Managing the Seller's area

[Steven]

It looks like a lot of people sign up here simply to flog their wares without following the 30 post and 3 month rule, and the forum software doesn't prevent them from doing so.

Is it possible then to create a blanket "no authority to create new threads" in the For Sale sections for every member, and a member has to apply to a mod to get access (who would them just give them access to create new threads once they had confirmed the 30 post/3 month thing).

This would require far less cleaning up to be done in the for sale section and force people to read the rules to figure out why the hell they can't make a thread there. Also considering the for sale section is hardly very busy when it comes to new items for sale (and the permission to create a thread there only needs to be made once) I doubt it would create a large workload for mods.

OR

A simple thread which people can post in seeking permission for sale permission could be added akin to the custom titles thread, so any mod can see it and take action if it's appropriate.

[trentmeyer23]

It looks like a lot of people sign up here simply to flog their wares without following the 30 post and 3 month rule, and the forum software doesn't prevent them from doing so.

Is it possible then to create a blanket "no authority to create new threads" in the For Sale sections for every member, and a member has to apply to a mod to get access (who would them just give them access to create new threads once they had confirmed the 30 post/3 month thing).

This would require far less cleaning up to be done in the for sale section and force people to read the rules to figure out why the hell they can't make a thread there. Also considering the for sale section is hardly very busy when it comes to new items for sale (and the permission to create a thread there only needs to be made once) I doubt it would create a large workload for mods.

OR

A simple thread which people can post in seeking permission for sale permission could be added akin to the custom titles thread, so any mod can see it and take action if it's appropriate.

It could be done, you can even do it on crappy forum software. Just depends on the motivation.

[DJKOR]

I did consider this at one point in time (the same time that I enabled post moderation in the Group Buys forum which I removed shortly after) but eventually decided not to. The thing is, it will be like it was before when we only allowed TOC Supporters to post 'For Sale' threads. People started to then flood their 'For Sale' threads into every other forum.

But I'm up for trying it out. I will enable new post moderation for the 'For Sale' threads and see how it goes.

[White Lightning]

lol... good idea in theory - but then again say is communism...

Pros -

In theory it will force ppl to read the rules

In theory it will cut down mods having to clean up threads

Cons -

in reality they will just flood the other forums peddling their crap which will increase the workload of mods

in reality it will upset ppl who refuse to read and / or understand the rules, and subsequently

in reality it will cause these ppl aforementioned to create stupid threads asking obvious questions as to why they can't sell their poo either in the thread or in the other threads...

If we can make it work then hoorah! But unfortunately u can change the forum but u can't just kill idiots...

[DJKOR]

Well I have enabled the topic moderation. Basically what it does is it will unapproved all new topics made in the Buy and Sell: Main, and Buy and Sell: Non-automotive and is set to email just me at the moment advising me of this. Since I am around fairly often, I can typically verify new posts within the day.

When a person makes a new topic, it advises them that the topic is submitted for approval. If I had it my way, I would modify the page that says that to tell them why it is submitted for approval so they will understand why. Unfortunately I cannot so the next best thing was to modify the header at the top to say that only members who comply with the rules will have their topics approved. That said, I know for a fact that people tend to skip over that, so I guess time will tell how effective this all is.

One way or another though, moderation needs to be done, so it's still work either way. At least this now means we don't have to go through the whole "Please refer to the Buy and Sell Rules" talk again and again.

Funny thing though. Within 12 hours of enabling the moderation of new topics, a fresh newbie tried to make a for sale thread.

[White Lightning]

*facepalm*

I might be eager and a bit of a n00b sometimes but I at least read the rules (even if I ignore them occasionally and don't play 100% nice)... should PM them with a URL link to Boost Losing... lol...

[Foss]

I don't know if IPB software has this ability, but over at ITM they have it set to disable certain features to new members. Until you've been a member for (I think) 14 days you can't post thing like links or URLs, and your ability to post in certain sections is limited or disabled depending on your post count or length of membership.

...in reality it will cause these ppl aforementioned to create stupid threads asking obvious questions as to why they can't sell their poo either in the thread or in the other threads...

Surely people don't need to ask why they can't sell poo on the forums? More to the point, if selling poo is a common thing, I think post moderation is probably not the primary issue here.

[DJKOR]

From the controls available to me, I can set restrictions that prevent users from posting unless they have a set post count. Unfortunately this is a blanket permission and it can not be limited to "new topics" only. If I did set it, it means that a member below 30 posts or whatever will not be able to post their interest in that thread. That said, they could PM the member, but not everyone thinks the same.

The other thing is that even if you do make it a 30 post minimum, a new member wanting to flog their stuff will then simply go around the forums posting things like "nice ride" etc just to get their post count up.

Unfortunately you can't really please everyone. This current method now seems to be working as I have caught a couple of noobs trying to sell their stuff, but it also fails a little because I have seen a member or two ignore the notification saying that their post has been submitted for approval and have then gone and posted the same topic a couple of times more. One way or another, cleaning has to be done. It will never be truly automated.

But at least this way, it may make more work for us as moderators, but it keeps things nice and clean for you guys.

[httttt]

This seems like a good idea but are you getting over loaded DJKOR?

Maybe there is a setting to auto remove and set for mod approval if x amount of people push the Report button. I only suggest this because you will essentially allow the community to mod this section.

[DreadAngel]

On IPB board, you can limit newbies from seeing or accessing the classified/for sale area, there are of course different methods...

Easiest way I've found is playing with the member groups + permission set/mask. Have a newbie group whatever you want to call them, after they've posted XX amount of times (On my old forum, post increased only in the technical sections stopping newbies from spam bombing the forum, though its true we have moderators and admins on around the clock cause its an international site) they'll be automatically put into the members group which then allows them to see/post in the classified.

That way Daryl you won't get flooded or if something happens to you and you're too busy to attend to the site, it'll keep running since Steve isn't around much...

[DJKOR]

I did consider that and nearly put in on so that you must have 30 posts to your name before you could post in the appropriate forum, however I then though, what about a non-member who comes across the post on Google during their searching and then proceeds to sign up just to post their interest in said item on the forum? They would then not be able to. Sure there is PM, but then some people may not be aware of how to do so.

Either way, it seems to be working as it is at the moment. There are only like a couple of threads made a week and most of the time, I have been able to approve it shortly after posting (I get push email notifications).

Thanks for the advice though. It's definitely something on the cards if it starts to get harder to manage.

[Kenshin X]

not sure if its already been done but for the welcoming email after the new members join, there is the "buy and sell rules" list on there? i'm not sure if this has already been done as i did join a while ago but guess would be good thing to have. that way if the member do complain, we would just say to read the email properly.