Improvement Time Part Two---Update in post #160

#1bambam said:

Hell this thread about posting in the classifieds has made me post more today than any thread has in a long time.

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Indeed brother

I like the idea of being able to post to classifieds as well

Happy, Happy!

#1bambam said:

The main reason I like the old way was because it was fun.Fun to see comments.Fun to make comments and fun to get comments on stuff you were selling.

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EXACTLY...FUN,

We tried a chat room here a few years ago. It was fun but the novelty wore off quickly. Everyone ended up talking over each other and it got confusing.

Now what might be interesting is to post 'I have a 1911 going up for sale in this chat room <link> at 8pm on Friday night' and handle it as a live auction.

I have been around for a while but don't post a lot. I do read quite a number of the posts on the site. But I have slowed down on coming to the site since some of the changes. Seemed, at least to me, that for a while there was an overly controlling mood to the forums.

Question if the classifieds would have comments. Can a selection be built into the create new post page to either allow or disallow comments on the post? Similar to locking the post? Seems this would allow those members who didn't want comments to block them and also allow those who didn't care to get and give comments. Just a thought.

gunslinger06 said:

Im not advocating different sections, just the ability to search across sections.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

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Can you not do this already?

Advanced search>Single Content>Type in what you are looking for>thread titles only> select "marketplace" as the destination to search.

Are there subsections outside the marketplace with guns for sale?

Neil09 said:

I don't see why people complain about ads with no pics. I know what a f'n Glock looks like, if I don't like the fact that the poster can't post a pic , I won't buy it.....

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I'm on board with this.
I reserve the right to ignore your ad if you don't give me enough information to get excited about buying your item.

OK, I guess it's time for me to chime in. I've been around from the beginning and although I don't post a lot, I do still browse every chance I get. Some of the old members aren't around anymore, I miss their input. Fortunately we have a large number of newer members and it seems to still be growing.

This forum has gone through changes over the years, mostly for the good. I commend Austin for his valiant efforts.

I try not to get caught up in the BS (oops, excuse the pun!) around here sometimes, I have 0 use for bickering. I just leave the sight sooner when it gets bad and check back another day. I come here to read and discuss fun stuff and relax.

On the classified thing, I did like the old way 'cause it was more fun, but some folks just had to muck it up by pure stupidity. I like the idea of commenting on classifieds, but those who abuse the ads should be reported and disciplined by the mods as necessary.

I am a member of a few forums for each of my interests, but BS is still the first one I look at when I play on the computer.

03protege said:

Can you not do this already?

Advanced search>Single Content>Type in what you are looking for>thread titles only> select "marketplace" as the destination to search.

Are there subsections outside the marketplace with guns for sale?

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I was getting at having a regional search. A simple way to find stuff for sale around me. I think it would be of value to the site as well. I think the guys on post and locals would use it more.

MyTFAL said:

Comments in the classified, hasn't been the same forum since they were disallowed.

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This.
I've gone from being on here daily looking to buy or sell (and for the entertainment) to checking in once a week or so. The last two firearms I sold were on a Facebook Guns page. I enjoyed the serious comments and the Derps!
My 2 cents worth.

bravo3 said:

Never said that. The site had more traffic when comments were allowed. You said 2 more a day max. Cmon man

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Ah, I misread you, I thought you were talking about the other poster's point about more sections.

gunslinger06 said:

I was getting at having a regional search. A simple way to find stuff for sale around me. I think it would be of value to the site as well. I think the guys on post and locals would use it more.

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Ah ok, it is a bummer to find that great gun at that great price then realize its located 5 hours away in Monroe. Gets your hopes up for nothing!

Leonidas said:

How many maufacturers? How many models? How many features? How many issues?

I am not denying the problems with the old system in classifieds.

But I found them to be a great resource of information and learning tool. I spent a lot of time reading ads for guns in which I had no interest. More than a few times I wound up developing an interest. I found the comments to be a safety against my ignorance of various firearms. I.E., would probably never have known of the issue of canted sights on Romy AK's. Almost bought one. Instead, I picked up a few sweet Yugos. Also learned about their heavier receivers right there, in the marketplace.

