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I find a lot of times that people leave out critical information–or at least, critical to some, like tags/boxes, or shipping charges, etc. It’s helpful to be able to ask those questions and have them answered publicly so that everyone can see them.
I think this is a valid question. I don’t want to get 10 Email’s or PM’s asking the same question. Is there some way to do it the same as Ebay? Were you can post the Question with the Reply on the add? Instead of answering the same question’s time after time?
*** Always looking for Brindles..*** AWD Pieces **** Lavender Coiled Mother with Globe**** if you have one you would like to sell or trade please contact me ?
Can a seller modify their ad after they post it? If so, you don’t need comments – if you get a question multiple times, just update the ad.
If not, then comments might make sense.
Also, if you DID add comments, would there be a notification that one had been made? Otherwise, a seller might get accused of ignoring someone when they just didn’t go look at their ad again to see someone had asked a question.
I’m not in favor of comments, I don’t really see a purpose for them, but that’s really up to Pam and Windstone. 🙂
I’m not in favour of comments either.
I would prefer have a seller update an add once they realize that they have forgotten some information, rather than have to sift through who know how many comments, pertinent or not, for the information that I need, which may in fact end up not being there.
I like the idea, mainly for 2 reasons: Dead add will automatically disappear, which will make searching much easier, and I agree with Hannah, it will get rid of the whole bumping issue.
There’s a whole forum for us to chat on, surely being unable to chat in this one particular section isn’t that big a deal, and will help make the whole thing more fair and efficient.
These are all good points, but I do like having the ability to alert the seller by posting “Sent a PM” or “Emailed you”, just in case. I suppose this will go away?
This may possibly be the only flaw of this new system, in my opinion. However, I think that the advantages are worth it. Besides, the PM system has improved a lot since the creation of this forum and I don’t think that there are many PMs that disappear into cyberspace anymore.
Can a seller modify their ad after they post it? If so, you don’t need comments – if you get a question multiple times, just update the ad.
If not, then comments might make sense.
Also, if you DID add comments, would there be a notification that one had been made? Otherwise, a seller might get accused of ignoring someone when they just didn’t go look at their ad again to see someone had asked a question.
I’m not in favor of comments, I don’t really see a purpose for them, but that’s really up to Pam and Windstone. 🙂
It would definitely require some sort of notification to the seller when a question is posted, you’re right.
Just something to think about: Without naming names, I’ve seen one ad bumped by the seller several times that has a number of apparently unanswered questions in it. In this case, it’s pretty clear the seller has at least had an opportunity to see the thread has had replies, so it’s unlikely those questions were missed. Maybe the seller did answer those questions offline; I have no way to know–but I remember noting the last time I saw it bumped that some of the items referenced are still for sale, and the ad has not been updated to include those answers.
What I perceive from this–rightly or wrongly–is that either the seller isn’t very responsive, or there’s a reason he/she doesn’t want those very basic questions answered publicly. Either way, this is not a seller I’m willing to do business on a strictly trust basis with.
Maybe that’s just me. But having those comments available gives me a potential feel for whether or not I want to deal with a given person. As we don’t have a feedback method that’s consistently used for every transaction, having comments available gives me at least some additional data to go by, especially when the seller isn’t a regular here.
My .02 worth. I’m fine with whatever is decided, but if it were up for a vote, I’d vote for non bumping comments to be allowed.
But having those comments available gives me a potential feel for whether or not I want to deal with a given person. As we don’t have a feedback method that’s consistently used for every transaction, having comments available gives me at least some additional data to go by, especially when the seller isn’t a regular here.
My .02 worth. I’m fine with whatever is decided, but if it were up for a vote, I’d vote for non bumping comments to be allowed.
Well, from the sound of the new format, bump posts would no longer bump the ad, so they’d cease to exist. They’d just show up as comments below, kind of like on Melody’s blog or the Store Items pages. I actually really like that. I agree with you that allowing comments is important as we don’t have a consistent feedback system.
Having comments not bump the thread seems the best of both worlds. Discussion can be important.
Also, there is only so much automation that can be done, in the end there are humans using this system so it is the seller’s responsibility to make an edit to the ad if info has been left out. And it’s the buyer’s responsibility to at least skim the discussion below the ad about the pieces. (Much as questions/answers are posted below the item descriptions on ebay. Sometimes the seller edits the original description, but sometimes the Q/A is left at the bottom below, and it’s up to the buyer to read through.)
This all seems reasonable and workable.
I’ve tried to design it so that it takes into account the various concerns that people had before. You don’t need to worry about making a separate ad for every item, its filter-able, it has a separate place for want ads, there won’t be any limits on pictures, and there won’t be any “dead” ads. If a person does have multiple ads, its easy to see the others.
Writing the ad description is the same as writing a forum post. Anything you want can go in the description. Links, pictures, etc. When it comes time to move, you can simply copy and past your exiting flea market posts into a new ad. The only additional things you would need to do is separate out any WTB items from the for sale items, and also choose from a list which items you are selling/trading/looking for (so people can search for your ad using a filter).
