New classified section?

[taichimaster]

Just wanna find out how people are liking the new format....
Personally, I am not a big fan of the new for sale section....I might just be stupid but can we not bump our ads to the top any longer?

 

[Krish]

The new classified section will take some getting use to I'm sure especially coming from a layout you guys were so use to. I'm not sure if you can bump back to the top there though, but will pass on the note to the admins to chime in here in the event that they missed the thread.

 

[jaygalindo]

Ooh touchy subject here....I'm sure the mods will tell u that for sale forums aren't the focus of the forum and hobbyist shouldn't be here to make a profit and blah blah blah. I don't like the classifieds either.

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[returnofsid]

"bumping" is a tool used in forum threads. Our new classified application is not a forum, so I don't believe we have the capability to "bump."

However, if/when items are sold, the seller has the option to post the item as sold, or even to delete the ad, completely. Ads marked as sold, are automatically deleted, after 1 day, I believe. As ads above yours are sold, your ad will move up. So, buy something from someone above you, to "bump" your ad!! lol

 

[returnofsid]

Ooh touchy subject here....I'm sure the mods will tell u that for sale forums aren't the focus of the forum and hobbyist shouldn't be here to make a profit and blah blah blah. I don't like the classifieds either.

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Not a touchy subject at all. We want to hear feedback. It's when we get members continually "whining" or complaining about something, when it's been discussed several times, that subjects get touchy. So far, this thread doesn't show any indication of being anything other than good feedback.

Yes, as a Mod, I will tell you that classifieds are not the main focus of this forum. I'd bet most members agree with that statement. IMO, if a member believes that classifieds should be the main focus of this forum, that particular member might be happy somewhere else. However, I think that member would have a very difficult time, finding a forum, where the main focus is on classified ads.

 

[mcoomer]

Not a fan. I check here and on other forums for bargains everyday. This one's the clunkiest of any that I use, meaning I won't be using it much longer. I also agree that the classifieds shouldn't be the main focus on any forum, but it shouldn't be pushed aside. Set a minimum time/post limit for posting and move on.

Mike

 

[jaygalindo]

I understand the goal of a reefing forum is to promote the sharing of knowledge of a reef community. But lets not be naive here. On any of the major forums the most active sub forums a any givn time is the for sale section and this is due to the nature of this hobby. We are also a unique situation with this forum where the heart of the members are based in he Pacific Northwest. The for sale forums is a cool way to bring our forum even closer together, something that the other boards just can't accomplish.

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[mfinn]

It's when we get members continually "whining" or complaining about something, when it's been discussed several times, t
Y

people bring it up, you call it whinning.




sorry but I had to say it.

 

[thatguy559]

im not a big fan either but it works and thats all that matters to me

 

[Scooterman]

"bumping" is a tool used in forum threads. Our new classified application is not a forum, so I don't believe we have the capability to "bump."

However, if/when items are sold, the seller has the option to post the item as sold, or even to delete the ad, completely. Ads marked as sold, are automatically deleted, after 1 day, I believe. As ads above yours are sold, your ad will move up. So, buy something from someone above you, to "bump" your ad!! lol

Good points Michael!

Our goal was to provide more of an auction type scenario, It is more advanced software than just a plane sales forum. I didn't spend much time developing our version of the software and there may be more things we can do to make them better. The only thing we can do is get good honest user feedback and we'll do what we can or see necessary to make it better. We're pushing lots of new software out there, it is still being developed as we speak.

On any of the major forums the most active sub forums a any givn time is the for sale section and this is due to the nature of this hobby.

Want to bet on that? I know certain members here that helped designed some of the biggest Reefing forums you'll find and this statement is far from being true!

 

[jaygalindo]

Actually yes, betting is what I do best. The old for sales forum there was consistently 20 actives users for both livestock and equipment at any given time. Now we are in the single digits cause its not user friendly. Lastly u ask for honest user feedback but when u guys get it u take offense when its not personal. Remember that there still is some customer service envolved in owning/maintaining a site like this.

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[Krish]

It's hard for me to understand why so many people don't like the new classified section and I guess it is because I never used the old for sale forums at all so I wouldn't know what I was missing. I've actually never bought or sold anything here so someone like me wouldn't understand. Looking in though, from what I can see, what we had then and what we have now seems to be two totally different things. The old layout seemed more like a regular forum section (like general discussion for example) with just a bunch of threads listed off down the line that really didn't have anything special to set it apart from the look of a regular discussion forum so to me, it really didn't look like a place people would post ads. The new section's layout however seems more fitting as it takes on the look and feel of a real classified section (sort of like ebay) which IMO is the right look, but I'm guessing it is the options (or lack thereof) you guys don't like?? On a side note, going on the question that was asked about bumping threads, I just bumped an ad to see if it would push it to the top and it doesn't so I guess that section as Sid mentioned is not designed to work that way.

