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September update: Community Ads are now live network-wide. All ads with a score of 6 or higher, or with a score of 4 or higher and no downvotes will be displayed (except for any that have a note from the CM Team explaining why it wasn't selected). Go to the main post on MSE for a list of the ads that are being displayed. And stay tuned for 2022's edition for the next opportunity to submit more ad proposals!

AUGUST NOTE: This post has now been locked and new submissions are not being accepted. Ad submissions are now undergoing review by the Community Team, and this question will be updated once the ads are live.

We're almost halfway through 2021, and in case you missed it, Community Promotion Ads are gonna be a bit different this time! TL;DR: submit and vote for ad proposals before August 2nd!

What are Community Ads?

Community Ads are community-vetted advertisements that will show up on the main site, or on other sites in the network. They can show up in the right sidebar, or in banners in question pages. The purpose of this question is the vetting process. Images of the advertisements are provided, and community voting will enable the advertisements to be considered by the Community Management Team to be displayed.

Why do we have Community Ads?

This is a method for the community to control what gets promoted to visitors on the site. The goal of this initiative is for future visitors to find out about the stuff your community deems important. This also serves as a way to promote information and resources that are relevant to your own community's interests, both for those already in the community and those yet to join. You may want to promote external resources, or Meta guidance for newcomers, for instance.

This initiative has an added goal of providing your community with an opportunity to showcase exemplary questions from your main site, as well as frequently-linked-to guides from your Meta site. While the latter makes sense to be shown solely on this site, the former can be shown all across the network. These should avoid hot button topics, and instead focus more on evergreen questions that show what your community’s all about.

Why do we reset the ads?

Some services will maintain usefulness over the years, while other things will wane to allow for new faces to show up. Resetting the ads every year helps accommodate this, and allows old ads that have served their purpose to be cycled out for fresher ads for newer things. This helps keep the material in the ads relevant to not just the subject matter of the community, but to the current status of the community. Historically, we've reset the ads every year — since this is the first run of a new format, we'll run the ads collected in this post through the end of 2021 and reassess the rotation cycle then.

The community ads have no restrictions against reposting an ad from a previous cycle. If a particular service or ad is very valuable to the community and will continue to be so, it is a good idea to repost it. It may be helpful to give it a new face in the process, so as to prevent the imagery of the ad from getting stale after a previous exposure.

Are there restrictions to the ads I can post?

All proposed ads need to abide by our Code of Conduct. Our ad creative guidelines also generally apply (note that the first 2 bullet points on the “Tracking” section do not apply, and a lot of the guidelines surrounding claims, comparisons, proof, etc., while still applicable, may not be particularly relevant). Finally, ads can not be promoting products nor soliciting programmer time or resources for: knowledge sharing or collaboration tools for technologists, or for sites where ad buyers are primarily targeting technologists.

How does it work?

The answers you post to this question must conform to the following rules, or they will be ignored:

  1. Each answer must relate to a single ad submission. Please do not post multiple ad submissions in the same answer.

  2. All answers must be in one of the below formats:

    1. If you have an image for the ad you want to display on this site (must be the case for ads to external sources):
    [![Image name. Example: "community_ad_name_300x250"][1]][2]

  [1]: https://image-url
  [2]: https://clickthrough-url
    1. If you want to create an ad for a question from your main or meta site, to be advertised on this or other sites in the network (staff will generate a frame for the ad with this site's theme, for brand consistency):
    Question title  
Question URL
Ad size (right sidebar or banner ads)
Site(s) to be displayed in. Can be:
  - "self" for ads to be displayed on this site
  - "all" for ads to be displayed all over the network
  - a specific subset of sites

  3. Please do not add anything else to the body of the post. If you want to discuss something, do it in the comments.

Image requirements

  • The image that you create must be 300 x 250 pixels for right sidebar ads or 728 x 90 pixels for banner ads. Images can be double that if high DPI.
  • Must be hosted through our standard image uploader (imgur)
  • Must be GIF, PNG, or JPG
  • No animated GIFs
  • Absolute limit on file size of 150 KB
  • If the background of the image is white or partially white, there must be a 1px border (2px if high DPI) surrounding it.

