Charge for classifieds

[robcat2075]

You should charge $1 for every classified ad.

Set it so every new topic in that section requires approval and they don't get approval until the $1 shows up in your PayPal account.

If they seriously have something to sell, $1 won't be a deal killer. Their shipping will be more than that.

If they are not serious, why should your forum be supporting their unserious venture?

That would cut down on the clutter.

[Bach5G]

Is clutter a problem?

[Burgerbob]

I'm not seeing a lot of fluff.

[BGuttman]

We had intended that the Classifieds be free. We do try to keep down clutter by limiting the frequency of "bump" posts.

People are pretty good about posting in the right categories and using WTB if they are looking and FS or WTS if they are offering. WTT can go either way.

I'm sure there are a few "tire kicker" WTB posts and some kids looking to get a Shires for the price of a Bundy, but I don't think there has been too much to wade through. Especially if you use the Search function to narrow down the items to scan. If you are browsing, having a lot of odd stuff can be fun.

[robcat2075]

Yes, there is clutter.

They may be "good about posting in the right categories", but they ALL show up on the current "Active topics" page where one looks for real trombone discussion activity. They are definitely in the wrong "category" there.

They are typically about half or more of the entries. Today it is 23 of the first 50. Is there any online news where half of the "Top Stories" list is actually unpaid classified ads?

No. That would be insane.

I previously suggested just filtering the classifieds out of the "Active Topics". NO ONE who comes here looking to buy something is going to do it by reading through all the "Active Topics" when the classifieds are already on the front page and separated by category. There is no need for classifieds to be in "Active Topics" at all.

But that idea got shouted down.

Easy to do, makes sense, inconveniences no one, but... no!

So start charging for them. That would reduce them quickly and dissuade the people who are probably just someone trying to clear out his pawn shop but stays to troll the regular discussions.

[Burgerbob]

If you don't want to see them in active topics, you can unsubscribe to those subforums.

[hyperbolica]

I previously suggested just filtering the classifieds out of the "Active Topics". NO ONE who comes here looking to buy something is going to do it by reading through all the "Active Topics" when the classifieds are already on the front page and separated by category. There is no need for classifieds to be in "Active Topics" at all...

Ummm... Sorry you're having a bad day... I sometimes buy and sell stuff from the classifieds, and generally disagree with most of what rob is saying.

But...

I'm also a phpbb admin/owner at an unrelated site, and there is a way to easily exclude the classifieds from the Active Topics...

In the admin tool, on the Forums tab, Manage Forums, then edit (select the gear icon) the forum you want to exclude from the Active Topics list.

Scroll down to General Forum Settings, check No, and Submit.

I do it on my board with an off topic area. I also prohibit bots from indexing that area, and prohibit searches (just to keep traffic at a minimum, because off topic stuff affects your site reputation). But you need to allow search in the classifieds, especially if you eliminate it from the Active Topics. For people who still want to read the classifieds, you'd still be able to use the New Posts and Unread Posts to see new stuff.

clutter.png

[Bach5G]

A solution in search of a problem

[Posaunus]

You should charge $1 for every classified ad.

That would cut down on the clutter.

To the extent that TromboneChat is democratic (which of course it is not), I vote NO.

I'm willing to wade through what Rob characterizes as "clutter."

[sf105]

Sorry, but not convinced by this. And charging for small amount brings a whole new level of admin for the maintainers.

[BGuttman]

Quite frankly, I rarely look at "Active Topics". I strictly use "Unread" since it gets me directly to what I haven't seen before. Sometimes the statistics aren't really of interest.

My beef is people who slog the ads with a ton of pictures that slows downloading. Then again, if you want to sell it often a lot of pictures helps. I understand that. So if a thread takes too long to download, I'll stop it and just move on.

I have no plans to change anything about the Classifieds. And I'm not at a high enough pay grade to make a decision about charging -- that's up to the Site Owner (NeoBri).

[harrisonreed]

Yeah, just click "unread topics". Hundreds of people paying $1 for your convenience is worse than one person just clicking "unread topics" for everyone else's convenience.

Besides, it's not like most of the classifieds are inactive -- most people are trying to sell their trombone related crap and would still sell it to someone who made an offer. The fact that it is searchable and available is a bonus.

I tried what Burger Bob said about unsubscribing, but that didn't seem to work. I don't know how you can use the active topic feature without getting classifieds.

[Posaunus]

My beef is people who slog the ads with a ton of pictures that slows downloading. Then again, if you want to sell it often a lot of pictures helps. I understand that. So if a thread takes too long to download, I'll stop it and just move on.

The photos in the ads and other posts would load and display a LOT faster if those who post would first "resize" their pictures to use many fewer pixels. I use Windows Image Resizer (it's free and easy), and gives you the option to resize to Large (1920x1080 pixels), Medium (1366x768), Small (854x480), or Phone (320x569). Although I usually resize to Large, even the Small size retains plenty of resolution for detailed viewing on a computer screen. My typical camera photo image is about 5,000 kB. When resized to Large, that size is reduced to about 300 kB. Imagine the savings in storage requirements and loading speed due to this 17x size reduction!

Try it - you'll like it, TromboneChat readers will like it, and NeoBri would need a lot less storage for this forum!

[sacfxdx]

Everyone pays a fee when they advertise a item for sale on the net. I do not think a modest ($5) fee is unreasonable. As far as clutter goes. I use “new posts” so it’s not a problem for me.

Just my opinion…and we know what that’s worth.

[harrisonreed]

It's easy for the people who have nothing to sell to talk about $5 fees. Just don't look at the classifieds. Problem solved.

[hyperbolica]

If the admin is concerned about image size and load times, there is a plugin called Lightbox that standardizes image thumbnails, and allows readers to click to expand the image to full size. Plug ins are easy. I'd be willing to write out some instructions if admin is interested. You could easily add something like a thumbs up button, which I'm sure people would also enjoy (the tuba forum people like it), something that allows you to mention other members in a cool way, put google search right on the site, ability to tag the best answer, even get rid of the phpbb logo, which is a little embarrassing, or add a fav.ico. People on my site love the "Dark Mode" which flips the color of the theme (style). Make it look a little less out-of-the-box-1995. These are all free and easy to do.

[BGuttman]

If the admin is concerned about image size and load times, there is a plugin called Lightbox that standardizes image thumbnails, and allows readers to click to expand the image to full size. Plug ins are easy. I'd be willing to write out some instructions if admin is interested. You could easily add something like a thumbs up button, which I'm sure people would also enjoy (the tuba forum people like it), something that allows you to mention other members in a cool way, put google search right on the site, ability to tag the best answer, even get rid of the phpbb logo, which is a little embarrassing, or add a fav.ico. People on my site love the "Dark Mode" which flips the color of the theme (style). Make it look a little less out-of-the-box-1995. These are all free and easy to do.

As the Admin who mentioned the image loading issue, I don't really need to make a change. If I'm really interested in the pictures in the sale I can wait for them to load. If I'm not, I just stop the page loading and go on.

Btw, I don't use the "coffee" TC logo. I've adopted the "Silver" skin and I'm happy with that. Might like to port a trombone to the header, but that's far down the list of my needs.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I agree with many of the comments offered by responders. Just unsubscribe the "active topics" option. Besides....active topics is just like having a "what's trending now" option. Maybe I'm old school, but I could care less about "what's trending now!" Thus, I would never use the "active topics" option on TromboneChat.

I come here and peruse the categories that interest me and completely ignore the topics of no interest to me. My suggestion is that the original poster do the same......get rid of the "active topics" option, peruse the topic categories that interest you and ignore the classifieds if you consider them "clutter."