All has been revealed!

WordPress has deigned to inform me of my heinous crime, the reason for them shutting my blog down on the weekend.

Hi,
Could you make sure that links to bookpal.com.au and any other similar links be removed please?
We no longer allow those.
Thanks.

Sheri
Automattic | WordPress.com

Mmm. Thanks, indeed. The link they are referring to is a link on my review of Charles Fivaz’ book “Heartland”. I gave the link so that people would know where to buy it. Apparently that counts as “advertising” and isn’t acceptable under the Automatticc WordPress hosting terms.

They could have told me before closing down the blog. Anyway, I’m here now, so business as usual. I trust that “WordPress Hosting”, an Australian outfit, has no such qualms.

In the meantime, thanks to all those who “thought happy thoughts” and said to themselves “I DO believe in Sentire Cum Ecclesia, I DO believe in Sentire Cum Ecclesia…”. It worked for Tinkerbell and it worked for SCE! Thanks especially to Cathnews for highlighting my plight – although as it turned out it wasn’t a case of “attacks on Catholics” at all. We can’t even blame any particular political party. They were innocent!

Nb. Visitors to scecclesia.wordpress.com will note that it is again up for viewing, but I am not using that site any more and you will not be able to leave any comments there.

Update: I replied to the note above:

I said: Well. It would have been nice to hav been told that before all access to my blog was deleted. How could I have fixed it if I couldn’t get to my blog? Or if I didn’t know what it was that I had done? I have taken this opportunity to get my own host and domain. I like WordPress as a platform for blogging, but I do find this kind of treatment a little disappointing.

And I received this reply: Some of the system warnings are automatic. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but it is a measure to prevent spam and the abuse of some links where spammers post hundreds of links to certain sites to try to promote them.

Sheri
Automattic | WordPress.com

Free WordPress users: You have been warned.

About Schütz

I am a PhD candidate & sessional academic at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. After almost 10 years in ministry as a Lutheran pastor, I was received into the Catholic Church in 2003. I worked for the Archdiocese of Melbourne for 18 years in Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. I have been editor of Gesher for the Council of Christians & Jews and am guest editor of the historical journal “Footprints”. I have a passion for pilgrimage and pioneered the MacKillop Woods Way.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to All has been revealed!

  1. Tony says:

    I guess the response is plausible, David, but I also suspect system warnings could be made a little more sophisticated, eg, one offence = one warning (even if it gives you a short time to rectify the ‘mistake’) or quicker and more comprehensive feedback.

  2. Peregrinus says:

    Well, I was in an internet-free zone over the weekend, so I missed all the fun. Didn’t know there was a problem until I checked the old address this morning and saw your moving notice.

    I’m very glad you got something sorted out! I’d miss SCE.

  3. Matthias says:

    Unprofessionalism springs to mind in relation to your expereinces

  4. Christine says:

    You’re back, hooray !!

  5. Pax says:

    It is good to know why it happened but they must lose a fair few bloggers because I can see many people recommending a favourite book or film to others !

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *