English words "crank" and "crackpot"/"crackpottery"

[pc2]

salutations,

when reading the posting rules at a science-related forum (http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374), we found the words "crank" and "crackpot"/"crackpottery", of which meaning we are not sure.
here is the paragraph:
"Advertising for personal gain of any kind is not permitted in any forum. Commercial spam will result in an immediate ban. Posting science website links will be permitted occasionally, but will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Linking to obviously "crank" or "crackpot" sites is prohibited."
does anyone have some idea of what those words mean in this context?

thank you in advance.

[ANTHOS]

crank and crankpot mean crazy

I suppose it means pseudoscientific sites, ie sites that pretend to be scientific but are not.

Also to prevent links to sites that try to use science to sell products, eg. a site promoting a plant extract as a miracle weight-loss product with "scientific" data that is not scientific at all

[pc2]

crank and crankpot mean crazy

thank you for the response. it makes sense.
but what is the correct spelling? "crankpot" or "crackpot"?
or are both spellings correct?

[ANTHOS]

crank and crackpot are two different words.

Both are used to denote a person who is a bit weird/eccentric/bizarre.

[pc2]

crank and crackpot are two different words.

Both are used to denote a person who is a bit weird/eccentric/bizarre.

thank you for the response.

[solbjerg]

a crank a. A grouchy person. b. An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
a crackpot a. An eccentric person, especially one with bizarre ideas. b. a nutty person.

Cheers
solbjerg

crank and crackpot are two different words.

Both are used to denote a person who is a bit weird/eccentric/bizarre.

thank you for the response.

[Tyori]

From a purely common use, and in this context, it means false, stupid or... well, sites that cause you problems, like you know those links you sometimes get that lead you to a page where you have to hit the OK button 100 times to get in?? Or sites that cause shitloads of popups! It's telling you NOT to do that. It wants legit stuff.

salutations,

when reading the posting rules at a science-related forum (http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374), we found the words "crank" and "crackpot"/"crackpottery", of which meaning we are not sure.
here is the paragraph:
"Advertising for personal gain of any kind is not permitted in any forum. Commercial spam will result in an immediate ban. Posting science website links will be permitted occasionally, but will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Linking to obviously "crank" or "crackpot" sites is prohibited."
does anyone have some idea of what those words mean in this context?

thank you in advance.

[pc2]

From a purely common use, and in this context, it means false, stupid or... well, sites that cause you problems, like you know those links you sometimes get that lead you to a page where you have to hit the OK button 100 times to get in?? Or sites that cause shitloads of popups! It's telling you NOT to do that. It wants legit stuff.

salutations,

when reading the posting rules at a science-related forum (http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=5374), we found the words "crank" and "crackpot"/"crackpottery", of which meaning we are not sure.
here is the paragraph:
"Advertising for personal gain of any kind is not permitted in any forum. Commercial spam will result in an immediate ban. Posting science website links will be permitted occasionally, but will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Linking to obviously "crank" or "crackpot" sites is prohibited."
does anyone have some idea of what those words mean in this context?

thank you in advance.

thank you for the answer!