• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    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.

Zip Code distance finder dosen't seem to work

jsrocket

jsrocket

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This is not a gripe, as much as it is a "This would be very cool if it worked" statement.

The feature which allows you to enter your zip code, then tells you how far away (in miles) another buyer/seller is, does not work correctly.

I am in MI, and if often tells me that cities in CAL and FLA are, like, 150 miles away.

I prefer to do business in person whenever possible, and this would be a quick way to decide whether to travel or not.

Anyone else noticed this, or have any suggestions?
 
Yep, I've noticed this as couple of times as well. Most recenty, I believe the ad was from somewhere in Texas, and the zip code thing said that the location was like 90 miles from me. Being in IOWA, I think someone's calculations were off, lol.

I think some have been fairly accurate though.....I have wondered why it seems to work on some, and others not? Weird.
 
I have mentioned this to the developers of that software. Apparently they are not willing to fix it, claiming it is a problem in the data and not actually their program. Finger pointing at its finest......
 
Sometimes, it works perfectly, sometimes it's way off. I just can't always tell which is the case (i.e. poster dosen't list their location)
 
MorphTiles said:
can you add a requirement that poster leaves there location city and state to help us
Click to expand...


Sure, I can do that. But who is going to have to take the time to enforce it and what is the penalty for not complying? Someone is going to have to look at each and every ad posted? Then send off an email to whoever posted the ad that does not comply?
 
WELL, as a former programmer

can you ad 2 more text fields that are required to submit?

then place the City below the distance as well so you can check for fake cities from the main listings and this will let people see which is close from the listings page as well

I would be willing to help patrol the classifieds if you are looking for someone
 
penalty would prob be in the realm of a warning point in the warning system you already have implemented
 
MorphTiles said:
penalty would prob be in the realm of a warning point in the warning system you already have implemented
Click to expand...
I like a lot of info in an ad. If someone places an ad that says "for sale, burm $100, e-mail bob at [email protected]" I don't even bother with the ad. If people can't be bothered with putting pertinant info in the ad, including full name of person and/or business, and where they are located, then I'm not going to waste my time tracking the person down to get the additional info. I suspect I am not the only one who does this, so in a way, these people are already being "penalized" by lost sales potential.
 
very true, I pass over many ads for the same reasons,

wouldnt it be nice if all the ads had all good pertinent info!
 
There already is a Location field in the entry prompts for each ad.
 
thats right, can the info be placed on the directory listings near ehere the distance is shown, and not just on the ad itself?
 
MorphTiles said:
thats right, can the info be placed on the directory listings near ehere the distance is shown, and not just on the ad itself?
Click to expand...

Not without paying for custom programming to do it. Personally, I can't see it being such a big issue to go that length to do anything about it.
 
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