Time to evaluate the issue of replies in the classified ad sections.

[AbsoluteApril]

OK. Done. Please see how that looks now.

I think this is an awesome change! Thanks!
Great idea Noelle! (and Melinda for the wording)

 

[hhmoore]

As a non-paying member I tried to reply to an ad so I could see the error message. I can see why you're getting inundated with emails based on how it's worded.

There IS an Announcement, posted at the top of every page of the classifieds - in red - about this.

I suppose it just pisses them off when I reply to their emails with "Please check the Feedback Forum on the site."

I generally refer them to the above mentioned Announcements...though I was probably a bit snarky in the last one. It was a tired and cranky morning, though; and I've been warning people about that side of me for years.

 

[Celtic Constrictors]

Oh, that offer was only extended to Melinda! Not you Rich... No worries, Big Meanie.

That looks pretty good. I particularly think the old words make it clear as to why one cannot post a reply.

 

[bcr229]

There IS an Announcement, posted at the top of every page of the classifieds - in red - about this.

Well, if you're up for constructive criticism...
- There are a ton of classifieds. When I'm looking for a particular snake to buy I just use the site's Search function in the top menu bar, so I only see ads for a particular morph. I rarely see the list of announcements.
- The announcement is mixed in with the other announcements and pinned threads, and those are listed below the site sponsors. I blow right past all that stuff to get to the new ads on the rare occasions that I'm not using the Search function.
- The only indicator on the ad itself that a user may not reply is in the little green box on the lower left that states what the user may and may not do on the page. It's very easy to miss.

 

[EricIvins]

Personally, I want a classifieds section separate from the Forums. The Forums are made for a question/reply scenario, the classifieds are not. There are ways to contact anyone posting on the classifieds, so I don't see the point in being able to reply to an add. If I see something that interests me, I contact the seller. This is not Facebook, and should not be treated as such...

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

Rich that notification is SWEET!!!!!

 

[WebSlave]

Rich that notification is SWEET!!!!!

Yeah, I thought that was a good suggestion, and was easy for me to implement myself.

However, dollar to a donut bets that I will STILL get people who will cut and paste that notice and send it to me via email complaining that they cannot reply to posts.

 

[hhmoore]

Well, if you're up for constructive criticism...
- There are a ton of classifieds. When I'm looking for a particular snake to buy I just use the site's Search function in the top menu bar, so I only see ads for a particular morph. I rarely see the list of announcements.
- The announcement is mixed in with the other announcements and pinned threads, and those are listed below the site sponsors. I blow right past all that stuff to get to the new ads on the rare occasions that I'm not using the Search function.
- The only indicator on the ad itself that a user may not reply is in the little green box on the lower left that states what the user may and may not do on the page. It's very easy to miss.

The section specific search is a more effective method, FWIW, except you would be in the category and scrolling post the announcements to use it.

As far as this announcement being mixed in with the other ones; I'm not sure there is a fix for that...it is the announcement section, after all. Until today, there were only two in red, so that should have helped draw attention to it.

It is clear that most people don't read the announcements; so if you've got a suggestion for a more effective means of notifying people of policies and/or changes, I'd like to hear it.

 

[WebSlave]

Well, if you're up for constructive criticism...
- There are a ton of classifieds. When I'm looking for a particular snake to buy I just use the site's Search function in the top menu bar, so I only see ads for a particular morph. I rarely see the list of announcements.
- The announcement is mixed in with the other announcements and pinned threads, and those are listed below the site sponsors. I blow right past all that stuff to get to the new ads on the rare occasions that I'm not using the Search function.
- The only indicator on the ad itself that a user may not reply is in the little green box on the lower left that states what the user may and may not do on the page. It's very easy to miss.

Not much that can be done about that without some seriously intrusive and aggravating things like popup notices and the like. There would quickly be reached a point where the desire to get messages from management across to the membership would become such a pain in the ass to the members that it would be completely self defeating.

