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State by State ads

I

IMAJACOBIAN

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I'm still fairly new to this webpage, but have thought it may be a good resource to have some state by state classifieds for lacey act animals like Burms for example.

Any thought or ideas anyone?
 
This is a suggestion that is made periodically.
Here is Rich's explanation about why it has not been implemented to date (the post Rich was responding to was rather abusive, so it had an edge to it...just remember, it isn't directed at you)
Sure... How much are you willing to pony up to get this implemented? Do you think custom programming is cheap and of no consequence to future updates to the main software of this site? The base software for this forum was not designed to be used in all the ways everyone wants it to be used. So when custom coding is done, not only do I face the expense of the initial coding project, but with every update of the base software, each custom bell and whistle will normally need to be completely recoded again to meet the demands of the changed base software layer. That's why updates are a long time coming here. It's just very expensive to do, and with all of those custom modifications being done, it is fraught with peril because of potential bugs being introduced that could potentially corrupt the database. Besides, creating an effective search algorithm for a free-form string text field is really not a trivial task. To be truly effective, the location info entered during registration or when the member wanted to edit it after relocating would have to be strictly controlled. For instance, you would be amazed at how many people don't realize that the abbreviation for Mississippi is "MS" and not "MI"...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the quick reply Harold

I didn't realize that it would be that difficult to do, as I'm not a webpage guy and just know my computer basics.

I'm not in any way asking for this to be done, but just throwing out ideas to help people out and maybe make it easier for people to find what they are looking for within their state. We can't change things for the better without ideas

I have actually found this webpage much better than most and screen the forums and classifieds here more than anywhere else. The owner of this page does a great job of providing it as a service for all without charge.

Thanks,

Jacob
 
One of the thoughts a while back was using the tag system to aid in State specific searches. It never seemed to take off, and abuses in the tagging led to the system being locked so most members can only utilize an existing group of tags.
 
I wonder if it would be possible to have a section available seperate from the rest of the classified for the state specific but only to the paid membership level. I have read some older threads where people were really against this, but if it would be useful maybe people would use it and the memberships could cover the costs. Just a thought though.

thanks,

Jacob
 
IMAJACOBIAN said:
I wonder if it would be possible to have a section available seperate from the rest of the classified for the state specific but only to the paid membership level. I have read some older threads where people were really against this, but if it would be useful maybe people would use it and the memberships could cover the costs. Just a thought though.

thanks,

Jacob
Click to expand...

You might want to sit down with a pad of paper and write out how many classified forums we would be talking about to implement something like this. Even just a single separate forum for each state adds another 50 forums on here. Then what out the rest of the world? Would anyone REALLY want, say, the Ball Pythons classifieds to be spread out over 50 to 75 forums they would have to browse through? How many people will wind up placing ads in multiple areas? Would many people really be very happy with that turn of events?

Heck, at one time I used to have separate forums for legislative issues, but it proved to be unwieldy, to say the least, plus much of it went completely unused. Heck, there are still forums on this site now that are very lightly used and barely earning their keep here (via participation), that might get the axe one of these days.

Yeah, having every imaginable bell and whistle on a site like this might sound like a grand idea at first blush, but when practical matters are considered from all possible perspectives that need to be considered, many such ideas just won't float, unfortunately.
 
You do have a good point in the fact that there would be a lot of unused forums/states and duplicate posting. I don't know if there would be a good solution to that except to remain the same and without state specific classifieds. Sometimes it's just hard to find Burms or other Lacey regulated species within a persons home state. Maybe it's just because I alway like what I can't get my hands on, like a nice pair or Sri Lankans.

How about this. What about a single section for regulated species only. Then when people look for them, they would'nt be in the regular section. Of course, then people would probably still double post like you said and put them in the regular section as well.

I don't know, just food for thought.

Thanks,

Jacob
 
There isn't really a "good" answer, I'm afraid. You could use the search function to narrow down the volume of ads you are seeing...but then you lose the location visibility that you have when just scanning the classifieds. There's always the option of posting a Wanted ad - specifying the state and the species right in the title - and hoping they find you (or that somebody helps make the connection).
 
