.

I think that kind of service would have an application on RFD, however since RFD doesn't review or control (prior to posting) the content of posts, there may be some changes needed. Perhaps the addition of several text boxes (similar to the 'Title:' box when posting a new thread) to the New Thread/Reply screens in which people could post URLs, and then scripting through the RFD site that automatically encodes the URL with the appropriate anonymising addition? The links could then be placed at the top or bottom of a post when displayed in the forums.

Just a thought...

[HBP]

Not a bad idea, but anyone serious about getting a Freebie will copy/paste the link anyway.

I'm for it, but it's probably too much work because posts aren't reviewed.

[ladybug193]

You can make it a straight link so that it must be copied and pasted.
Uncheck "automatically parse links in text" under miscellaneous options when posting.

[twotterdhc6]

You can make it a straight link so that it must be copied and pasted.
Uncheck "automatically parse links in text" under miscellaneous options when posting.

The easiest solution would be having the "automatically parse link in text" option UNCHECKED as default, rather than the other way around. This way, people will have to make a conscious effort to allow direct hotlinks from their posts.

[Jucius Maximus]

You can forge the referrers on the browser level by using RefControl.

[ladybug193]

You can forge the referrers on the browser level by using RefControl.

An excellent tool for Firefox users from what i've heard. I won't part with my Roboform though, it doesn't work with Firefox

[majesus]

An excellent tool for Firefox users from what i've heard. I won't part with my Roboform though, it doesn't work with Firefox

Hehe, I love ROBOFORM, extremely handy tool to have.