Hi and welcome! The no self-link policy means you can't post something you made yourself, nor something you have posted on youtube etc. In other words, you can't upload a video you didn't make, but have uploaded to another video site.

Have fun posting vids

Hello! Thank you for replying. However, I think I am feeble minded!!!

....."The no self-link policy means you can't post something you made yourself, nor something you have posted on youtube etc."

Still don't get it!!! (This is embarrasing) Here is a link to videos that I made and posted to youtube. I can't post any of them here? Sorry, forgot to put in link. http://youtube.com/user/DOTandMATILDA

I saw the cats and dog channel, and would love to be a part of it.

Am I missing the point of this site? Is it for people to find interesting videos that other people have made, then post them?

I just found this site accidently, and thought it seemed really different from other sites... it also seems like an "alive" community of real people!

I will happily pay to upgrade when I have re-read all the stuff, but I ca't get past this first thingy...

In other other words, there's no need to convert a movie file into a flash one, since you can't post it here anyway. Just know that we appreciate you actually reading the rules, as many people don't.
Happy Sifting!

I'm still reading the rules, but I fear that my brain is sitting in a jar next to me on my desk... I don't get it... I don't want to self promote and be banned!

OK, second try:
You can't post anything that you, yourself, have put on the internet. Be it something you've made yourself or something you've found somewhere else and have posted on one of the Sifts accepted video hosts (look to the right the screen). Or any other host for that matter. I'll give you an example; you've got a video of a South Park-clip on your computer that you would like to sift. You post this video to Youtube. You CAN'T post this video to VS, even though you had nothing to do with the making of this video. Doing so would be a self-link.

Hope that clears thing up

I should have read here first..

Matilda, I just left you a message on your profile saying pretty much the same thing as the other guys have here.

Yes, if you had anything to do with the making of it, or you yourself have uploaded the video to somewhere and linked it here then it's a self-link.
We're all about finding other people's posts and bringing them here.

Shop for a really good video and sift it. When it's reached 10 votes, you're in. Then make a few friends and talk one of them into checking out your pet video. They could try it here for you.

It's a little effort, but worth it. This is a fun community to play in

From the posting guidelines section:
While you may see this site as a great way to promote a project you are working on or promoting, it would be bad for our content if everyone just put up videos of them and their friends doing random things. If you are associated with a project you think is truly amazing and must be shared, please contact us. We'll take a look at it and if we also think it's great too, we'll post it for you. If you attempt to post it yourself, your video and account will be deleted. Hey, it's harsh, but it's harsh love.

So in short, this community is dedicated to "sifting" out the best of what's on the web and bringing you only the highest quality videos out there. Maybe one of your videos is of that quality, but you shouldn't be able to determine that as you are biased. Of COURSE you like your own videos...you wouldn't have them if you didn't. So we're trying to eliminate as much bias in this community as possible. That starts with eliminating the ability to post one's own videos.

That being said, I have watched a couple of your videos and they may have potential here. I suggest going out there and scouring the web for what you feel aare quality videos and post them to the site (remember to check for duplicates already on this site). Get some recognition and ask a new found videosift buddy to help you by submitting your videos. Asking questions and being "vocal" by submitting sifttalk posts is always a good way to get your name out there.

Good Luck,
Rottenseed

PS: Message me if you need help on the technical aspect of submitting a video

This site is a meta-video site; that means we have embeds from other hosts, youtube, vimeo, google video, etc. You cannot host a video here.

The self-link rule in essence is: if the video in any way contains you, or you had a hand in making it, you are not allowed to post it here.
You can get someone else to post it, but not post it yourself. It's the number one reason we ban people, and mostly they just didn't understand that rule.

People may argue that the self-link rule is stupid, but because we're not about selfpromotion, like youtube and every other host, and instead about evaluation quality it makes sense.

I hope that clears it up a bit.

And welcome.

oh, and almost all hosts use flashfiles as streaming video - if you can push buttons directly on the video, it's a flash.

Sarzy's cat's breath smells like catfood.

This is not a site about creating. It is a site about relaying and discussing. We are critics. Some of us may also be artists, but we will not use this forum to advertise for ourselves - unless another one of our fellow sifters chooses our work by happenstance.

However, MATILDAandDOT, I'm sure you will be happy to know you can self-link to your heart's content in the blogs section. Feel free to start as many blogs as you wish with personal videos in them. So, if you have some videos of your cat you'd love to share, feel free to post there.

so nobody offers to post it for the newbie.....
choggie will, send me a link-

^Always the ladies' man

so what was the risk again of self posts, if they suck, the community will reject them, if they are awesome, we are all the better for it, and how many times could someone really keep the self-awesomeness going? seems low risk to allow this.

sooo... i could post my most excellent vid to youtube from a different account/isp, like maybe the library or work, then "discover" that vid and link to it here. ima jeanyus.