Question about the Licence Agreement regarding subdomains

[Regulus38]

Good evening,
I have a more or less complicated question regarding your licence agreement. Especially the sentence: “Each License may run one instance of the Software, accessible via one URL.”

In the Pre-Sales FAQ is mentioned:

6. Can multiple domains or subdomains be used with a single license?
Yes, as long as the domains or subdomains all resolve to the same installation, all of the content is available at every domain or subdomain, and there is no attempt to make them appear as separate installations.

Which of these two statements are now valid?

Regarding the FAQ entry I have an additional question. What exactly means “all of the content is available at every domain or subdomain”.

If I would have a site call XXXgaming.com which has also 2 sub domains.
csgo.XXXgaming.com
cod.XXXgaming.com

The main site XXXgaming.com now has 3 categories: Main, CSGO and COD.
On XXXgaming.com you see the Main Category and links to csgo.XXXgaming.com and cod.XXXgaming.com
If you browse the site csgo.XXXgaming.com you are presented with the category Main and CSGO.
If you browse cod.XXXgaming.com you are shown:Main and COD.

Would this now be allowed if the Navbar is the same everywhere and also the general design, logo, and name are the same. You also would be able to browse to any of those subdomains over an entry in the Navbar.

Would this now fit the requirements to use a single license or would I need to buy 3

I hope you can understand my question.

Best regards,

Regulus38

 

[Regulus38]

Hey,

I normally really hate to bump threads but it's now 1 week since I posted my question. If you need time to discuss or figure it out for yourself, it's no problem. It would just be nice to get an update. Even if it's only: "We are working on it."

Best regards,

Regulus38

 

[Paul B]

In general, the term 'all of the content is available at every domain or subdomain' would typically mean that the forum index on all 3 domains would be the same.

Is it one database or 3?

Are you using a multi site add-on which allows registration and sign on from one site across multiple sites?

Does 'new posts' and site searches only show content from each domain, or all domains?

 

[Regulus38]

would typically mean that the forum index on all 3 domains would be the same.

What exactly are you meaning with index?

Is it one database or 3?

It would be 1 database

Are you using a multi site add-on which allows registration and sign on from one site across multiple sites?

I would use a mulitsite addon, but only to get nicer links and to customize the sidebar. The account would be the same.

Does 'new posts' and site searches only show content from each domain, or all domains?

The site search and the 'new posts' would show everything.

The only goal is to seperate the categories more than it's already possible. The forum would else be really long and the sidebar even longer. It's just to increase the usability for the users. By directly showing them only the information regarding their game.

 

[TPerry]

I would use a mulitsite addon, but only to get nicer links and to customize the sidebar. The account would be the same.

If using a multi-site add-on and presenting the site as a totally different site, I"m pretty sure you will need a license for each one.

 

[RandallC]

correct me if I am wrong how I am reading it is.

csgo.xxxdomain.com would be a direct link to the csgo category on the main forum xxxdomain.com
cod.xxxdomain.com would be a direct link to the Call of Duty Catagory.

so in terms of that you should be able to use the same license. because it would be the same as if xenforo used public.xenforo.com to redirect to the public category.

Is that what you are doing?

 

[Brad Padgett]

As far as I'm concerned the answer is fairly simply. 1 installation = 1 license, 1 database = 1 license.

What the license agreement is saying is you can't run more than one instance of the software without buying more licenses.

However, if there's only a single installation, no matter how it is displayed I don't see how you would even ask that question because the answer is easy. Are you installing it more than once? If you don't install it more than once and it's a single database then the answer is a given

 

[Regulus38]

If using a multi-site add-on and presenting the site as a totally different site, I"m pretty sure you will need a license for each one.

It's still the same website and the multi-side addon is just used to make the links look nicer and edit the sidebar.

correct me if I am wrong how I am reading it is.

csgo.xxxdomain.com would be a direct link to the csgo category on the main forum xxxdomain.com
cod.xxxdomain.com would be a direct link to the Call of Duty Catagory.

so in terms of that you should be able to use the same license. because it would be the same as if xenforo used public.xenforo.com to redirect to the public category.

Is that what you are doing?

Kinda, it's just supposed to have a little bit more seperation from the other categories.

As far as I'm concerned the answer is fairly simply. 1 installation = 1 license, 1 database = 1 license.

What the license agreement is saying is you can't run more than one instance of the software without buying more licenses.

However, if there's only a single installation, no matter how it is displayed I don't see how you would even ask that question because the answer is easy. Are you installing it more than once? If you don't install it more than once and it's a single database then the answer is a given

There are already a couple threads about it and as far as I found out, there are cases, when you need more than one licence for one installation.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Slightly OT, but worth considering the fact that if there are three domains all with all the same nodes and threads so essentially the same content (ie even though the main homepage link is different), then this could be detrimental to SEO.

Although I'm not sure. Only one domain can be defined in basic board information, and that I think would be the canonical link on all pages, meaning Google would not pick up the other domains.

EDIT: I've just seen this setting in basic borad Information:

Enable board URL canonicalization

If enabled, the board URL setting will be treated as the canonical installation URL. If visitors access your site through a different URL, they will be redirected to the appropriate canonical URL. When enabled, you must ensure that your board URL setting is correct. If it is not correct, areas outside the admin control panel will not be accessible!

 

[Regulus38]

I hate to push this thread again but I answered your questions last week, could I maybe get an update?

 

[TPerry]

I hate to push this thread again but I answered your questions last week, could I maybe get an update?

Basically it's always been if the site presents itself as a different site (different content viewable, different (or same style), different domain name answering) then it requires a separate license.

 

[Tealk]

I have a similar idea.
If you have several categories that are similar users have the incredible ability to write exactly in the wrong forum.
If you could split that up, it would simply prevent that.

It would have different content views but the same content and each content would be accessible from anywhere. The style and the name and everything else was the same and if you only use sub domains there are no different domians.

 

[TPerry]

use sub domains there are no different domians.

Actually, a sub-domain can be a totally different "domain" for server purposes.
Think mail.whatever.com, mx.whatever.com, webmail.whatever.com. Those are frequently on a different server than the HTTP hosting one.
And frequently for licensing most packages, a different sub-domain entails an additional license.

 

[Tealk]

You buy a license and you can use itno matter if I only have one main domain or 5 subdomains running on them.
and if the subdomains pre-filter the visible content has no influence on the license so far.
So I think this is a little bit illiberally to say it's new content.

 

[TPerry]

You buy a license and you can use itno matter if I only have one main domain or 5 subdomains running on them.
and if the subdomains pre-filter the visible content has no influence on the license so far.
So I think this is a little bit illiberally to say it's new content.

Pretty sure it's already been explained numerous times by XF developers/staff if it has the appearance of separate sites on separate domains (and sub-domains do count as separate domains), then individual licenses are required for each one.

I mean, honestly.. this is pretty self explanatory [emphasis added by me]

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the payment by You of the applicable fee for the Software, XenForo Limited grants You a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to install, download and use a single instance of the Software ("License") through a single installation. Each License may run one instance of the Software, accessible via one URL. Any attempt to circumvent this limitation is prohibited and will result in the License being revoked.

 

[Tealk]

in this case it is not a separate look but only a category that is preselected, if you click on forum you are back on the main page

but in that case, the multisite is very uninteresting.
is there an addon for smarter users?