Forum's policy on self promotion?

[ChristopherLowe]

I'm curious, what is this forums policy on self promotion? Does it make any difference if the program is a hobby project or a commercial application? I ask because this guy - Mobile app for learning languages - LingLing - suggestions wanted got shot down pretty quickly. I do agree it smells of spam but then this - Protecting your computer from Java based Attacks! is very close to being the same thing but was well received.

In short; am I allowed to start a post promoting a paid or free app on the app store that I have developed? Am I allowed to start a post promoting an open source hobby project? Can I link either in my post signature?

[KevinWorkman]

Good question. There isn't a hard-set rule to this stuff, and a lot of it comes down to a subjective judgment call. What can look like an honest advertisement to one person might look like spam to another. A heart-breaking amount of moderator time is spent dealing with spam posts, so it's probably not uncommon for a mod to err on the side of getting rid of posts, as 90% of the posts are indeed spam.

I think all of the mods would recognize your name, so I wouldn't be too worried about being labelled a spammer. I even have a link to my personal project in my signature, and nobody has yelled at me for it yet.

I say go for it. I love hearing about personal projects. That being said, I wouldn't expect much traffic from any links you post here. Most users here come to ask a question, get an answer, and then leave. You might get a few comments from the people who hang out here, but this isn't a great place for advertising, just because you won't get much traffic from it. Makes me wonder why spammers bother at all, haha.

[copeg]

Ditto what Kevin said. Hard for a concrete policy when there can be a gray area in between spam and legit, which then comes down to a judgement call on the part of the moderators. For those who come along and their first post contains links to their project(s), moderators often have to consider the intention of the post (is it for monetary gain, personal gain, search engine ranking manipulation or for the benefit of the community in the forum of sharing, learning, to help others, etc...). For members such as yourself who have a solid history of contributing to the forums, the scrutiny is often eased (but as Kevin said, don't expect much traffic).

[aussiemcgr]

Have we ever thought about adding a section to the forum for self-promotion? A sort of "what I'm working on" section or something for people to post projects and others to give feedback?

[KevinWorkman]

Have we ever thought about adding a section to the forum for self-promotion? A sort of "what I'm working on" section or something for people to post projects and others to give feedback?

You'd have to ask the admin. Haven't seen him in a while.

We already have the cafe, and with how few people would post to this new board, I'm not sure it's worth it. We already have *way* too many subforums here, IMHO.

[copeg]

Have we ever thought about adding a section to the forum for self-promotion? A sort of "what I'm working on" section or something for people to post projects and others to give feedback?

I believe forum VIP's have the ability to create blogs (link at top of page) which might suffice...not sure how much visibility those get these days however.

You'd have to ask the admin.

FYI, I have admin privileges to do this, but barring an outpouring of support agree that another forum section may not be warranted in this case.

[Ada Lovelace]

Not that one vote is going to change much - but I think
a sub forum like ausiemcgr mentioned is a good idea. I think
it could motivate people to work at projects, knowing that more
than just themselves can give views on what they have done, suggest
possible changes, offer friendly feedback and praise etc.

Of course, this sort of thing has to be balanced - and one downside
is some people could start posting college assignments in there which
would not be their own work - but a project they are instructed to
complete.

A "look at this game I wrote" sub forum used to be on a forum I
once belonged too - and it gained at fair bit of interest.
Just my two cents

Wishes Ada xx

[GregBrannon]

I suggest the details of one's projects and accomplishments should be in a blog that allows feedback, if desired. The Cafe could be used to invite others to visit and comment. This approach also provides the user with an online presence and portfolio with which to establish a reputation that many agree is a good thing to have when looking for a job.

Moderating semi-personal conversations between users is beyond what can be reasonably expected of the volunteers who moderate this forum and would likely result in disagreements. Of course, the community leaders could agree to leave the self-promotion area unmoderated, but I would not vote for that. A lawless frontier area of a forum that gets out of control gives the whole forum a bad reputation from which recovery is unlikely, typically preceding the forum's demise.

[ChristopherLowe]

For what it's worth, you guys do a terrific job keeping the noise and spam under control. It's a thankless job but it doesn't go unnoticed so I'd like to express my gratitude on behalf of regulars and newbies alike.

I agree that blogs are a more appropriate place for project discussions and feedback so I will stick to that if ever I have the need.

Cheers for clearing this up.

[KevinWorkman]

Of course, the community leaders could agree to leave the self-promotion area unmoderated, but I would not vote for that. A lawless frontier area of a forum that gets out of control gives the whole forum a bad reputation from which recovery is unlikely, typically preceding the forum's demise.

See also: Reviews / Advertising

That's an example of pretty much exactly what you mentioned. The "reviews/advertising" forum has now become filled with spam posts that are sometimes difficult to separate from legitimate posts. So frustrating.