I’ve also confirmed that the classifieds are searchable. You can search all of the ads at once, or only search in the sale area (or wanted, or trade area). You even have the option of giving your ad a thumbnail that will show up next to your listing (like the thumbnails in ebay search results). The ads will also require almost no moderation, and as Hannah pointed out, it evens the playing field for everyone.
Comments on all ads are currently disabled, but if there is enough clamor for it I might consider enabling them. Replies would not bump the ads (ads are arranged based on the expiration date – the ads expiring soonest are placed higher on the list by default, but users can change the order at will). Commenting would wreak havoc with the search though, since it will also search the comments.
For reference, here is the old topic where these issues were discussed:
http://windstoneeditions.com/forum/forum-rulesIf you have a concern with the new system though, please let me know! I welcome any tips for improvement. One thing I would like to add to the classifieds that isn’t there yet, is the ability to select a custom expiration date, for those who might be holding “best offer auctions” that end at a certain time.
Thanks for all that clarification, that really helps. Actually that pretty much does address all the biggest concerns, so thank you for the thought that’s gone into this new system. 🙂
Regarding expiration dates, how about three choices? 10 days, 14 days, or 30 days? 30 days seems more than enough time to allow a Best Offer-type classified. Seems simpler than allowing custom end times, as some could go on much longer than needed, and some might not be up long enough. 10-30 days seems a good range for everyone’s needs, and the ads can always be renewed if they need to be up longer.
I will try to answer everyone’s questions.
Wampus, your picture upload did work. It is not meant to show up in the actual ad.
http://windstoneeditions.com/category/classified-ads-categories/sale/sub/Dragons
Any pictures that you want to put in the actual ad should be added the same way that you would add pictures to a forum post. I will try to make this more clear in the upload description.Laurie, could you post a screenshot of the part of the ad that isn’t working for you, and let me know which browser you are using and which version it is? (you can usually find out the browser info by going to your browsers help menu, and clicking the part that says “about internet explorer” or “about firefox”) If creating an ad isn’t working for you, that is a big problem!
If I add comments, we would have to find a way of preventing the search from searching them. As far as notifying the seller, I could try to set up a subscription system, but sellers would have to subscribe to their own ads manually to be notified of new comments. Also remember that you can already set yourself up to be notified by email when someone sends you a PM.
You can edit your ad at any time after creating it, and you can also delete it at any time. To renew the ad, you click edit, and scroll to the bottom. You will find a checkbox to renew the expiration date. You can also renew at any time, and it will always set your ad’s lifespan to 10 days. You could renew after 5 days or even every day if you felt like it (renews don’t add up, but it just keeps your ad at a 10-day lifespan).
I would like to add a way for people to choose their own expiration date. I could then set the max to 30 days, but you could pick any time between 1 and 30 days.
etruscan: I don’t know how I would make a prices realized thing, but I could look into it if enough people squeak.
One more thing: The classifieds are currently ONLY for windstones. I could either make a separate classifieds section for non-windstones, or just leave the non-windstone flea market as-is.
Small comment. You might want to format the expiration date more like on the forum. Putting the day first followed by the month confuses most Americans. 😉
Pam, I’m internet explorer, and I don’t know how to do screenshots. But in the area boxes where you say what you want to sell, Kirins, dragons, griffins, etc. there is nothing there to let me put it in the other box. lol Ok? 😉
and I vote for a non windstones classified too. I really do like the set up. Mostly being able to post pics from my computer. are you working on doing that for the rest of the forum? or did I miss something?
and that clears up most questions I have, except remember, I think I’m the only one who does not get notified about pm,s, either by email or at the top of the page unless I log out. ( Drupal tried to help but it still didn’t work.)And I never log out.
ghost: The date format is a known issue. It will be fixed next week.
laurie: which version of internet explorer are you using? Go to “help” at the top of the browser and there should be something in the dropdown like “about internet explorer” and that will tell you the version.
The picture upload is ONLY for the thumbnail image. This image doesnt show up in your ad, but it shows up next to your ad in the ad list. Like here: http://windstoneeditions.com/category/classified-ads-categories/sale/sub/Dragons
Any image that you want to put IN your ad has to be added the old fashioned way, using html tags like on the forum.Hm, ok, thumbnail images are working when you further refine a search, ex, selling>dragons, but not just on the wanted home. Is that intentional?
Hm, ok, thumbnail images are working when you further refine a search, ex, selling>dragons, but not just on the wanted home. Is that intentional?
So that’s the trick!
Hm, ok, thumbnail images are working when you further refine a search, ex, selling>dragons, but not just on the wanted home. Is that intentional?
So that’s the trick!
Yep! I was confused at first too, cause when I’d go to a main page they didn’t work, but when I followed Pam’s link they did, but I got it eventually 😉 XD
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