 

[Rainbow Bearded Dragons]

I feel in order to post or reply to ad.s in the classified sections, you need to be a paying member.

 

[BallsDeepPythons]

I like it just the way it is!

 

[312Herps]

With the amount of self entitlement and trolling that goes on in the reptile community , cause we all know "every reptile person knows more than the last reptile person" , it would not only encourage people to advertise on here less which in turn will produce less paying members after having to defend themselves from trolls ,but also I believe it would cause more trolling and ultimately cause Rich and the staff more policing and BS to deal with. Many times in the gecko community newer hobbyist don't know the value of certain traits so they want to question "why is that worth so much if it looks similar to that other one that's half the price" or "I have one for half that price" (which can also be indirect shameless self promotion) instead of doing their research and many time people just don't agree on prices. Also with the way people in the reptile community in general undercut each other on prices it's guaranteed to get some smart@$$ remarks about people's pricing. People can put any price on their productions they'd like , It's theirs and they produced it and by allowing people to pass judgment on others valuation of said item it opens more room for drama , which I believe the BOI already covers enough of that .There's also the SoundOff section which if people don't agree with something they seen in an ad they have the freedom to post up a thread. As far as policing other people's pricing , really ? if that isn't the biggest form of intrusion on someone's rights I don't know what is . Currently on Facebook there are people selling GHI's for $2500 a 1.1 today I saw a guy advertise a male for $3000. Imagine the crap storm that argument that would cause. Forum works fine the way it is without the added bullying opportunities . Don't fix something that isn't broken

 

[WebSlave]

Well the purpose behind this poll is to find out whether or not my "fix" back on 06-04-2011 was REALLY a fix or just made things more broken. Or perhaps broke something else unintentionally. The problem with this stuff I do here is that it's pretty much impossible to accurately predict the consequences from every angle. Sure, I get 100 people saying 100 different things in response to any change I make, and certainly one will be correct about their opinion. But you can't tell from the front side which one that will be. I hope it will be ME who is correct, but that hasn't always proven to be the case. So I have to just try things and see how they pan out. Sometimes just because I think it may be what needs to be done, doesn't necessary prove to be accurate when the dust settles. And lord knows I've made my share of mistakes seen in retrospect running this site.

So far the poll is indicating that I really don't need to make any changes with the way the classifieds are being run. Which is a good thing, I suppose, at least on one hand. But there is still the issue of why traffic is dropping here. It may mean that it is because of something I have absolutely no control over. Yeah, Facebook and the like have taken their toll on sites based on a forum structure, and not much I can do about that. Personally I don't care for the structure there, from what little I have seen, so I'm not about to try to emulate that format here to try to regain participants. People will go where they prefer to go, so hopefully there will still be a large enough participating membership here to keep this site alive and running in the black.

Anyway, thanks to all of you participating in this poll. It's not closed yet, so anyone else wanting to throw in their two cents is welcome to do so.

 

[bcr229]

But there is still the issue of why traffic is dropping here. It may mean that it is because of something I have absolutely no control over. Yeah, Facebook and the like have taken their toll on sites based on a forum structure, and not much I can do about that.

While I understand that advertisers only care about "clicks" and traffic volume, is the quality of traffic decreasing, or just the quantity?

Also, while FB is popular, I've found that I have to wade through a ton of noise in many groups, unless the admins are brutal with their moderating.

 

[WebSlave]

While I understand that advertisers only care about "clicks" and traffic volume, is the quality of traffic decreasing, or just the quantity?

Also, while FB is popular, I've found that I have to wade through a ton of noise in many groups, unless the admins are brutal with their moderating.

I have never seen any way to measure quality of traffic via any method available for measuring traffic. It's always based on raw quantity. Google ads, for instance, as based on the raw probability that a certain percentage of viewers are going to click on their ads to help generate revenue for the sites they appear on. The higher the total traffic, then that percentage becomes a larger number in real numbers.

