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I've taken Classifieds out of "Latest/Recent Posts" feed

Mike Greene

Mike Greene

Senior Member
Moderator
The Classified Ads section has been a PIA sub-forum. We have to keep monitoring for illegal stuff, plus the subject lines are often misleading if you don't realize it's a classified ad. They might say "VSL at half price!" which makes me think, "Oh, VSL is having a sale!" It's annoying. (Especially since I'm the guy who has to scan for sales threads and move them into the Deals sub-forum.)

What's especially annoying is that some "members" there aren't really legitimate members. They're just professional ebay guys who found another outlet (a free outlet) to sell their stuff. That's not what the spirit of the sub-section is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a place where a legitimate member has something for sale and (s)he can sell it to their friends here on the forum.

Honestly, I'd like to get rid of the section altogether, but a number of people say they like it. So for now, I'm going to experiment with keeping the section, but taking it out of the Latest Posts feed. That way, the people who like classified ads can go there if they want, but the rest of us don't have the extra clutter in our feeds.
Click to read more...
 
Chill, your a courageous person in these days of unrest ;)

Mike, I have gotten several very fair deals there, including freebies (no sexual favors) from all around great guys, and made some life long friends as well so I hope you do keep it please. I could also see where some of the commercial guys might not like it because it might seems to keep biz and traffic away from there sites, not saying that for Mike, just sayin'.

Here are a couple ideas...

A volunteer or small stipened staff member (free library or something a year) to monitor the ads for your concerns. No I am not volunteering :rofl:

A user post count (10, 50, 100 ?) or member time (1 month, 3 months, etc.) before you can post to the classifieds. This way you make the classifieds a member privilege.

I am pinging in a couple members that are very good with these types of things as well for any other ideas they might have.
@TigerTheFrog @rrichard63
 
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I think it's a fair idea just to take it out of the recent posts feed. It shouldn't be free advertising... if you want something, you go there and look.

That said, I'm the kind of guy that, needing absolutely nothing, love browsing the classifieds just for fun. Definitely vote to keep it. I've also gotten rid of a lot of things (at very generous prices) through the classifieds here. Which is what it should be for, really.
 
Actually, I would vote for reinstating the classifieds in the regular Recent/Latest Posts feed. Or perhaps make it optional (user settings ftw!). I much prefer to keep my new VI-C posts on a single page (don't have time to browse through lots of different forum sections), but I've been delighted on a number of occasions by being able to pick up a lib that I've had my eye on for months/years spontaneously when a member offers it for sale.

For one, I don't recall ever being confused by "VSL @ 40% off!" thread titles. But if others are, perhaps it would be a good idea to simply bold/emphasize the forum in which each recent post exists, so that it's more eye-catching.
 
Keeping Classifieds Subject lines basic Like...

FS: NI Komplete 11 & N

...other pertinent info in the message body

Taking time to scan the sub forums is a privilege and escape from doing real work for me.
 
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I think the classifieds are a great way for "musicians helping musicians." I certainly prefer to post things on here as opposed to on craigslist or eBay.

Maybe have a selection box when creating a thread for "FS" or "WTB" which automatically puts that in the title and then leave it in the latest post feed?
 
My guess is that removing the classifieds from Latest Posts and Recent Posts will turn out to be the only change needed. You can't make everybody equally happy, at least not all the time. This is the best compromise available.

On the suggestions about enforcing rules about subject lines: feasibility depends entirely on what the software platform (I'm forgetting what it's called) provides. While this idea has merit, it's not worth writing custom code. Ditto the suggestion about restricting new threads to members with a specific amount of experience (e.g. "trophy points"). That would be fine if it's already a feature of the software that just needs to be turned on.
 
I have actually bought a few things from VI-C Members in the not so distant past from so I definitely have found it useful.
 
Yes Mike, but nobody will use it, I'm sure the view will be divided by 10 or more.

I get your will to not turn the forum into a trading site. I think it's healthy.

But, as I'm not rich guy, my next VI is often bought with the money I get from selling others VI, most of the time here.

A fair rule, that will keep away the guys who want to do business, could be : only one thread at a time that sell only one product.

Leon
 
leon chevalier said:
Yes Mike, but nobody will use it, I'm sure the view will be divided by 10 or more.

I get your will to not turn the forum into a trading site. I think it's healthy.

But, as I'm not rich guy, my next VI is often bought with the money I get from selling others VI, most of the time here.

A fair rule, that will keep away the guys who want to do business, could be : only one thread at a time that sell only one product.

Leon
Click to expand...

I will definitely use it. When I am looking to buy something I always have a look so I couldn’t really care less about it being in the Latest/Recent Posts feed. It makes no difference to me.
 
Just chiming in to affirm the classifieds as a thread that I have successfully used and will continue to do so... and that I agree 100% with taking it off the feed... need to keep that open for all those HW Choir threads! Seriously, thanks for keeping the classifieds in the forum.
 
leon chevalier said:
only one thread at a time that sell only one product.
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I think that's way too extreme. Many people often have many things they want to sell. What then? You have to wait for each item to sell one at a time? Could take months to sell a handful of items that would normally only take a week to sell. Having only one thread with everything makes sense but at the same time if you have a number of items, people might never see the thread and see something they'd like (since you wouldn't be able to list everything in the title).
 
rrichard63 said:
My guess is that removing the classifieds from Latest Posts and Recent Posts will turn out to be the only change needed. You can't make everybody equally happy, at least not all the time. This is the best compromise available.

On the suggestions about enforcing rules about subject lines: feasibility depends entirely on what the software platform (I'm forgetting what it's called) provides. While this idea has merit, it's not worth writing custom code. Ditto the suggestion about restricting new threads to members with a specific amount of experience (e.g. "trophy points"). That would be fine if it's already a feature of the software that just needs to be turned on.
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Xenforo does allow filtering for privileges/permissions, yes. :)

I think the Classifieds should remain, but I agree with cutting off leeches from VIC. We have members who's ONLY contributions are (for years) solely in that section, selling, btw, not buying.

If you (Mike) decide it's not worth the aggravation (there has been some), I'm on board with that as well. But these offenders are the few spoiling it for others, who use it properly and regularly.

As for filtering, I think it is a good idea to have a probation period, or increase the number of posts (in other sections, excluding Classifieds) required to unlock that section in order to post ads.

Removing it from Recent Posts is a good idea (imho). The very nature of Classifieds is that we search (like Kijiji or Ebay) for things. Recent Posts should be showing the usual banter and convos updates.

Peace...
 
If you have a spare sheriff badge, I'll happily equip my spurs and patrol the area.

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