# What are the rules on advertising other websites?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [March 13, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566 "2011-03-13T18:52:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Slightly\_mad\_scientist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slightly_mad_scientist)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/1 "2011-03-13T18:52:08Z")
I’m a member of a newly created Questions &Answers site for skeptics, dedicated to debunking pseudoscience and myths. I do think this site would be of general interest to dopers as the “mission” is essentially the same as here, fighting ignorance.
Would it be acceptable to post a thread describing the site and linking to it on this board? I don’t want to spam the board with unwelcome content.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/2 "2011-03-13T19:00:40Z")
You may have the link in your sig.
Paid members can post promotional information in the Marketplace.
Beyond that, it is pretty much considered spam
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### Author:  [@Slightly\_mad\_scientist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slightly_mad_scientist)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/3 "2011-03-13T19:07:11Z")
Thanks for the answer. I didn’t think of the signature, that’s a nice alternative.
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### Author:  [@Slightly\_mad\_scientist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slightly_mad_scientist)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/4 "2011-03-13T19:12:37Z")
URLs seem to be disallowed in signatures. Understand I correctly that I may put the address of the site as text in my signature, but not as a link?
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/5 "2011-03-13T19:14:42Z")
Oh, wait, sorry, sigs may be a members-only perk also. :smack:
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/6 "2011-03-14T14:53:47Z")
Go into your board profile and set the URL as your home page.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/7 "2011-03-19T01:45:37Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> Oh, wait, sorry, sigs may be a members-only perk also. :smack:
No they’re not. Unless you mean coding in sigs.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/8 "2011-03-19T01:47:28Z")
I remember having a site in my sig when I first joined and got an email from one of the mods telling me I couldn’t do that. So either it _is_ members only or the enforcement is really inconsistent.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/9 "2011-03-19T08:33:26Z")
I’m having a few clarity issues here.
Why was it okay for Curtis to promote his board [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601138), but not for the OP to promote a site which is essentially the same?
I don’t care one way or the other; however it appears to me to be inconsistent.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/10 "2011-03-19T13:15:47Z")
> [@Cicero](#):
>
> I’m having a few clarity issues here.
>
> Why was it okay for Curtis to promote his board [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601138), but not for the OP to promote a site which is essentially the same?
>
> I don’t care one way or the other; however it appears to me to be inconsistent.
You’re right. My thinking, such as it was, was that Curtis was doing a straight spinoff, whereas the OP was promoting someone else’s board, but that’s not a hair I really need to split, if it exists.
**Slightly mad scientist** , if you would like to start a single thread in MPSIMS announcing this board, you may do so. The usual one-bump-only rule applies.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/11 "2011-03-19T13:17:24Z")
Sorry Twickster, I was just getting confused.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/12 "2011-03-19T13:19:09Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> I remember having a site in my sig when I first joined and got an email from one of the mods telling me I couldn’t do that. So either it _is_ members only or the enforcement is really inconsistent.
[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7697069#post7697069)’s the rule on sigs. The mods discussed sometime within the last year and are now allowing people to promote their own sites in their sigs.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-rules-on-advertising-other-websites/574566/13 "2011-03-19T13:19:41Z")
> [@Cicero](#):
>
> Sorry Twickster, I was just getting confused.
Understandable. They were contradictory decisions.