Is It Okay For Plugins To Promote Themselves?

The upcoming release of the DualFeeds plugin for WordPress includes an optional feature which promotes the plugin by displaying ‘Powered By DualFeeds’. I want to know what you think about this – is it okay for plugins to promote themselves?

The feature in question is the DualFeeds sidebar widget, which provides links for the reader to subscribe to the Full Post, Summary and Comments Feeds. You can see an example of it in my sidebar – the bright orange one!

The user does not have to use this feature. They can set the sidebar widget to use text links, or they can manually setup links to the feeds in their theme.

I stopped short of adding a link to the plugin home page (though I was tempted), because it was too close to the Comment Feed link. I didn’t want people accidently clicking the DualFeeds link by accident.

Some plugins, such as the excellent Lucia’s Linky Love do add a link (it can be turned off), but most plugins don’t promote themselves at all.

What do you think – is self promotion by a plugin okay? Please let me know in the comments or via the following poll:

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I appreciate that the circumstances have a bearing on whether it is acceptable or not, so I’d be grateful for any specific feedback on the “Powered By DualFeeds” statement.

Tags: DualFeeds, linking, poll, promotion, Wordpress Plugins