Affiliation Rules - Too Strict?

[Sàm]

I see a flip-side circumstance here. With a new site versus an older, more active site, one might think, "Well, the new site probably won't get active, so why bother?" The thing is, though, a site probably won't get active unless it's spread around more -- and also if it catches your attention. Rules like "No flashy/bright/uncharacteristic skins" are a little more rude, but ultimately, I think they are more important.

The opposite side of activity rules is that it could result in a chain reaction. Let's say you affiliate, yes? If people check the affiliated site and like it, they might join/be active, thereby making the new site more active. What does activity do? It generally attracts more people. Do you really want to join a site that probably will just die out right then and there? Getting more members on a new site is hard enough without all these sites telling you that you're not active enough. Advertisements are nice and all, but the odds of someone sitting there and reading page after page of advertisements on another site aren't very high. Now, when this new site begins to get more members, the likelihood of someone seeing the affiliate for the older, more active site increases -- and if people like it, they join. The numbers increase for both sites.

Obviously, that isn't guaranteed, but it's possible and certainly worth considering. Maybe it's better to give a site a trial period, rather than saying "no" right off the bat. Just because they're not active now doesn't mean they won't get active, and helping someone get the word out for his or her site is definitely a way to at least attempt to get the site active.

... [/rant] xD

[victory1]

I don't affiliate at all. I advertise mostly off proboards because you get lost in all the RPG sites here. There should be a sub-board in the advertise board for non-rpg sites since there are so many of them and some of us have 0 interest in shuffling through the mass. I don't know if affiliation works since I chose not go that route and I think I got my board off the ground fine. We are less then 3 months old so I might change my mind. Also, I did look at the beginning in January when I started my site for affiliations since I saw most Proboards had them and I did not know anything about setting or running a forum but the few I was interested in affiliating with, their requirements for affiliation was a joke; they don't even qualify to affiliate with themselves.

[Former Member]

i would think that the admin of the site should take into consideration the fact that usually sites just getting off get a lot of guest traffic, and those guests will also see your affiliate wherever the affiliate bar is located. Overall i think that post counts and member counts are a little ridiculous for affiliating, and i would agree with the people who say that more established sites would go under static and that the newer sites would be in the marquee. As for my own rules I usually just require that my own banner is up and that is all, and if i check and find an inactive site I give notification before removing the button.

[Ara (Crow)]

I always tend to affiliate with brand new sites, mainly because of the guest traffic, and I've noticed when I do this we get a heavy increase in guest count, and the last time I did so, we got a total of eight new members from four affiliates. Reason I know being that I asked.

As for rules, I'm pretty loose there. The only thing I have it that they have to be at least a little active, only exception is if they're just starting off. Whenever I make my rules, I go by making them as loose as possible, no member minimum (only for static), no amount of people on ia daily basis, and no guest/member restrictions. The only thing I am even the least bit picky about is the quality of the affiliate banner. If it's thrown together in five minutes, and it shows, then I usually throw it in marquee, or deny the request altogether.

[iota]

the only thing i ask for is the banner to b 88x31 otherwise it screws up the affiliate rolling banner code i use. Other than that, no rules I do find it annoying that some forums are quite "arrogant", i saw one saying that the member count had to be 400+ and the board had to have 1000 threads..heh.. noobish if yoou ask me.

My forum has 200+ threads and there are only 28 of us so far in 28 odd days. It's a matter of choice i suppose, but the only rule i will ever have is the banner size, we all had to start somewhere and i will not show elitism or favouritism

[Thesealion]

I think it is just to hard to find non RPG boards to affiliate with

[Candice]

May 17, 2010 11:45:33 GMT -8 Thesealion said:

I think it is just to hard to find non RPG boards to affiliate with

Hi Welcome to D:YP,

As per the rules, please make sure your posts are longer than 4 sentences. May state why you think it's so hard, give a bit of details to your post.

Thank you.

[garth]

I don't affiliate anymore. It takes up time during the loading process, and its a pain to find people to Affiliate with. most people have ridiculous rules, and really don't stay loyal to their word. I've had a few people have me put up their affiliate banner, but when it came time to put mine up they would say "maybe later" or "I don't know where to put it"

Advertising > Affiliating

But there are also ridiculous rules for advertising

[The Mad Hatter]

Personally, I understand the need for limitations because, like most people have said, affiliation is suppose to be mutually beneficial where an active site is helping another active site. Of course it is completely up to the admin. Rules such as 30 active members a day and things of that vein, however, do irritate me. A site does not need to have 30 members online a day to be active as it is not those online that make a site active but rather the number of posts per day.

