• 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.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Consolidate the "FOR SALE" and "WANTEDS" forums?

Should I combine the "For Sale" and "Wanteds" sections?

  • Yes, combine them.

    Votes: 17 56.7%

  • No, leave them as they are.

    Votes: 13 43.3%
  • Total voters
    30
WebSlave

WebSlave

It is what it is, but certainly not what it was.
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I'm thinking about simplifying the classifieds sections a little bit. I suppose when someone is looking to sell something, they go and check out the "Wanted" forums to see if anyone is looking for what they have to offer. Likewise, when someone is wanting something in particular, they probably go to the "For Sale" section to check and see if anyone has to offer what they are looking for.

So, why not just consolidate the two sections? Instead of having "Boas - For Sale" and a "Boas - Wanted" forums, just have a single "Boas - Available/Wanted" forum?

Since most people probably check both anyway, why not just have them both together in one spot?

And I'm still trying to figure out how to make the discussion forums more visible and easily accessible. I am toying around with displaying more of the forums all on a single page in order to be able to do that. So expect some wierd looking things while I am puttering around to see what looks workable.
 
A lot of people seem to cross-post anyway, at least when they want something, they post in the 'for sale' section as well. I see no reason to keep them seperate.
 
I agree, as long as people will differentiate whether they are looking to buy or sell. Otherwise, I could see it getting a bit convoluted.
 
I dunno if "A lot of people make the mistake anyway" is really a valid reason for combining them...

If they were combined, there might have to be a change in the rules about Ad titles, making "For Sale" or "Wanted" or "To Trade" a part of it... Ads which simply say "Cornsnake" would just end up being a waste of time for half the people who look at it.
 
An idea...is it possible to put three selections when posting an ad? For Sale, For Trade, and Wanted? If none of these are checked, the ad won't post? That way all ads would have that right at the beginning of the title thread? Or even 4 choices, the fourth being FS/FT?

Just an idea, I'm not sure how easy it would be to implement....
 
Actually, Jennifer, it would not be easy to implement. This software uses templates for most of the screens, so the template used to display the threads in the classifieds section is the same one used in all of the other forums as well. So a change would be reflected everywhere, which would not work too well. Of course, anything can be coded around, but it would certainly complicate things and may make it a lot more difficult for me to make changes in the future.

But thanks for the thought.
 
I've just completed consolidating the FOR SALE and WANTEDS sections. Now I am going to try to rearrange the furniture a bit so I can try to get things logically laid out and not have it so confusing trying to get to the right section. I might have to try several things just to see how they look, do bear with me if things look a little odd every now and again.

The problem is that some arrangements will look differently depending on how you get to them. Plus ANY level can be made to be a category or forum, no matter how far down the line they are. Trying to get the proper balance of categories/subcategories and forums/subforums, can be a bit tricky.

Plus there are always tradeoffs. Do I have a series of cascading sections, which gives small bite sized overviews of the system, but requires a lot of mouse clicks to get to the lower sections? Or do I have a large number of forums displayed on the screen at one time, which is easier to get to any one of them, but can be overwhelming to someone new to the site? There probably is a perfect compromise somewhere in this mess, but so far I haven't been able to hit the target.

Oh, one other thing. I am seriously considering reopening the classifieds sections to replies again.
 
Yeah, I understand the pros and cons of doing this, but the more I dwell on it the more I think it would be better in the long run to re-enable the discussions.
 
I guess I wasn't as clear in what I meant there ... sorry!

I meant, "Please do" reinstate the capacity to reply to those ads. I think it is beneficial to the point of outweighing the negatives that will inevitably follow.

Thanks!
 
Please consolidate the for sale and wanted ads. From my experiences the wanted ads do not seem to get much attention anyways. I have had several ads in the wanted section and have not received any offers but I have seen the animals I was looking for in the for sale section which seems to show that people are not looking at the wanted ads anyways.
 
I dont mind feedback in the classified sections as long as it doesnt go off into twenty and thirty page tantrums. I would also wonder if less people will advertise there if they have someone who doesnt like them to go off every time they try to advertise.
 
I did consider this as a possibility, Rozann. But honestly if someone is generating so much controversy that their ads are getting slammed, well perhaps there is fire causing the smoke. It seemed kind of foolish to me to have the BOI here, yet people couldn't respond directly to ads that might be raising red flags.

Those responses to the ads might save someone from a bad deal some day. Every time I thought of it, I couldn't convince myself that the "no reply" rule I had set up was at all consistent with what this site is really here for. I want this site to help everyone, not just the sellers. And if I had a choice in the matter, I would ONLY want people selling here that buyers could trust doing business with them. This just seems like a logical step in that direction.

Does this sound like a reasonable thought process?
 
Yes it does. Unfortunately this is one of those cases where pros and cons both make sense.
I was just thinking that the biggest complaint about Fauna is the negitivity. That would be yet another place for it.
Perhaps if there comes a time when more people use the feedback system there will not be as much need for responses. I personally like that system and must admit I have not really used it like I should.
Either way is fine, it was something that just made me wonder about for the outlook on the site as a whole. :)
 
From what I have seen of typical usage of this site, anything other than the BOI is pretty much a waste of screen space anyway. Probably just a For Sale - Snakes, For Sale - Lizards, etcetera, would be sufficient.

Are things being sold in the classifieds sections? If so, why not have sellers put up a SOLD sign on it to show everyone??? If people can delete their own ads, it may just appear that the ads are not reaching buyers.
 
Those responses to the ads might save someone from a bad deal some day. Every time I thought of it, I couldn't convince myself that the "no reply" rule I had set up was at all consistent with what this site is really here for. I want this site to help everyone, not just the sellers. And if I had a choice in the matter, I would ONLY want people selling here that buyers could trust doing business with them. This just seems like a logical step in that direction.
Click to expand...
I think all the feedback you need on a lousy dealer is to be found in the BOI. People who use this site know about it. if you start allowing the 'For Sale/Wanted" section to become another BOI you will have defeated the purpose of the BOI as the primary place to do such, you will likely get sellers poretty disgusted because of misplaced feedback that belonged on the BOI not under a person's ad, you will probably lose some of the little business you have for banner ads because of disgusted sellers. Your site is here, or should I say, was created for a reason. The BOI is much of that reason, maybe all of it - but the site has grown beyond that and now you seem to want to shove everything back into the nutshell. Let the branches go there own way and do what they need to do, the trunk of your tree the BOI is doing fine.

My friend: An Oak Tree only fits completely inside of the acorn just once in its lifetime (did I just say that - wow how deep). Yours sprouted a long time ago, it was fed and watered and has grown quite a bit. It is not the biggest tree in the forest, but it is one heck of a tree at that. It has a lot of branches. The branches have a different purpose. The trunk maybe the BOI, they all the other forums are like boughs and branches. Some branches produce lots of acorns, others more leaves and others are nests for all sorts of critters. You cannot take one of the branches and try to turn it into the trunk - it will not work. The trunk of this tree is solid and healthy, it does not need its functions transfred to the branches. Let the boughs and branches do what they need to do - the boughs or main forum areas support the branches or sub forums, the branches need to branch out (ad new forums or subjects or take another form), remember branches break away as needed too, they also need to make green leaves (sell ads), take in the energy of the sun (forums to be shared by all), grow acorns (threads and posts) etc. Let the trunk keep doing what it has been doing - being the BOI. The trunk does not need the branches to do its job, just to do their jobs. Leave the for sale/wanted ads as just that - ads and not a feedback type of place. By the way, you are the roots of it all. Hang in there.

I am going on midnights for a while tonight, can you tell I am already sleep deprived.

All the best,
GB
 
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