On balance, the positives of comments outweighed the negatives.

But, my opinion and 4 dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

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Damn, couldn't have said it better myself! I, as a noob, learned a lot by the questions being asked and by the answers they got! I'm all for comments in the classified. If I saw that it was getting full of BS on BS then I chose to move on. I found it much more informative and entertaining we people could comment. Often times discussion, good or bad, would lead me to research on my own, if I was truly interested in the item. To me, that was the benefit of a forum. I commend you Austin for your work on here. It has made a difference and this thread is proof to that. I lurk much more than I post, so take that into consideration.


And since we can comment here....I like Starbucks but I prefer to brew my own community! LOL

For God sake, bring back the classified comments already!, who cares if a post gets bumped, its all for fun anyway. BS is becoming a dead site without comments, next is the loss of sponsors.

Can someone post a link to that Facebook gun classified page?

I stopped coming to the site as often and eventually cancelled my gold membership after the classified changes. I feel like they were the big draw to the site. If someone doesn't want comments in their ad, let it be an option, not a mandate.

I visit the Bayou very seldom now mainly because the "comments in the classified section" were taken away. EVERY OTHER FORUM that I'm a member of ALLOWS this, so for me, "ALLOWING comments in the classified section" is a HUGE plus for me.

I've missed out on several opportunities to purchase firearms because of members "INBOX" being full, and them NOT checking their email. A first post of "I'll Take It" should seal the deal and make for a easy transaction. As far as all the snide and rude comments, maybe the admins of this site need to got visit Snipers Hide or the HK Forum! lol

I see one major flaw in an otherwise fine forum: I would strongly recommend allowing posting an *I’ll take it* because it removes any question that maybe the seller is waiting for a better offer – or a more convenient local sale. It lets the buyer know where he stands in the pecking order.

In conjunction with the allowing of responses to the ad, I would suggest this approach re comments, which has been quite successful in the S&W Forum: http://smith-wessonforum.com/guns-sale-trade/68804-do-not-comment-ads.html

I would also suggest checking out the Sig Forum: http://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/350601935

Thank you very much for requesting input.

The stupid superfluous ******** that was overwhelmingly posted to the Classifieds section made me vehemently anti-comments.

That S&W forum rule page is mighty appealing though.

I used to be in favor of comments in the classified threads but thanks to some general a##hat commentary by people who obviously enjoy the sounds of their own keyboards/smartphone keypads way too much, I've grown to appreciate the current no-comments setup…not perfect, but workable. If people are asking the same question via PM, then that's a clue for the original poster to answer such questions within the thread.

Oh boy! I am gone for 24 hours and 8 pages pop up. Damn guys. Good job! I will respond to some quotes I picked out below and then offer some general comments below the last quote.

dwr461 said:

I can not find where the rules are listed now. So bear with my memory here, please.

Rule 9 says something to the effect that no user may question a mod or admin either in public or private for an decision that has been made. I find that rule to be highly offensive. I goes counter to the very core of beliefs. It creates an us versus them.

I have found that the moderators do not adopt a helpful tone to the posts. The tone I freqently read is do what I say b/c if you don't you must be stupid. They get very confrontational and takes things way too personally.

This doesn't absolve a user from also having the same problems and they should be handled consitantly the same way. Not one way for one who's a friend and another for someone people don't like. The rules must be fair and evenly inforced with out prejudice.

Some of the moderators as not very good at this. I asume that you are aware of this problem b/c you have handle quite a few of their decisions after they are made.

Also a mod can with out talking to the user award penelties. In some cases they penelties have been removed after the fact. That sounds to that mod's judge someone guilty and start the punishment without ever talking to the individual. The rights of the individual are sancrosant in the country. If a mod has a problem they should go to someone else to discuss it. They that other person should talk to the person who caused the problem. Then if a punishment is warrented it should be placed not by the original moderator.

