Is it good tone to link your own (open source) projects to support your answer?

Question

Often, when I answer a question it is because I have dealt with a similar issue or otherwise have knowledge/experience/tips regarding the problem at hand.

I write out the answer, possibly put in a code snippet or two if it is relevant, and then include a link to a project of mine (I only have like 3 on GitHub as I am kinda specialized). It is meant as a "further reading" kind of thing, with a short sentence or two explaining how it could be relevant. The reason I do this is I know that I would have found something like that extremely useful if I were in such a situation - I feel there is often lack of certain types of information, including working, practical implementations.

To add to this, the projects themselves aren't meant to succeed commercially or otherwise and are meant as a learning experience for myself, and by putting them online I hope to share the learning with others. The answers I give do not depend on the link either - it and surrounding context can be fully edited out of the answers and they would still answer the question.

Is this considered okay or obnoxious? Useful or unnecessary?

Answer 1

When done right, it's fine; the information for how to do it right is covered in the help on how to not be a spammer. The key points as I see them are:

• The answer needs to be complete. If removing the link or mention of the project significantly reduces the usefulness of the answer, there's a problem. the problem may be the answer, the question or both, but it needs to be addressed. (A well written answer with project link to a "where can I get resources" question is still in trouble because the question is off-topic.)
• Disclosure is important. The Use text for flagging as spam currently reads (emphasis mine)"Exists only to promote a product or service, does not disclose the author's affiliation."

Based on the wording of your question it sounds like you're taking the right things into consideration. If the questions are on-topic, your approach doesn't strikes me as obnoxious, and I agree that providing some implementions as examples can be very helpful.