• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Bad Guy Cokski: is he a scammer, or simply not very smart?

At this point, I think it is more for amusement than anything else. Though I think my offers of finding them some psychiatric help may have touched a nerve or two. Either way, I am surprised the moderation team hasn't given even a temporary ban, given the obviously stolen photos and blatant plagiarism of the post.
 
Herpin Man said:
which sadly, will make it a haven for the scammers.
Click to expand...
And a rare choice for use by legitimate and/or quality sellers. Both of these aspects (more scammers, fewer good sellers) are going to cause some harm on the hobby, especially novices entering into it. Sometimes it feels like the number of people who give a shit about making this all a little better is smaller than it needs to be.
 
Donald C said:
At this point, I think it is more for amusement than anything else. Though I think my offers of finding them some psychiatric help may have touched a nerve or two. Either way, I am surprised the moderation team hasn't given even a temporary ban, given the obviously stolen photos and blatant plagiarism of the post.
Click to expand...
Touched😂
 
The site is moderated, but the tools we used before have changed, so some things are more difficult (and some things are less difficult) or perhaps less familiar. I also find it a bit more personally difficult to apply a metered response to things with the current situation. Easy to be too light-handed and easy to be too heavy-handed. My scalpel is now blunt.

It is much tougher for me to donate the time these days. My responsibilities in life and work keep expanding. I am sure the other moderators have their own reasons as well. Reporting violating content by the general membership is more vital than it used to be to help get moderator eyes on the material. We appreciate the assistance from the membership so that we can better provide assistance to the membership.

Anyway, I banned the Cokski account for whatever that is worth. Thank you for what patience is afforded to us.
 
nickolasanastasiou said:
The site is moderated, but the tools we used before have changed, so some things are more difficult (and some things are less difficult) or perhaps less familiar. I also find it a bit more personally difficult to apply a metered response to things with the current situation. Easy to be too light-handed and easy to be too heavy-handed. My scalpel is now blunt.

It is much tougher for me to donate the time these days. My responsibilities in life and work keep expanding. I am sure the other moderators have their own reasons as well. Reporting violating content by the general membership is more vital than it used to be to help get moderator eyes on the material. We appreciate the assistance from the membership so that we can better provide assistance to the membership.

Anyway, I banned the Cokski account for whatever that is worth. Thank you for what patience is afforded to us.
Click to expand...
Thank you for getting rid of that guy.
I empathize with your managing of expanding responsibilities- I'm going through a bit of that as well, and there's no way I could commit to moderating a forum myself. We appreciate all that you do.
 
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