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Delete outdated/ sold items!
- Thread starter fbpd227
- Start date
Vandalizer
Well-known member
Maybe we could move this to the forum feedback section, but I also think this could be useful. Or give thread owners the ability to delete their threads at least??
I AGREE - it's one of the NEEDED items to this web sight !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please let the tread starter be able to delete items if sold... it would keep things CURRENT instead of weeding through old outdated stuff and having really OLD treads pop back up to the top again & again???
Maybe there's a way to allow that in the buy/sell/wanted sections???
It's a great web sight and a few minor tweeks it can be even better!!!
Please let the tread starter be able to delete items if sold... it would keep things CURRENT instead of weeding through old outdated stuff and having really OLD treads pop back up to the top again & again???
Maybe there's a way to allow that in the buy/sell/wanted sections???
It's a great web sight and a few minor tweeks it can be even better!!!
cooperider
Well-known member
Rather than "deleting", I would recomend having a mod go through and "close" threads that have been sold or whatever. That way you can't post on them and bring them to the top. Deleting would risk losing info.
It also helps if people would update thier threads when something sells. Then the mod would know for sure that it sold, and they can close it.
It also helps if people would update thier threads when something sells. Then the mod would know for sure that it sold, and they can close it.
Vandalizer
Well-known member
I hear you on the lost information concern - that was also something I thought about. Rather than pushing this responsibility to the very few moderators we have, couldn't the 'Checkmate Marketplace' be updated to allow thread owners to close their own threads? (Chris?) After all, it is THEIR items that the threads are about. And would it be possible to implement an idle timer (maybe a month) on marketplace threads, and after a month of no activity (i.e. the item sold and the owner forgot to close the thread, or nobody wants the item) the forum would automatically close it???
Hi Guys,
I appreciate the feedback.
Let me try to go through these suggestions....
Deleting/Editing seems to be the main suggestion here....
So, in principal, we don't want people deleting and editing things after a set period of time. I know some other sites allow this, but most of the ones that I know of, don't. The truth is, that we tried that approach once upon a time, and suffice to say, it didn't go too well and we made a decision to change to what we have now - which coincidently is the stock way that vBulletin comes set up by default- although I believe we've increased the edit time limit.
Now some of the issues that we had are as follows...
It seems, that when you allow people the ability to delete and edit things, it tends to foster an environment where people will run off at the keyboard a lot more, because, hey, they can just edit or delete it later. And then later, when someone calls them on it, the evidence is gone and they just deny it.
And while the posts might get deleted, the animosity many times lingers on. So our past experiences taught us, that unfortunately, some members will tend to act like idiots and then wipe their slate clean and cover their tracks. Also, when members who started a thread delete their opening post, it deletes everyone's. So the effect is that when you allow members to delete their own posts, you also allow them to delete other people's as well. And I don't like that.
Further, in the past, there have been member disputes in the marketplace. In some cases, people have alleged that members have mis-represented items that they have listed and there have been off-site disputes. Now if you are the injured party, would you rather have the ability to dig up the original listing, or would you like the lister to have the ability to just delete it? Don't you think it's easier to clarify what was posted if it's still there? That protects both the honest buyer and seller.
As far as closing off items, the problem is identifying what items are sold and not. Only the original lister knows. If people would take the time to mark things as sold, or "off market" etc by posting a simple message, then the listings in most cases would sink to the bottom on their own. I always find it a little curious, when people sell something, don't post that it's sold and then seemingly are surprised that someone posts a question in the thread about the item. Kinda dumb really.
In the end, I could go on and on, but I think people need to keep in mind that this is just a free, hobby site. It's not eBay or Craiglist. Unlike many other sites, I've kept this site free.
We don't charge people to list items like many other sites and we don't have criteria on how many posts or how long someone has been a member to post an item. The one main stipulation we have for using the marketplace, is that we ask that commercial interests and people selling for profit become supporting vendors. And that's a stipulation that over the years that many people have simply chosen to ignore and the result is, and the truth is, that they use up the sites resources for their own gain.
And on my side of the equation, to fund the site over the years, I've relied mainly on members voluntarily donating and in the last few years we've been lucky enough to augment member donations with a bit of advertising funds from our supporting vendors and advertisers.
In the end, I'm not trying to blow off the suggestions, sure, we always want to make improvements, and do regularly. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've had to upgrade components of our server four times this year already to keep up with the ever increasing traffic.
If you've ever noticed, we are always running one of the most recent versions of vBulletin. Every upgrade involves a lot of work and time, as many of the little customizations we've done to the site have to be re-written or re-hacked into the standard vBulletin code.
There are daily things that are done here that most members don't see and don't know about. There are emails that pour in, PM's that pour in etc.
So I guess at the end of the day, some of the things that people suggest and would like, often would involve hours and hours of more work, each day. Or, the suggestions would solve one issue but create others.
And at the end of the day, like all of you, I have a family, a job and have to balance all of that, with the money, time and effort that it takes to keep this site up and running.
-Chris
I appreciate the feedback.
Let me try to go through these suggestions....
Deleting/Editing seems to be the main suggestion here....
So, in principal, we don't want people deleting and editing things after a set period of time. I know some other sites allow this, but most of the ones that I know of, don't. The truth is, that we tried that approach once upon a time, and suffice to say, it didn't go too well and we made a decision to change to what we have now - which coincidently is the stock way that vBulletin comes set up by default- although I believe we've increased the edit time limit.
Now some of the issues that we had are as follows...
It seems, that when you allow people the ability to delete and edit things, it tends to foster an environment where people will run off at the keyboard a lot more, because, hey, they can just edit or delete it later. And then later, when someone calls them on it, the evidence is gone and they just deny it.