Selection process

This post will remain open for ad submissions and voting until August 2nd. At that point, the question will be closed/locked, and no more ad submissions will be accepted. For ad submissions to be considered for selection by the Community Management Team, they must have a minimum score of 6 at the time the post was closed/locked for submissions. Given this is the first run with this new format, we may adjust the score threshold to be a bit lower if we see ads struggling to get to it (especially if the ads are not getting downvotes) by the time submissions and voting are closed.

Reporting statistics

Once this cycle is over, at the end of 2021, the Community Management Team will provide you with reporting statistics, as described in the "reporting" section of this post.

Feel free to use the question's comment section to ask for any clarifications.

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    $\begingroup$ Just so it's also registered here: Having a sharp deadline, and locking in adverts for months afterwards, is a bad thing. There's no documented need for it, and it harms the process. Please reconsider that decision and revert to the previous process or to something that resembles it. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 13:02
  • $\begingroup$ @ JNat As an elaboration of my previous comment -- we regularly run ads like this one (and also election announcements), which typically score pretty well. This is a valuable mechanism for improving community engagement and empowerment, but unless the format of the current changes is reverted to something closer to the original, we will have to remove it. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 12:42
  • $\begingroup$ I've mentioned in the MSE post that we'll iterate on the mechanisms based on how the trial goes, so it's possible that we can somehow find a way to accommodate more time sensitive ads in the future. For the trial, though, that's out of scope, so I'd recommend removing it for the trial, @EmilioPisanty. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 12:52
  • $\begingroup$ The votes are valuable (if nothing else, as evidence that this is something we do use) and the answer can be removed later, so there doesn't seem to be a point in removing it now. It's also quite concerning that you're referring to this advert as "time sensitive". It's not time-sensitive: it's just a way to improve community engagement that gets broken by the introduction of unnecessary and artificial time limits on the voting. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 12:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The system was fine and the changes harm it, and as yet there has been no explanation as to why those changes are necessary or even how they make the process on the SE side even a little bit simpler. So, I'm sorry if I'm being blunt or unsympathetic or I seem intransigent. I keep arguing this case (and will continue to) simply because it matters, and there hasn't been anywhere close to the recognition that it absolutely needs to be re-handled for us to trust that it will. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 12:59
  • $\begingroup$ "Time sensitive" was referring more to the election ad than that one. That one's not time sensitive, indeed, just... weird to display if the ads are not dynamically generated as they used to be. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 12:59
  • $\begingroup$ Precisely. We used to be able to tell people that this space is theirs. The current changes mean that we can't tell them that. This is a problem. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 13:00
  • $\begingroup$ And yes, there are also time-sensitive ads. I hope you can see the value in using that space to advertise a moderator election. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 13:01
  • $\begingroup$ On MSE, I mentioned a few times that there's old unmaintained code that we need to do away with, and I also recognized that the new system loses features that the old system brought. I don't know what other type of justification for changes you're hoping I can give you, but that's what I have. If you can bear with us through the trial, as I mentioned before, we can hopefully iterate on the system — I am by no means saying there is no value in the types of ads you're highlighting, and I (once again) recognize that this trial system takes away the ability to use those in a way that makes sense. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 13:05

15 Answers 15

Reset to default
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Physics Stack Exchange Review Queues

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  • $\begingroup$ Not my original graphic, but I don't have a link to the original handy. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 22, 2021 at 10:43
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Detexify: automated LaTeX symbol recognition

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12
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See our tutorial for typing mathematics using MathJax and LaTeX

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arXiv.org: the leading open access eprint repository

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Common topics on Matter Modeling Stack Exchange

