Can’t find some info I know was here
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I’m sorry.. I hate to bother forum volunteers but I’ve been searching the FAQ section for a bit now, and can’t find what I’m looking for even though I know it’s here somewhere.
Wasn’t there some “official” word about paypal donation buttons being allowed on our blogs? I thought I’d seen something but I’ve just read the ToS over again and either I’m stupid and missed it, or it’s not in there.
Second question.
I have operated my blog believing that we are not allowed any affiliate links at all. I’m good with that. It’s the rules, and I respect that but recently someone told me that we are allowed one affiliate link without penalty. This doesn’t seem to match what I recall and am just looking for something official about it.
Thank you tons and tons!
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First of all, you’re being way to humble in framing your question. We’re here to be bothered. And we like to answer friendly questions.
1) A quick search doesn’t bring it up for me either. Though this has never been fixed in official writing, AFIAK, a donate button for blogging expenses is deemed absolutely reasonable.
2) Affiliate links are ok under certain circumstances. Let’s say you’re writing a book review. You can link to the book with your Amazon Affiliate link.
I think a good rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t do anything on the blog for predominantly commercial purposes.
Please don’t take that as gospel until someone diggs out the proper links.
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I try to always be friendly in here; being a forum volunteer can be a thankless task and I appreciate that there’s always someone here.
I just wanted to make sure there was “official” word available somewhere because I’m waiting for a reply from support. I found a warning on my blog today and when I replied to it, I got mail saying it was because I have paid content and/or paid links on my blog and to take them off. I’ve never had anything other than my donate button, so just wanted to make sure nothing had changed and I was still allowed it.
It’s obvious that someone’s made a false report about my blog for their own personal reasons, since I’ve never done paid blogging and have never had anything commercial on my blog. I’ve already replied to support and I have total faith in the WordPress staff; they’ve never let me down before. I was just trying to be dilligent in making sure I hadn’t missed a change in policy.
Thanks!
About that affiliate link though, does that mean the link would be in the related post (as in your book review example) or is it that a blogger can choose one company’s product and display a 24/7 link in their sidebar.
(I don’t and have never had one of those either, just asking.)
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I think the issue is with some of the text widgets you’ve got. They LOOK like paid ads, because they’re slick. You’re certainly allowed a Paypal donation button and now they’ve loosened things up so that you may be allowed to link to your Etsy store or your Amazon store or what-have-you, but that does need to be run by staff. But getting paid to display something is definitely not allowed.
If I were you I’d be patient. Staff are overwhelmed right now with the upgrade and I’m sure they’ll get around to answering you sooner or later. Nothing will happen to your blog in the meantime if you’ve followed their instructions, because you are not actually breaking any rules.
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Oh, and the Search function in the forums appears to be utterly useless at the moment. It’s been bad for a few months, but now it won’t even turn up things remotely related to the subject matter. I’m using google.
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Thanks raincoaster. I’m guessing you mean the buttons for the different features on my blog that are in my text widgets. Yes, they only link to pages at my site where readers can follow along with regular themed content, like my lolcat scripshers or my Monday Melee, etc. The only payment I get from that is the satisfaction of people returning to read those regular features.
On the other sidebar I have mainly my fuelroll widget. It has nothing to do with money either. I don’t even have an Etsy or anything yet. LOL, so I really was freaked out at the warning message when I logged in. I’ve put so much work into the blog it would be a tragedy to lose it.
Thanks for the reassurance. I’ve been rather stressed about the whole thing today. I’ve always been such a “go WordPress” cheerleader, giving others heck for trying to cheat and stuff, that it floored me to be told I was violating ToS. I feel better now. Thanks. You’re a gem.
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I’m going to mark this resolved because my question about the information I was looking for, though a link to it wasn’t found, was still answered reliably by trusted volunteers.
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You’re so absolutely charming, fracas :-)
If you ever need a line of CSS or two, shoot me a note on my contact form.
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Thanks deltafoxtrot, I just may do that! I know I <I>could</I> learn CSS if I wanted to, but then I’d have to either ignore my kids, or my blog (which is like a fourth kid) and that wouldn’t be such a good idea. Your blog is pretty slick. ;-)
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