A system like one above would reduce knee jerk bull crap and hopefully make the various punishments uniform to the misbehavior.

Dave

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Not true. You are misremembering or misreading the rules. There is no us vs them attitude. If you have ANY problem with ANY moderator or administrative behavior, PM the MOD. If that doesn't help, PM me. If you still have a problem, PM Spanky. If you are upset with something spanky did, PM him and me. All issues are discussed and no complaints are just brushed away. You say that you find posts not helpful or whatever...PM me about them. Send me links. Our system behind the scenes is super organized. I wrote up a multi-page document that the mods follow to the T. In summary - if you think a moderator is stepping out of place, you need to talk to them about it, and if that doesn't work, talk to me about it. PM me or email me. austin at this domainname dot com.

bravo3 said:

It seems like you already have you're mind made up, so I'm sure this comment will amount to a pile of beans but I'd like to see comments back in the classifieds. Like I said, you asked for suggestions and 70% of these comments are about this. I really don't see a problem with opening a poll and letting the board members vote on the issue. It seems to me if I moderated the board and 3/4 of the board were asking for something, regardless of if I as a moderator consider it a solid idea I would look into implementing it. As Neil09 said, this is place seems to have slowed to a crawl except for the handful of about 10-15 members that post all day. None of which is entertaining.

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Not true. I am leaning towards allowing comments back in the classifieds section. We will discuss options on ways to make it work internally for now and then will come forward with feasible options and let the community decide what they want. Read that again everyone.

Hattrick 22 said:

No offense to be meant by this but why dont we talk to all of the mods on comments being allowed in the for sale section.

Would it even matter or would we all be wasting our time trying to talk to yall about the idea of allowing it again?

Again no offense meant I'll drop it from here on out just be straight with me and I wont bother mentioning it again.

My point of view on it is the same as Leonidas.

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I am heading all of the changes on the board right now. Myself and the moderators are discussing options behind closed doors. They are invited to speak up just like any other member, but I am not forcing them to.

SeventhSon said:

I dont want to beat a dead horse by any means but since it was asked I'll respond.

I like the idea of having responses in the Classifieds section. I have found myself listing less and less items for sale since that ended, instead turning to other outlets to sell. I think I post pretty decent ads with good photos and information but I got tired of the PM's. Its easier (for me) to respond to the ad. I admit its a bit of laziness on my part. I could probably go in and edit the ad and be done with it but I just found that annoying and instead of bringing up the forbidden subject on the board I just listed elsewhere. And the "your price is too damn high" and "thats a sweet gun" never really bothered me as a seller or a buyer. I actually sold a few items faster when people who "great gun" bumped me. Just my $0.02.


Edit to add: What about having two classifieds for a set period of time. One that allows comments and one that does not. Give it, say, two or three months. See which classified section gets more ads put up. If the "no comments" classifieds get more then I'm pretty sure most people would shut up about it.

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I like your last idea. That is a possibility and will be discussed.

jro6803 said:

I believe that the following changes would benefit the forum:
Only one firearm per ad.
Firearm and price clearly shown in title
Specific minimum information required in firearm ad (example: Price, Manufacturer, Model, Caliber, Barrel length, Trades (yes or no), etc)

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I like your second point the most. The other ideas are difficult to moderate and enforce. If you want someone to post more specific information, just PM them

gunslinger06 said:

1. Keep comments out of the classifieds. The biggest problems with comments are what people decide to post. Way too much thread crapping. I loved that AR15 thread 03protege(even though the best one was "Stop BSing in the classifieds section-it was epic) listed but the fact is you can ask what you want. If someone is foolish enough to buy something like that without doing the research, shame on them. I have never seen the guys who gripe about high prices post something like" Hey man, you could get another $200 out of that gun- you should kill this ad and repost it for more." Also, too many people want to discuss how good/bad something is. Nothing like trying to sell an Eotech and getting a big post about how Eotech's are crap. Now, If the OP could delete threads that MIGHT be a good solution.

