Christmas Closure Of The Market Place

[YesIamnotiamnit]

RE:

 

4) Members who post in the Classifieds and Market Watch Section are requested to clearly state the email address at which they may be contacted for the item(s) offered or wanted, whether in counter-spam format or otherwise.

 

If by this you mean something along the lines of: skippy at skippy dot net, webcrawlers read this as skippy@skippy.net. The same with

 

skippy

at

skippy

dot

net

 

There's no such thing as "counter-spam" format. Five years ago that was effective on simpler crawlers but not these days. It's true that PMs don't always get through but neither do e-mails and at least it's a much better way to avoid spammers than post your e-mail on a public forum that can be read by literally anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

 

I am grateful that the marketplace posts will be limited to that without all the nonproductive posts. I would like to see made permanent as well as no bumping although the OP should have a way to mark an item as sold. I am sure the change in marketplace will free up a lot of our time. As a former mod on 3 other forums and currently in a "chamber" to make sure sure dealers are not using the 'amateur" classified on another I can appreciate the time and effort involved. Enjoy your holiday break.

[lwang14]

Thank you for all the hard works, FPN is the best

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Edited December 23, 2010 by lwang14

[Susanna]

Thank you, Mods; you do a great work.

 

Merry Christmas!

[drgoretex]

I'll add a big thanks to the mods as well.

 

hope the changes make the marketplace more manageable.

 

Ken

[gregkoos]

Hi all,

 

I think you can convert your e-mail address into a digital image. This would be as simple as writing it out - with your fountain pen - and posting that image.

 

Greg

 

 

 

RE:

 

4) Members who post in the Classifieds and Market Watch Section are requested to clearly state the email address at which they may be contacted for the item(s) offered or wanted, whether in counter-spam format or otherwise.

 

If by this you mean something along the lines of: skippy at skippy dot net, webcrawlers read this as skippy@skippy.net. The same with

 

skippy

at

skippy

dot

net

 

There's no such thing as "counter-spam" format. Five years ago that was effective on simpler crawlers but not these days. It's true that PMs don't always get through but neither do e-mails and at least it's a much better way to avoid spammers than post your e-mail on a public forum that can be read by literally anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

 

I am grateful that the marketplace posts will be limited to that without all the nonproductive posts. I would like to see made permanent as well as no bumping although the OP should have a way to mark an item as sold. I am sure the change in marketplace will free up a lot of our time. As a former mod on 3 other forums and currently in a "chamber" to make sure sure dealers are not using the 'amateur" classified on another I can appreciate the time and effort involved. Enjoy your holiday break.

[fuchsiaprincess]

Hi all,

 

I think you can convert your e-mail address into a digital image. This would be as simple as writing it out - with your fountain pen - and posting that image.

 

Greg

 

 

 

RE:

 

4) Members who post in the Classifieds and Market Watch Section are requested to clearly state the email address at which they may be contacted for the item(s) offered or wanted, whether in counter-spam format or otherwise.

 

If by this you mean something along the lines of: skippy at skippy dot net, webcrawlers read this as skippy@skippy.net. The same with

 

skippy

at

skippy

dot

net

 

There's no such thing as "counter-spam" format. Five years ago that was effective on simpler crawlers but not these days. It's true that PMs don't always get through but neither do e-mails and at least it's a much better way to avoid spammers than post your e-mail on a public forum that can be read by literally anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

 

I am grateful that the marketplace posts will be limited to that without all the nonproductive posts. I would like to see made permanent as well as no bumping although the OP should have a way to mark an item as sold. I am sure the change in marketplace will free up a lot of our time. As a former mod on 3 other forums and currently in a "chamber" to make sure sure dealers are not using the 'amateur" classified on another I can appreciate the time and effort involved. Enjoy your holiday break.

 

That is a superb suggestion

Edited December 29, 2010 by fuchsiaprincess

[elpaninaro]

Edit:

Did just think of something with the new rules....how does a seller communicate to the masses that the particular item(s) have sold, if we can't post in the original topic? Would hate to have to reply to every email once the item is sold. Could there be some automated response from the mod/admins, that we as sellers could communicate to a mod/admin that the item is sold and then they could mark the item(s) sold or some how communicate that in the topic/thread?

 

On the wine forum I referenced earlier, posters would either delete the original post or edit the title to say "sold". As for dealing with other inquiries- people quickly adjusted to the fact it was a posted ad only and if they did not get a reply after a day or two it was best to check the forum and see if the wine listing had been removed or marked sold. Not perfect, but even back when you could do full discussion threads in the wine for sale area, it was not uncommon for seller's to ignore posts or messages once a deal was done.

