Are advertisements allowed on the Ceramic Arts Daily Forum?
No. Our motto is "Talk business, don't do business." Please use this phrase to guide you. Another way to think about it is to ask yourself "Do I stand to gain financially from this post?" If the answer is yes, please don't do it.
Why are advertisements not allowed on CAD Forum?
This forum exists for discussion, information exchange, and community building. If we allow users to buy and sell goods and services here, many people would come here only for that. There are numerous other places on the internet for this. Anyone who wishes to purchase a classified ad, to appear in Ceramics Monthly and on the Ceramic Arts Daily website, can do so here:
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramics-monthly/classifieds/
Can you provide some specific examples?
You may not promote your own goods or services, or those of any business with which you are affiliated.
You may provide opinions and recommendations (good or bad) about products and services with which you are not affiliated, and if you do not stand to gain from your opinion.
You may include a link to your website, and/or your online store, in your Signature. Your Signature, along with your About Me blurb and your Photo Gallery, is part of your Profile. The purpose of your Profile is to allow other users to learn more about you, and it is not considered part of the conversation stream. If your Profile inspires another user to buy your work offlist, that's ok.
In the body of a post, you may include a link to your own website, and other websites. However, the content of the post must not contain a "buy it" message.
Please note that the following types of links are generally not allowed in the body of a post: a link to your own online store, or to an ad on PotterBarter, Craigslist, eBay (or similar websites). In most cases these links will be deleted, regardless of the context.
Posts that are of a fundraising nature, including crowdsourcing campaigns, are also not allowed on this forum, even if you are promoting a fundraising campaign that is not your own.
On rare occasions, a post will fall into a gray area, and a judgement call will be used to determine if it qualifies as an advertisement, or not. But the examples above cover the vast majority of all the cases we have reviewed.
Are there any exceptions?
Yes. You are allowed to promote legitimate ceramics-related events (e.g. classes, workshops, exhibitions, festivals, etc.), in the Events section of the forum. This is not allowed anywhere else on the Forum, only the Events section.
