Remove the "Special Thanks" link?

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philipdygeus
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Hello

I recently became a client of InMotion and am currently setting up my site, philipus.com. Being both a photographer and a writer, I will only use my own content on the site.

I have read this thread (https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/boldgrid/remove-special-thanks) about the inability to remove the Special Thanks link at the bottom of one's site. Being also a practising lawyer, I certainly believe strongly in giving credit where it is due, but I hope you could answer the following questions:

1.

The persons shown on the Special Thanks page are the following, all of whom are, apparently, photographers:

Nick Wilkes
Benjamin Combs
John Mark Arnold
Brandon Morgan
Larisa Birta
Brooke Cagle
Christopher Campbell

In my case, where all photographic content will be my own, please explain to me why I should need to give credit to the above persons?

2.
Wordpress is, last time I checked, free. Why should I have to give credit to them?

3.
The information given about InMotion is that "Web hosting support is provided by InMotion Hosting". As a paying client, I fail to see why I need to have this credit on my site. Please explain this to me. As you know it is also very easy for someone to find out who is hosting a site.

4.
Lastly, I accept that BoldGrid is used as a web building. But, again, as a paying client, why should I need to say 'thanks' to those who provide this functionality given that I pay InMotion for all of the services for which I signed up? It flies in the face of logic to have to do so.

I expect that the answer to my questions will, in light of the discussion in the thread above, likely be "because that's how it is".

If that is the case, then I urge you strongly to rethink this policy. It is exceptionally disappointing to realise now that I am already a customer that my site will look as if it is someone else's site.

Thanks,
Philip Dygeus
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Tim S.
Hello philipdygeus, Thank you for your question about BoldGrid and the attribution pages it creates. Hopefully, I can shed some light on the subject for you. Let's go question by question to make sure I answer all of your questions and I promise no, "that's how it is" answers! I've reviewed your website you mentioned in your response, and it looks like you've already removed the attribution links. 1. In your original site, when going through inspirations, the site launched with images that were others professional work. Fotolio, the company behind the images, requires those licenses to give credit to the photographer. As a photographer and a writer, I hope you can understand why this is so important. If someone were to use your work, I'm sure you would want credit for it as well. As long as the images remain in your media section of BoldGrid, you are technically still using them so the attribution still displays. If you want to remove the names, simply remove those images (delete them for the media section in your dashboard). After visiting your attribution page, it seems the images are being used currently and the attribution page is correct. Which bound by the creative commons license you have to provide attribution. The creative commons license does not cover what you might do in the future (like use your own content), but what you are doing right now. 2. WordPress is free but WordPress itself includes an attribution link in the basic installation. Every WordPress site contains "Proudly powered by WordPress" with a link to WordPress.org. This is absolutely normal behavior but is often removed by premium themes. BoldGrid, has in some sense, followed in WordPress footsteps when it comes to providing credit. 3. BoldGrid offers this attribution when they license approved hosts. We provide the software but you are still bound by the terms of using the software. Now, that's not to say you can't find ways to accomplish removing the pages like you've done. But in good faith, with our agreement with BoldGrid, we honor that. How you choose to do that is a personal choice. 4. BoldGrid is free to use. You have paid for web hosting from InMotion Hosting. Now, InMotion provides BoldGrid as a courtesy to our customers. You aren't bound by any agreement to use it. It's entirely up to you what you build your website with and whether you choose to honor the licenses of those products. BoldGrid will eventually launch a premium license which may remove those links but there's no date set for when that might be. I understand your frustrations. I've built numerous websites, and I typically do not want a bunch of attribution links on the main page of my website. But as a company, we have to honor our agreement with BoldGrid. Keep in mind, while BoldGrid was initially built to meet a need of ours, it's a separate company that we have a client relationship with. We totally understand if you choose not to use it. That's entirely up to you. However, for customers who aren't as savvy with using their own images and creative content, we think BoldGrid fills an important need. Gratefully, Tim S