And while the posts might get deleted, the animosity many times lingers on. So our past experiences taught us, that unfortunately, some members will tend to act like idiots and then wipe their slate clean and cover their tracks. Also, when members who started a thread delete their opening post, it deletes everyone's. So the effect is that when you allow members to delete their own posts, you also allow them to delete other people's as well. And I don't like that.
Further, in the past, there have been member disputes in the marketplace. In some cases, people have alleged that members have mis-represented items that they have listed and there have been off-site disputes. Now if you are the injured party, would you rather have the ability to dig up the original listing, or would you like the lister to have the ability to just delete it? Don't you think it's easier to clarify what was posted if it's still there? That protects both the honest buyer and seller.
As far as closing off items, the problem is identifying what items are sold and not. Only the original lister knows. If people would take the time to mark things as sold, or "off market" etc by posting a simple message, then the listings in most cases would sink to the bottom on their own. I always find it a little curious, when people sell something, don't post that it's sold and then seemingly are surprised that someone posts a question in the thread about the item. Kinda dumb really.
In the end, I could go on and on, but I think people need to keep in mind that this is just a free, hobby site. It's not eBay or Craiglist. Unlike many other sites, I've kept this site free.
We don't charge people to list items like many other sites and we don't have criteria on how many posts or how long someone has been a member to post an item. The one main stipulation we have for using the marketplace, is that we ask that commercial interests and people selling for profit become supporting vendors. And that's a stipulation that over the years that many people have simply chosen to ignore and the result is, and the truth is, that they use up the sites resources for their own gain.
And on my side of the equation, to fund the site over the years, I've relied mainly on members voluntarily donating and in the last few years we've been lucky enough to augment member donations with a bit of advertising funds from our supporting vendors and advertisers.
In the end, I'm not trying to blow off the suggestions, sure, we always want to make improvements, and do regularly. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've had to upgrade components of our server four times this year already to keep up with the ever increasing traffic.
If you've ever noticed, we are always running one of the most recent versions of vBulletin. Every upgrade involves a lot of work and time, as many of the little customizations we've done to the site have to be re-written or re-hacked into the standard vBulletin code.
There are daily things that are done here that most members don't see and don't know about. There are emails that pour in, PM's that pour in etc.
So I guess at the end of the day, some of the things that people suggest and would like, often would involve hours and hours of more work, each day. Or, the suggestions would solve one issue but create others.
And at the end of the day, like all of you, I have a family, a job and have to balance all of that, with the money, time and effort that it takes to keep this site up and running.
-Chris
Vandalizer
Well-known member
Chris-
To start, I'm sure most (if not all) of us underestimate the time and energy it takes to keep this forum up and running without glitches or downtime. (which it never has!!!) As such, you certainly don't get the appreciation you deserve. Thank you for making this all possible.
I don't think any of us were hoping that this should be a change to be made 'no matter what' but rather a suggestion that you could take into consideration. I don't know a thing about vBulletin or how modular it is, but I piped in on this thread because I've found myself slogging through old ads, and wondered if there might be a way to check a couple boxes and allow the locking (not editing or deleting) of threads only in the marketplace section by the thread starter.
Do we currently have the ability to update the thread title in the marketplace area? (to add **SOLD**) If so, is there a time limit?
Thanks again- I'm sure maintenance and bandwidth issues are a pain, but I hope you can think about the amazing success of a community that you started from nothing to offset some frustration.
To start, I'm sure most (if not all) of us underestimate the time and energy it takes to keep this forum up and running without glitches or downtime. (which it never has!!!) As such, you certainly don't get the appreciation you deserve. Thank you for making this all possible.
I don't think any of us were hoping that this should be a change to be made 'no matter what' but rather a suggestion that you could take into consideration. I don't know a thing about vBulletin or how modular it is, but I piped in on this thread because I've found myself slogging through old ads, and wondered if there might be a way to check a couple boxes and allow the locking (not editing or deleting) of threads only in the marketplace section by the thread starter.
Do we currently have the ability to update the thread title in the marketplace area? (to add **SOLD**) If so, is there a time limit?
Thanks again- I'm sure maintenance and bandwidth issues are a pain, but I hope you can think about the amazing success of a community that you started from nothing to offset some frustration.
Currently, you can not edit the title of the thread after the edit time has expired. And without getting into too complicated an explanation, the edit time is a global permission that effects the entire site. So it's not something that is easily changed for one forum or area without effecting the other areas. As I said, people just need to post a simple message in their thread saying the item is sold or off the market etc.
The bottom line is that we are attempting to use what is supposed to be a message board, for posting messages as a classifieds software solution. And it's not designed for that use.
There is a real solution available.
That would involve adding a dedicated classifieds software package, that is an add-on software package that can be added to vBulletin.
Speedwake has it installed if you want to see an example of one such solution. That would take the classifieds right off the forums, but would still allow members to use the same log-in etc. There are a lot of benefits for sure.
But the real question is, would anyone be willing to pay a small fee to use such a package for listing items?
I'd be interested to hear your feedback.
-Chris
The bottom line is that we are attempting to use what is supposed to be a message board, for posting messages as a classifieds software solution. And it's not designed for that use.
There is a real solution available.
That would involve adding a dedicated classifieds software package, that is an add-on software package that can be added to vBulletin.
Speedwake has it installed if you want to see an example of one such solution. That would take the classifieds right off the forums, but would still allow members to use the same log-in etc. There are a lot of benefits for sure.
But the real question is, would anyone be willing to pay a small fee to use such a package for listing items?
I'd be interested to hear your feedback.
-Chris