Why I have affiliate links on my site – full disclosure
By Anne-Mieke Bovelett on April 27, 2022
Status: Updated on October 20, 2024
First of all, I am not some affiliate tramp
I only recommend products I use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. Some posts and pages may contain affiliate links so that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission when you purchase that product or service through that link.
The earned commission supports open-source developers
I donate to open-source plugin developers when their plugin is used by me in a commercial project. You can read more about that in my article called “The ease of supporting open source developers“.
Long term sponsorships
In 2021, I discovered there is a possibility to sponsor developers on a regular basis via GitHub! In 2023 I also started sponsoring via the Open Collective
- The first developer I started sponsoring on a monthly basis is Joe Dolson. He’s doing great work in online accessibility and creates great accessibility related plugins for WordPress.
- I also sponsor Birgit Olzem, who is doing great work in the field of DEIB in WordPress.
- Another great project is YOURLS, a url shortener you can install on your own server, keeping all the data to yourself. It powers my shortlink called annes.link, and gives me simple anonymous statistics about to how many times a link was clicked, which country, and traffic sources. But no IP addresses or anything that could track or trace. I already sponsored them via GitHub, forgot about that, and recently started sponsoring them via Open Collective as well.
- Then there’s PHP CodeSniffer. It is an essential project for coding standards. PHP CodeSniffer is a crucial tool for PHP developers because it helps maintain consistent coding standards across projects. By detecting and correcting coding standard violations, it ensures code quality, readability, and maintainability12. This is especially important in collaborative environments where multiple developers work on the same codebase, as it reduces the likelihood of bugs and makes the code easier to understand and maintain3.
I also support accessibility & inclusivity activists
For the second year in a row, I decided to support Raul Krauthausen. He’s an author, blogger, podcaster and talk show host. He’s mainly publishing in German, but recently, Raul began publishing a newsletter in English called Disability News Digest. I’m a fan of the way he communicates. I’m fond of his ways, his wit, and never cease to be amazed at his seemingly never-ending productivity.
I want to sponsor more!
The donation and sponsoring happen, with or without additional funds coming in through affiliate links. But that has its limits. With money earned through these affiliate links, I can go beyond these limits.
Thank you for reading this far.
Love,
Anne-Mieke