 

[Scooterman]

Actually yes, betting is what I do best. The old for sales forum there was consistently 20 actives users for both livestock and equipment at any given time. Now we are in the single digits cause its not user friendly. Lastly u ask for honest user feedback but when u guys get it u take offense when its not personal. Remember that there still is some customer service envolved in owning/maintaining a site like this.

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I didn't see anything I said was me being offensive, at least I didn't take it offensively, Nor anything Michael posted? Really it is what it is, the 20 active users were most likely spam bots, we had lots of those. This is what we have, will it get better, honestly I don't know. From what I've seen I like it but as always that is just my opinion LOL!
Regardless, let's not take this into an argument, Post your concerns and we will do what we can, sometimes it may take a while but we are pretty darn good and trying to make things better. My time here is Free, I haven't made a dime since the site was started LOL, so I do what I can and think is good for everyone, If I can even do it.

 

[returnofsid]

people bring it up, you call it whinning.




sorry but I had to say it.

Not a touchy subject at all. We want to hear feedback. It's when we get members continually "whining" or complaining about something, when it's been discussed several times, that subjects get touchy. So far, this thread doesn't show any indication of being anything other than good feedback.

Not at all Martin. I wasn't calling anything in this thread, whining. A legitimate feedback statement was made, by the original poster, the second poster made reference to it being a "touchy subject." I was just clarifying that the original statement was not a "touchy subject," and went on to define what might create a "touchy subject."

 

[taichimaster]

Sorry for bringing up such a touchy subject. Honestly, I understand that the sale forum is not the focus but having a sale forum like what we had before can also give locals a place to buy decent price frags from each other. It does seem the sale forum is currently lacking activity. When I first started out, I mainly focused on the sale forum to purchase cheap equipment.
I apologize if this subject has been discussed before.

 

[returnofsid]

On any of the major forums the most active sub forums a any givn time is the for sale section and this is due to the nature of this hobby.

Want to bet on that? I know certain members here that helped designed some of the biggest Reefing forums you'll find and this statement is far from being true!

Actually yes, betting is what I do best.

That is a bet you would lose. On Reef Frontiers, the old Classified forums were not even close to the most used forums. There were at least 3 forums that got much more activity than the Classified forums.

If you look at number of posts, and activity, on most other reef related forums, you'll find that, while classified forums do get a lot of use, they're far from the most active forums, on those boards.

As an example, since some like to compare us to RC. If you look at RC, right now, in Reef Discussion, you'll see about 1.2 million posts. In New to Hobby, you'll see just over 1 million. In their classified forums, combined, you get a total of about 606,000. Nowhere near the most active forum.

Now, let's look directly at Reef Frontiers. As of a few days ago, when the classified forums were closed, we had about 136,000 posts, combined, between Equipment and Livestock. We currently have over 167,000 posts, just in our General Discussion forum.

 

[jaygalindo]

The point I'm trying to make is if it ain't broke don't fix it. I am all for innovation and love most of the new changes except this one.

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[ac7av]

I think its fine. I like the format of it but I still think not many people are looking at it because they don’t know about it. Once the other for sale section goes I think we will see more activity on the new classified section. It would be nice if the ads could get moved to the top if there is activity on the ad. I have one on the classifieds that has had no activity for some time and I get the feeling people think it is sold or gone because of how long its been on there. After all its basically free to someone and usually free gets peoples attention.

 

[returnofsid]

One more point, and them I'm done.....maybe.....

On any of the major forums the most active sub forums a any givn time is the for sale section and this is due to the nature of this hobby.

The point I'm trying to make is if it ain't broke don't fix it. I am all for innovation and love most of the new changes except this one.

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Maybe, just maybe, it was broke. Maybe our focus was on Classifieds, too much. Maybe now, we're able to get the focus back to where it belongs.

Lately, we've been getting new members, faster than we have in a very long time, with the exception of new Spam Members, which we're more able to stop, now. Lately, we've had a lot more contributing activity than we have in a very long time. Statistically, Reef Frontiers is growing, at a great rate.

I'm stepping down off of my soap box now, but reserve the right to climb back up on it, if I feel the need.

 

[taichimaster]

I just brought the subject up because I was making a change on the listing and reducing the price but no one will know because it is stuck at the bottom. Other then that, the site is fine