Your right, but I wish there was a better way. I think if the Burms and such don't get reversed on the Lacey act in the near future, then the number of keepers are going to dwindle down over time and then there wont be any large number of them available just like Indian pythons and then only in certain states. I think a lot of people already hold back from breeding their burms now. I screen for Indians, and Sri Lankans in Ky daily. I do realize though, that Sri Lankans are no longer a recognized sub-species by most and just a locality. They are different though. I have a very strong desire to work with them, as they are extremly beautiful animals and deserve respect.

Sorry, I wondered off there for a moment.

Thanks,

Jacob
 
Would there be any chance for the search function being able to search members locations within the classifieds? That way if I only want to search, say Florida, I can put that in and all classifieds with a location of Florida would pop up. Just throwing in my 2 cents. Thanks!
 
It really wouldn't do much good to try to implement something like that here. You would not believe how much variation people will use in just providing something like their state, much less a city. Some people cannot even spell their own city and/or state correctly. Yeah, this would be a great idea if the ENTRY to the location field in the profiles had been rigidly controlled so that a search algorithm could be easily implemented because of fixed values, but such has not been the case.

If people would put their location info directly within their ad text, you could search that way, but quite honestly, you will just run into the same problem mentioned above.
 
What about tags? I know it would only work if the person placing the ad selects the appropriate tag, but isn't this part of why that system is in place?.
 
WebSlave said:
Yeah, this would be a great idea if the ENTRY to the location field in the profiles had been rigidly controlled so that a search algorithm could be easily implemented because of fixed values, but such has not been the case.
Click to expand...

True, and honestly that would take a lot to implement that.

hhmoore said:
What about tags? I know it would only work if the person placing the ad selects the appropriate tag, but isn't this part of why that system is in place?.
Click to expand...

Tags aren't a bad idea, I use them from time to time. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it on the next classified I put up!
 
The problem with tags is the same one already identified - consistency (or lack of). If somebody spells out the name, it won't catch anybody using the abbreviation. Unfortunately, the "tag cloud" only shows the 70 most commonly searched tags...I don't know if that is restricted by the nature of the system, but I suspect that most of those were just what was there when it had to get locked down due to abusive tags.

Would it be a major thing to expand the cloud to include states, Rich? Or would that knock out most of the other tags? (Arguably, some of the existing tags could be removed; and contributing members can still create their own)
 
Right now there are 3060 tags available. I've already cleaned out a bunch of the most frivolous ones once already. And there are a whole lot more back in there. If that continues, then the best bet might be to just shut down the tag system completely, or leave it up to the mods to put in proper tags for relevant threads. Which, quite honestly, would likely be a far larger burden than any of them would be willing to take on.

The way the tag system is set up right now, any registered member can put an already existing tag on their own thread, but cannot create a new tag. Paying members can create new tags for their own threads as well as utilize ones already existing. No one can put tags on anyone else's threads. This was done this way so that abuse of the tag system can be quickly determined as to who is doing the abusing and dealt with accordingly. Not that I have followed up on that, however. :shrug01:

So as it exists at the moment, paying members can put states within their own classified ads via tags, but non paying members will not be able to till a paying member creates that state tag for them.

Sorry, but at this point I feel that the tag system is already being used in a frivolous manner by some members, so opening it up further for any registered member to create their own tags would only exacerbate the situation.

Seriously, I would think potential buyers and sellers would be mostly interested in specific ITEMS to buy rather than wanting to find everyone local to them and then see what they have to offer. Seems to me that attending local shows would be their best bet if that is the way they insist on finding what they are interested in via a local venue. I don't see this site ever getting big enough where making separate sections locally on a state level will ever prove to be worthwhile concerning the resources it will use up. This industry is just too small for that kind of focus, in my opinion.

Sorry, but without a complete overhaul of this system and/or a time machine, there doesn't appear to be much that can be done about that search issue.
 
All I can say is that kingsnake.com recently added the ability to search by State, and I love it. 100% of the time I search by my State first using a secondary keyword search before I expand my search to other States.

I especially find this helpful during the winter months. I live in AZ, so I may buy from a breeder in CA and have it shipped, but I wouldn't risk shipping from a breeder in MA and having the animal freeze to death en route.
 
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