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    $\begingroup$ It would be better without the Comic Sans. $\endgroup$
    – Buzz Mod
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 0:30
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    $\begingroup$ @Buzz Thanks for the feedback! Do you suggest we just use the $\LaTeX$ font for everything? The logo is a collaborative effort and you can make changes if you'd like. All pictures in there are also available here. $\endgroup$
    – user1271772
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 0:35
  • $\begingroup$ No, I think varying the font is good; just some fonts don't look as good and/or are frequently disliked. I do notice that some of the other expressions ("DFT" in particular) seem to have some pixelation that could probably be resolved. $\endgroup$
    – Buzz Mod
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 0:53
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    $\begingroup$ Agreed on all accounts! $\endgroup$
    – user1271772
    Commented Jun 18, 2021 at 0:55
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Astronomy Stack Exchange

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History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange

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Unpaywall Browser extension: click the green tab and skip the paywall to read research papers for free, legally

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Academia Stack Exchange

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TeX FAQ: All your TeX questions answered!

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    $\begingroup$ These graphics are all really cute lol. $\endgroup$
    – Rushabh Mehta
    Commented Jun 26, 2021 at 16:23
  • $\begingroup$ This doesn't appear to conform to the size guidance provided in the question. Please flag this answer with a link to the properly sized image hosted in i.stack.imgur.com so that I can replace it so we can display this ad. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Aug 4, 2021 at 15:21
  • $\begingroup$ Update: I used this image as is, and the ad serving system resizes the image to conform to the size mentioned as a restriction. The ad will not look distorted, since the proportion stays roughly the same. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 10:35
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Community ads are run by the community. Come and vote!

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm curious about the downvote on this ad. This is a valuable community space and this advert has been considered very valuable in the past. Are attitudes shifting? Could downvoters explain why they dislike it? $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 25, 2021 at 10:34
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I didn't downvote it myself, but I admit I don't quite understand the point of this ad with the current format. The ads are frozen for the year (or maybe "updated every once in a while".. it doesn't seem like this has been decided yet), so this would advertise the possibility to decide for the next year/ads iteration? It sounds like a nonoptimal way to utilise the ads space $\endgroup$
    – glS
    Commented Jun 26, 2021 at 13:46
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @glS I think the core message is the same: this is a valuable community space, which is nevertheless (i) hard for new users to discover and therefore (ii) worth explicitly promoting. Given the change in format, votes on this advert are a particularly valuable indicator that this kind of advert is valuable to this community and should be protected from the changes (i.e. it should not be made moot by the changes). $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 28, 2021 at 9:29
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ ... though, of course, if SE retains the present format despite our protests, I will withdraw this advert by deleting this answer. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 28, 2021 at 9:36
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DLMF: an online encyclopaedia of special functions

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Computational Science at Stack Exchange

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Zotero - your personal bibliographic research assistant

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Mathematics Educators Beta

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    $\begingroup$ This room has been created to connect people interested in online collaborations (study group & research group). Please first read the guideline of the room. If you have any question, request, suggestion, criticism, ... about this project, please send your messages in this room. $\endgroup$
    – Later
    Commented Jun 19, 2021 at 6:17
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ There's a hell of a lot of wasted whitespace on this (v1) image. Why not expand the purple upwards and include the text there? $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 21, 2021 at 9:24
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ As a more serious technical concern, this image does not fit the size requirements as laid out in the question. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 21, 2021 at 9:24
  • 6
    $\begingroup$ And as a particularly serious concern, the base graphic for this image seems to be plagiarized; it appears on this article attributed to "elenab/iStock/Getty Images Plus". Can you explain whether you have obtained a license for it to be displayed on this site? Without explicit consent from the copyright holder, images cannot be displayed. $\endgroup$
    – Emilio Pisanty
    Commented Jun 21, 2021 at 9:27
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I would recommend adding some text to the image, to explain what the ad is about. $\endgroup$
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Jun 21, 2021 at 13:15

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