Unfortunately, raw figures are what tells the numbers that I can see. In real world figures, 1,000 visits made by people barely able to figure out how to use their thumbs for the spacebar on a keyboard are going to be rated 100 times as more valuable to a site than 10 visits made by Einstein.

In my case, I look at the raw numbers for the number of posts and the number of new threads created. When posting is down, that means participation is down. Is it QUALITY participation that remains? Well, in the figures for number of new threads created, are classified ads that are simply deleted and then reposted anew to be considered as being of more quality than people simply bumping their ads with posted replies? That is quite likely why the figures for new threads is up when compared to new posts (replies).

The question here is what participation by the membership has been lost by restricting replies to classified ad threads. Is the loss of traffic overall being detrimental to the site? Does someone replying to an ad that a bunch of people have flagged to be notified of replies HELP traffic when those people come back just to see what was posted on that thread (ad) of interest to them?

Let me attach the images I captured of the statistics I am referring to. Perhaps it tells you something different from what I am seeing.

 

[Lee Herps]

I've been a member since 2002. I have seen and experienced the different ways the classifieds were setup. As a frequent classifieds user over the years, I have experienced the headache of continuous ridiculous questions, window shoppers, and trolls. The way it is setup now, is the best it has ever been. It requires interested parties to PM or email which helps weed out the window shoppers and trolls. It keeps the classifieds section cleaner and limits the amount of 2 year old ads making their way back to the top of the page. I did miss the ability of anyone being able to reply with links to the BOI with shady sellers, but the implementation of the BOI button solved that issue (greatest addition ever!).

 

[hhmoore]

I did miss the ability of anyone being able to reply with links to the BOI with shady sellers

That is the only reason I didn't cast my vote disabling replies entirely.

 

[Keith Northrop]

Nice Data.....If I were looking at a Stock price I...

would want to see that number near 80,000 plus for a breakout. Fear not FB .....embrace! Will be much more traffic!!(needed) Rich start a FB page and go and sign up to every group out there!!! Faunaclassifieds.com!! Boom instance numbers!! Just my theory

I have never seen any way to measure quality of traffic via any method available for measuring traffic. It's always based on raw quantity. Google ads, for instance, as based on the raw probability that a certain percentage of viewers are going to click on their ads to help generate revenue for the sites they appear on. The higher the total traffic, then that percentage becomes a larger number in real numbers.

Unfortunately, raw figures are what tells the numbers that I can see. In real world figures, 1,000 visits made by people barely able to figure out how to use their thumbs for the spacebar on a keyboard are going to be rated 100 times as more valuable to a site than 10 visits made by Einstein.

In my case, I look at the raw numbers for the number of posts and the number of new threads created. When posting is down, that means participation is down. Is it QUALITY participation that remains? Well, in the figures for number of new threads created, are classified ads that are simply deleted and then reposted anew to be considered as being of more quality than people simply bumping their ads with posted replies? That is quite likely why the figures for new threads is up when compared to new posts (replies).

The question here is what participation by the membership has been lost by restricting replies to classified ad threads. Is the loss of traffic overall being detrimental to the site? Does someone replying to an ad that a bunch of people have flagged to be notified of replies HELP traffic when those people come back just to see what was posted on that thread (ad) of interest to them?

Let me attach the images I captured of the statistics I am referring to. Perhaps it tells you something different from what I am seeing.

 

[WebSlave]

would want to see that number near 80,000 plus for a breakout. Fear not FB .....embrace! Will be much more traffic!!(needed) Rich start a FB page and go and sign up to every group out there!!! Faunaclassifieds.com!! Boom instance numbers!! Just my theory

Nah, not interested. I signed up a couple of Facebook accounts a long while back, "friended" a few people and then later on each and every one of them somehow became a source of email spam. So I just don't play on Facebook, at all. Some people apparently like the format, and more power to them. But it's just not for me.

 

[hhmoore]

*Edited*
Nevermind - I'll post that idea in the mod forum.