It has been mentioned somewhere in the thread, not sure by who, regarding the use of static and marquee affiliates and this, I find, to be rather effective provided it works both ways. If you're affiliate button is static on another site, and theirs on yours, then you're likely to get more people noticing it so you're going to want to be affiliating in this way with an active site. Marquee affiliates scroll through and people don't stop and watch it just to see what is there (at least not everyone does) so this is a good place for newer affiliates trying to get out there but who do not offer your site as much as a larger more active forum would.

The only real rules I have are:
1. the banner must be 88x31 OR they must change the size in the code -- this is to make it easier on us and make our forum look neater... we also request that the border be set to 0 but it is not a compulsory thing as we can add it in later on.
2. our banner must be up first -- this is courteous and we do check these things, we also ask where the banner is located so that we can find it easier.
3. if your site becomes inactive, is deleted or our banner is removed then we remove your banner -- people are free to reapply if their banner is removed for inactivity (by this i mean no-one logging on at all besides, perhaps, an admin or two) or if they have simply moved out banner elsewhere without letting us know of the change. mistakes happen and we're all too happy to remedy it and come to an agreement.

[~Sarzah~]

I think it makes sense to limit affiliates, due to the fact that a whole bunch of them down the bottom just makes the whole site look really messy. One of the sites I help run doesn't actually have affiliates at all at the moment, due to the fact that they were slowing the boards so much, taking away from the whole point of the sight. Another has just three - trusted sites, mostly run by friends of mine; that way, I know their sites are in good hands, and I have some warning if they're going to be abandoned anytime soon.

[``D.uecalione]

I like to affiliate, because Like Crow said, it brings guest traffic. I only have 3 simple rules which are very easy to follow. 1.) is that our banner be up first. 2.) is that they be either active or brand new. 3.) is that their banner can be no larger or smaller than 88x31. I have the third rule in place because it is small and we can put more in. I am also only currrently allowing 22 affiliates. This is because the are on a side tab'e, and I don't want it to stretch. i plan to add a marquee once we fill in all 22 slots. And then if the marquee is filled, then I will get a full affie table. But overall I think that I don't really have restrictions on the rules. Also 22 affies isn't a bad amount. It is just enough if you ask me.

[``HEATHER-LICIOUS``]

Yes as Blue says above, i do agree with that, though i think that there are some rules that are slightly too specific. I am a "newbie" to this as many of you are/ were at one point. I have not made my banner yet, though i intend to make one. I think that at least 20 is good enough, You don't want your board cluttered with too many affiliates or not have any.

[ToriJ]

I can understand having limits with activity depending how active you are. Since affiliation is supposed to be a two way street, as many have said already, you should also benefit from it somewhat. It doesn't work too well when you're an active site affiliated with a new one who would benefit more from this deal than you.

Although at the same time I don't like to be 'too strict' with any rules, even affiliates.

May 25, 2010 20:21:27 GMT -8 The Mad Hatter said:

The only real rules I have are:
1. the banner must be 88x31 OR they must change the size in the code -- this is to make it easier on us and make our forum look neater... we also request that the border be set to 0 but it is not a compulsory thing as we can add it in later on.
2. our banner must be up first -- this is courteous and we do check these things, we also ask where the banner is located so that we can find it easier.
3. if your site becomes inactive, is deleted or our banner is removed then we remove your banner -- people are free to reapply if their banner is removed for inactivity (by this i mean no-one logging on at all besides, perhaps, an admin or two) or if they have simply moved out banner elsewhere without letting us know of the change. mistakes happen and we're all too happy to remedy it and come to an agreement.

Those are mainly my rules each time I have affiliates and I find them to be entirely reasonable

As for why have affiliates strict and advertising not be, I think it's due to how easily ads can be lost to one another like Kami said, though I personally don't like to allow advertising since I feel it clutters up the ten most recent posts deal at times.

[rarzasaur]

Personally, the reason I have few affiliates on any site I've had is because of the rules. They want member counts, post minimums, etc, etc, etc, when really -- if a site had 50 active members who posted every day, they wouldn't NEED to advertise! And isn't that the point of affiliating -- to advertise in the top spot on a site, the place everyone sees whether they're looking for it or not? The only rule, I think, that affiliates should have is "I post yours, you post mine" concerning banners. It isn't fair when sites ask for affiliates, but never seem to remember to put up other banners. Or they put them in this obscure, out of the way, hidden on all but one page corner that makes affiliating with them more pointless than just posting in the advertisements board.

[Ellis]

It seems that member rules are futile especially if you are using a new site. By the time you reach 40 members or what have you, you won't need to get your site out there with quite the same gusto. On the other hand, affiliating to a site that dies in a month is not good either. For my site at least the only difference between an advertisement and affiliation is the level of connection. While I advertise everywhere, I only affiliate with sites that are somehow connected either through players or theme, or that are sites that just catch my eye. If that makes any sense.