Unauthorised Advertising - signatures, referrals and home pages

[peterb]

Unauthorised Advertising - signatures, referrals and home pages

There have been several instances of members posting links to commercial websites where they have a financial interest. This has been seen in Home page areas, Signatures and in posts themselves.

In general terms posts to a non commercial website that is not operating in the same areas as HEXUS Ltd are permitted without restriction, (provided the site complies with current law and HEXUS rules - so that excludes hate sites, porn sites, and sites that are NSFW).

In all other cases "permission-to-pimp" must be obtained from HEXUS by requesting by PM to a Mod or Admin. The request will be considered and if necessary referred to the site owner, whose decision shall be final.

In general, sites that are offering content that is technical in nature and does NOT carry paid for advertising are likely to be approved, with the proviso that the link is removed as soon as the site starts generating revenue.

Sites that are selling a product or service that is NOT related to HEXUS core business will be examined on a case-by-case basis.

Recommendations for products/services that a member has used, in response to a request for help by another member may be posted without restriction in the general and technical forums.

Sites that are technology related, and carry advertising, are unlikely to be approved.

Affiliate links are unlikely to be approved (especially if it is not obvious that they are affiliate links)

If in doubt - ASK FIRST!

Members joining with the sole intention of promoting a commercial website will be considered to be spammers, and appropriate action taken.

Members who are regular contributors are likely to get a more favourable response!

[snootyjim]

No longer relevant

[finlay666]

In all other cases "permission-to-pimp" must be obtained from HEXUS by requesting by PM to a Mod or Admin. The request will be considered and if necessary referred to the site owner, whose decision shall be final.

In general, sites that are offering content that is technical in nature and does NOT carry paid for advertising are likely to be approved, with the proviso that the link is removed as soon as the site starts generating revenue.

Sites that are technology related, and carry advertising, are unlikely to be approved.

Out of curiosity how does this work for an ad supported hosted site for non-profit personal work (as it seems to hit all of the above in the case to follow), for example a blog? I went and bought some nice new domains for this purpose and will probably need to have them ad supported to help support the cost of hosting and as it would be around software development is technical, although not what hexus does, and ad supported

Just curious thats all, still need to finish making the site first though (and the side photography blog/portfolio one)

[Agent]

Out of curiosity how does this work for an ad supported hosted site for non-profit personal work (as it seems to hit all of the above in the case to follow), for example a blog? I went and bought some nice new domains for this and will probably need to have them ad supported to help support the cost of hosting and as it would be around software development is technical, so it's technical and ad supported (but unrelated to anything hexus does)

Just curious thats all, still need to finish making the site first though (and the side photography blog/portfolio one)

Add supported personal sites - absolutely fine.

The TL;DR of Saracens....I mean Peters post is:

*Personal sites are ok, provided they are not a business (For example, if you owned www.buycomputerparts.co.uk you wouldn't be allowed to pimp it).

*No affiliate links at all. The only exception we have ever made is to a charity.

*Linking to interesting sites you have no commercial interest in is fine

The bottom line is - if you're making a living / profit from it, you shouldn't be pimping it here without permission.

[finlay666]

Add supported personal sites - absolutely fine.

The TL;DR of Saracens....I mean Peters post is:

The bottom line is - if you're making a living / profit from it, you shouldn't be pimping it here without permission.

Cheers, just wanted to make sure as it wasn't 100% clear to me

[Saracen]

....

The TL;DR of Saracens....I mean Peters post is:
....

Hey!

....

*Personal sites are ok, provided they are not a business (For example, if you owned www.buycomputerparts.co.uk you wouldn't be allowed to pimp it).

*No affiliate links at all. The only exception we have ever made is to a charity.

*Linking to interesting sites you have no commercial interest in is fine

The bottom line is - if you're making a living / profit from it, you shouldn't be pimping it here without permission.

And .... if in doubt, it's better to ask. If nothing else, the courtesy of asking first will put us in a mood more conducive to a "yes" than assuming it's okay without bothering, and being wrong.

[stavroshamster]

Hi people,

There are a few of who use the photography forum who have links to sites which contain our photos but where they can also be purchased.

For example, I have a link to my redbubble page, where my photos are available to buy (although no-one has ever done so in my case and I use it instead as a convenient way of directing people to my stuff).

I don't believe anyone has a problem with this (at least it hasn't to my knowledge been mentioned before as an issue), or with anyone else having a redbubble, or personal-commercial, website. In fact - I think its quite a good thing to be able to compare your work with others... but I guess rules are rules...

Thoughts?

[Saracen]

Hi people,

There are a few of who use the photography forum who have links to sites which contain our photos but where they can also be purchased.

For example, I have a link to my redbubble page, where my photos are available to buy (although no-one has ever done so in my case and I use it instead as a convenient way of directing people to my stuff).

I don't believe anyone has a problem with this (at least it hasn't to my knowledge been mentioned before as an issue), or with anyone else having a redbubble, or personal-commercial, website. In fact - I think its quite a good thing to be able to compare your work with others... but I guess rules are rules...

Thoughts?

It's not my sole decision, but personally, I think it falls into ....

Sites that are selling a product or service that is NOT related to HEXUS core business will be examined on a case-by-case basis.

And in that case, I can't see a problem.

If you were a professional and this was your main site, it'd be different. But as a long-standing member with what amounts to an incidental but as yet unrealised potential for making a few quid, I don't see a problem.

I'm not going to give a running commentary, in public, on our thought processes for every case that comes up, but this illustrates why we have a "definitely ok" line, a "definitely not ok" line and a big gulf in-between where it's best to ask.


In general, the best bet is to PM a mod (not just me), and it'll get discussed by the team. Please be patient if it takes a few days, as we all have lives and modding is, for most of us, purely voluntary and not part of our jobs.

[g8ina]

As several of us now use Redbubble, may I request a definitive ruling please?

[santa claus]

If it were my decision I'd let the photo guys go ahead. Have you seen the quality of work in the photo section which serves to enhance the reputation of Hexus imho?

[peterb]

Under discussion.

[Biscuit]

If it were my decision I'd let the photo guys go ahead. Have you seen the quality of work in the photo section which serves to enhance the reputation of Hexus imho?

Personally i would agree

[peterb]

Hi people,

There are a few of who use the photography forum who have links to sites which contain our photos but where they can also be purchased.

For example, I have a link to my redbubble page, where my photos are available to buy (although no-one has ever done so in my case and I use it instead as a convenient way of directing people to my stuff).

I don't believe anyone has a problem with this (at least it hasn't to my knowledge been mentioned before as an issue), or with anyone else having a redbubble, or personal-commercial, website. In fact - I think its quite a good thing to be able to compare your work with others...

Indeed!


If you are using the site to showcase your work and inspire other HEXUS (amateur) photographers, then we have no objection.

However linking to a site that is actively touting for business would need specific permission. That said, selling images as a hobby rather than as a main commercial activity would be fine. We would expect the same criteria that we use in the for sale sections - not for profit, but to cover costs.