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I think the posts in the track sections are actually organized by when anyone last commented on the thread. Can someone confirm? Maybe it’s changed since I last looked there.
Is anyone not in favor of making a “buying” section separate from a “selling” section?
I hope I can explain this clearly … I thought the “Looking for an ebay piece” and “Anyone buying” stickies were a good idea, but I find them very difficult to navigate. When I check the thread, it may show three new messages, however clicking on the new messages link often takes me to an existing message which has been edited (but is still tucked in among earlier not modified messages). Then I have to go searching for the other “new messages”. These may be other edited posts or new ones at the bottom of the thread. I suppose this is a forum structure issue, but it makes it very frustrating to try and see who is now searching for what.
I hope any “Buying” section would function more smoothly!
I agree with everything that kiya said, but I think bumping should be 7 days (it’s just easier to remember on a weekly basis).
I am fully behind separating the forums – Trade only, Buy, and Sell. That would make things much easier to sort through. 🙂
Just checked – it looks like the front page can fit 20 posts after the stickies. So, if we separate out the buys and sells, that’s 20 people’s sales threads and 20 WTB threads – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen 20 active sales threads at a time, so at least for the immediate future, that would probably work fine – by the time your post made it to the bottom or second page, you could bump it.
Honestly, the most reasonable suggestion I’ve seen was adding a separate “buying” and “selling” section. This would not require much additional moderation, and I could ignore the “buying” since I’m not selling… :).
I think rules put in place asking sellers to keep one thread aren’t unreasonable. If that thread is more than 10 days old, maybe they have the option to bump OR create a new thread with items still for sale and any new items they have added.
If someone is in violation and it REALLY bothers you, then you could report it to John. Also, as someone else mentioned, if you have problems editing your thread, you should be able to get it resolved fairly quickly.
So, my proposal would be:
1.) Archive all the older content currently in the marketplace
2.) Create a separate “buying” area
3.) Ask sellers to restrict themselves to one selling thread or bump every 10 days (also, if everyone is doing this – your thread shouldn’t drop off the front page so quickly)
4.) Ask buyers to restrict themselves to one WTB thread or bump every 10 days
5.) Require sellers and buyers to update their threads when an item sells or is located WITHOUT bumping it (edit, not reply)
6.) Ask that the good luck or “wish I could buy” or “wish I could find one” replies be left out – but messages about PMs or requests for information about a piece can be left.
7.) Until such a time as a new moderator comes on board, any true issues should be escalated to John – but maybe for new people we just point them to the rules once before we escalateI don’t see any reason to limit the number of pictures or items in any given sell post. It’s less clutter to have them in one thread so you just have to open that one than have someone selling 20 items make 5 threads.
Thoughts?
I basically agree with all of this. Honestly none of it seems too difficult for the forum mods to do and for us to live with.
Keeper of the Fledgings
What’s simple to me is this:
1) Check the forum. Read the topics that interest you.
2) Click the “Mark topics as Read” button when you’re done. It’s right there at the top of every forum page.
3) Come back in a few days, there are only a few threads that have ANY new activity. They are marked in big red letters. They are easy to see.
What if you want to look back and find something that you have already marked as “Read”? It is still a jumble of stuff to search through.
How to make this all easier in one easy step:
1. Get new forum software….
*runs and hides!*
I have nothing useful to add. Whatever you guys decide is best, I’m sure John and co. will find a way to beat it into shape so that it will work.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comOK, this is a bit unrelated, but I am curious to know if I am the only one. After browsing the PYO forum and finding something I like, I’ll go to the top of the forum to look for the PYO commission thread to see if their info is listed. After staring at the screen wondering where in the world the thread went, I finally remember that it’s in the flea market. You think I would know by now. LOL! Does anyone else do this? For some reason, I never associated that sticky with the flea market. My brain just links PYO thread to the PYO forum.
Hmmm… So would the thread be moved to the WTB section?
Is the PYO commission thread about selling commissions, or commissioning others?
If we could switch to a normal phpbb forum, and somehow integrate that with the site, I think that would be ideal. We are spending so much time trying to invent a working forum system, when phpbb already exists and works so much better -_- Its like reinventing the wheel, but starting with a square.. made out of granite.
Is the PYO commission thread about selling commissions, or commissioning others?
This is where you would commission an artist, so we’re talking sales; that’s probably why the thread is in the flea market. We could put an alias in the PYO section too.
Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/mybooks.htm
I host the feedback lists, which are maintained by drag0nfeathers.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmI am talking about a list of Title headings, maybe with a thumbnail, for each item that will open to pictures of a regular size. The sales and wanted areas should be as easy to use as any other classified, no?
If people are serious about selling things they can put their email or phone number in the listing, just like any other classified ad section. Or rely on the PMs, which, if they are not working right, we need to look at.
I am still not clear on what the problem with a Craig’s List type format for sales would be. There just are not that many new items offered for sale so I can’t see how it would be hard to find things. The clutter we have now is all the chatter, the posting of oversize and too many pictures, and old bumped threads. I would think you would want a format where none of that can exist. I use Craig’s List all the time to buy things as well as to post to and it is way more efficient than the forum postings.
I do not like Craig’s List at all. Please don’t turn the Flea Market into Craig’s List XP
And I don’t know about everyone else, but when I’m shopping on the flea market “oversized and too many pictures” are what I look for. It’s like the saying goes, a picture is worth 1000 words. I like to SEE what I’m getting before I go through all the trouble to buy it. And To get an accurate representation you’re going to need a lot more than four pictures, especially if a piece is damaged. If I’m selling a damaged piece and I want to show people how bad it is I’d have to waste my measly 4 pictures all on chips or whatever the problems may be and not even get to show a full body shot of the front or back or sides.And I also like that people can post that they’ve PM’d you for something, because the PM system doesn’t show you that you have a new message unless you go to the My Account page, which (at least I) rarely have cause to do. (This is an issue that I think should be resolved regardless of what happens to the flea market. Make it so we can see when we’ve gotten a new PM regardless of what page we’re on. Just make it show up right at the top)
Conversation at a sales thread can be nice too, just because we’re people and that’s how we bond with one another, talking. Sharing. No matter where the opportunity arises.
Putting all of these restrictions on just makes the whole thing seem anal and uninviting to me. :/ I’m kind of a nervous person, so being in an environment where there’s a rule for everything (and an infinite amount of ways to get in trouble) is something I want to avoid.I think the posts in the track sections are actually organized by when anyone last commented on the thread. Can someone confirm? Maybe it’s changed since I last looked there.
Is anyone not in favor of making a “buying” section separate from a “selling” section?
I think this would be a really good idea Pam.
Just have 3 subcategories in the flea market: 1 for items being sold, 1 for items being sought, and one for items that are only up for trade
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