2. Allow classified ads to be posted without pictures. I'm not sure why this was done but it makes it a bit harder for me to post items. If someone really wants a pic I can email it or post it later. I think this would go a long way to increasing the number of classifieds posted. It also makes it easier to post several smaller items.

3. Sponsor's ads with regular classifieds. Love it. Honestly I rarely look in the Sponsor's classifieds. I think it gives the Sponsors a bigger bang for their buck. I would, however, identify a sponsor from an individual.

4. Advertise the site. This is not so much an issue with the site but one of expanding the site. I live in Leesville. Most subscribers are in the BR/NO area. Maybe advertise on bookoo.com, ar15.com, louisianasportsman, etc to increase the number of subscribers around the state. Also a good presence at gunshows would be a great idea.

5. A wishlist. I'm a member on one forum that let's me input a list of terms. If a post is made with those terms I am notified. Comes in really handy when I am looking to buy something.

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Classified ads without pictures will not happen and is not up for debate. Yes on sponsors being able to post ads in the classifieds section. I am going to work on some rules for the sponsors to keep them from spamming the place though. When I say I, I mean Jack mainly. He is good at that. Advertising the site. Yes. That will happen in the near future. There are some things in the way right now, but I do have plans to work on that. More to come on that later though.

Booseman said:

Going off the "like" concept that tim9lives spoke of. Is there a way to have a "like" button that would show on the main page? This way people could see that the item for sale is nice and or the person is a respected member of the forum. Just throwing an idea out there. Not even sure it is possible. The whole like on FB thing is ok but most members on here are not friends on FB. To add to that there are prolly more members here that are not even on FB.

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vBulletin has a feature like that installed by default. I could turn it on and give it a test ride if a few more people like the idea. I am worried that it might create an elitist group of old members with high post counts who think they are better than others. Comments on this guys?

bravo3 said:

They're used to be a lot more than eight, used to be a lot more traffic too. I wonder what the common denominator is?

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Traffic hasn't gone down. It has actually been increasing since I came in as Admin. Also, it has not gone down much since the big active period of late 2011. People just post less. More lurkers now.

BillnLA said:

I have been around for a while but don't post a lot. I do read quite a number of the posts on the site. But I have slowed down on coming to the site since some of the changes. Seemed, at least to me, that for a while there was an overly controlling mood to the forums.

Question if the classifieds would have comments. Can a selection be built into the create new post page to either allow or disallow comments on the post? Similar to locking the post? Seems this would allow those members who didn't want comments to block them and also allow those who didn't care to get and give comments. Just a thought.

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People can already lock their own threads in the classifieds section. That would disallow comments


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Now that I have finished responding to a few recurring ideas, I have a few things to say:

1) I am open to allowing comments back in the classifieds. For now, lets QUIT discussing it in this thread. We know lots of y'all want it back. I am going to work on putting something together that would allow comments, but make it work better than in the past. If you really have something to say, PM me. For now though, NO MORE DISCUSSING COMMENTS IN CLASSIFIEDS IN THIS THREAD>

2) The like system someone mentioned above - I would like opinions.

3) Any new ideas that y'all have would be great. Now that we aren't discussing comments in the classifieds anymore, I urge all of you who have participated in this thread to put on your thinking caps and see if you can come up with any other ways to make the forum better. Simple or complex, let us know.

4) Chat system: Has been tried in the past and failed. I am going to veto this one for now.

5) I think I caught all of the new ideas suggested in the 8 pages, but if I missed one that you posted (as in I didn't comment on it), please quote it again so I can mention it.

6) As I said above - everything being discussed here is also being discussed in the moderator forum. Ultimately, we have to implement any ideas that you guys like. If anything worth mentioning comes up, I will most certainly make sure to inform everyone here. Thanks for the cooperation guys

7) Lastly, I am still receiving PMs from people. If I haven't responded yet, I will soon. I have a quite a few to go through and not too much time on my hands tonight (it's 12:10 AM already). Don't think I forgot about ya!

Thanks again guys!