Links to Blogs - What's Proper?

[Mr. White]

In an attempt to respect the community here and keep the forum alive, I don't want every post to be a link to my blog. Often times, I just copy and paste wholesale from my blog as a new post here, so users don't have to click a link but get to read the content. However, I see a lot of times people just post a few pics with a link to their blog for more descriptive details. Is that the way to go? What's your preference as a forum user? How do we respect the value of this long running forum when opting to include blog content?

[Pattus Magnus]

I think this is a good question- in some forums norms seem to take on a life of their own and go wild.

Personally, I don’t mind when people post material and pics that are the same as the content on their blogs. I also don’t mind when people provide a short summary and/or a few pics and then give a link that I can follow if I choose. I think the second approach is best when there is a large amount of material.

The only thing I dislike intensely is when someone posts almost nothing and then gives a link. I never follow those up.

[modelwarrior]

I just have a link at the bottom of the post. I don’t mention anything about a blog and just leave the link so if people are curious they can take a look. I suppose it’s down to the reason people post. Are you just posting to share content and ideas or are you more interested in driving up hits on your blog/web site or whatever ? I agree with the comment already made about people just posting a link and the bare minimum of info,in that I never follow the link either.

[Codsticker]

I also don’t mind when people provide a short summary and/or a few pics and then give a link that I can follow if I choose. I think the second approach is best when there is a large amount of material.

This is the approach I take; I usually post a couple of pics, a brief description and a link to my blog at the end . I enjoy other peoples blogs though so I don't mind how others do it even if it is nothing but a brief description and a link. It also matters how involved you are on LAF. IF you only post occasionally and many of your posts promote your blog then then that may turn some members off. However, if you a regular contributor to LAF and occasionally post links to your blog nobody should have a problem with that.

[Westfalia Chris]

We had this discussion a couple of times in the past,  hence the following section in the forum rules: 

2.13 Blog links but no pics

It’s generally considered poor form to simply post a link out to your blog without showing any content here. It’s not mandatory to do so, but the forum only exists as long as members contribute content. So please contribute some content. Even one picture or short summary of what can be found on the blog link you’ve posted.

So, it would ge nice if you provided a teaser, ideally in such form that it can stand on its own but also provokes interest that people will visit the linked target. A short intro text and a sample image or two won't go amiss.