[Maja]

Many thanks to the FPN Admin team and Moderators for all their hard work throughout the year! :clap1:

 

As an ex-Admin here on FPN, I know how much effort the job took way back then....let alone now, when the site is so popular

[ethernautrix]

Adding my thanks to the admin/mod love pile-on!

 

Also, I confess, I'm selfishly relieved not to be tempted by the marketplace for a few days.... (I mean, I've been able to withstand many temptations recently, but it's nice to relax, not have to brace myself...).

[markc]

RE:

 

4) Members who post in the Classifieds and Market Watch Section are requested to clearly state the email address at which they may be contacted for the item(s) offered or wanted, whether in counter-spam format or otherwise.

 

If by this you mean something along the lines of: skippy at skippy dot net, webcrawlers read this as skippy@skippy.net. The same with

 

skippy

at

skippy

dot

net

 

There's no such thing as "counter-spam" format. Five years ago that was effective on simpler crawlers but not these days. It's true that PMs don't always get through but neither do e-mails and at least it's a much better way to avoid spammers than post your e-mail on a public forum that can be read by literally anyone on the planet with access to a computer.

 

I am grateful that the marketplace posts will be limited to that without all the nonproductive posts. I would like to see made permanent as well as no bumping although the OP should have a way to mark an item as sold. I am sure the change in marketplace will free up a lot of our time. As a former mod on 3 other forums and currently in a "chamber" to make sure sure dealers are not using the 'amateur" classified on another I can appreciate the time and effort involved. Enjoy your holiday break.

 

for what its worth, spammers have pretty much figured out how to search/replace "at" with @ and "dot" with "." it isn't hard (you can pretty much do it with a one line perl script)

 

The digital image is a good idea and not hard to do.. The problem is that the board software doesn't allow uploads. I'd hate to have some random image hosting company decide to delete images after a period of time and have broken images on the forum.

 

I will also like to pile onto the love fest and thank the admins/mods for their tireless efforts in keeping this nut farm in semi order!

 

Happy Holidays!

 

MarkC

[treborefir]

Thanks for all the memories!

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday and the NEW Market Place is as much fun and as interesting as the old. I'm sure you'll do everything in your power to keep it fresh.

[rhosygell]

All the best to the mods / admins at FPN and many thanks for all their hard work

[Silvermink]

for what its worth, spammers have pretty much figured out how to search/replace "at" with @ and "dot" with "." it isn't hard (you can pretty much do it with a one line perl script)

 

We're just going to have to be more creative - (Ag) mink at shaw dot see, eh? Just gotta stay ahead of the curve. (Of course, as we've probably all learned from captchas, sometimes you get so far ahead of the curve that you start leaving humans befuddled, too!)

 

Thanks to the admins and mods for all their hard work, and Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to the lot of you.

 

(P.S. No prizes for deciphering that, particularly not if you post the result in the thread!)

Edited December 23, 2010 by Silvermink

[Miranda]

Add me to the admin/mod love fest!

[krandallkraus]

Maybe it's time to charge a buck for every sale or even every "for sale" post and share some of that with the mods of the forum. It seems to me that if you can use the site to make a few bucks, you should not begrudge spending a buck or two for doing it. Giveaways would be gratis, of course.

[Painterspal]

I'm sure I for one have no idea how much hard work goes on behind the scenes to keep FPN afloat. So here's a hearty thank you to all those fab people who have kept my favourite place on the internet going!

 

One question about the new arrangements: Sellers often lower the price if they don't find a buyer after a day or two - any ideas on how we'll continue to achieve that? How long can you edit the original post for?

 

Thanks and a very happy Christmas to all.

[wimg]

Regarding the questions re the market place: posts can still eb edited for up to 24 hours after posting, and with regard to the other options, I can only say we are looking into those. We do have a temporary solution at the ready, but are looking for more permanent solutions too, although the latter will likely take some time to test, select, and implement.

 

Having that out of the way, I would like to say thank you to all of you for the complimentary words and support offered, and for the warm and fuzzy feelings.

 

Warm regards, Wim

on behalf of the entire moderator and admin team

[Lizzard]

Thank you and enjoy your well earned respite. We will all be waiting with baited breath for your safe return.

With best wishes and warmth,

Liz

[FrozenPen]

I often learn something in the replies to postings as descriptions are clarified and expanded.

 

If the ban on replies is simply to reduce content quantity and the corresponding admin work then I'd be willing to volunteer time to monitor the marketplace to allow the replies to continue.

 

Heck, I'll volunteer some time ban or no ban.

[jniforat]

there's another convo going in "Community Feedback" -- i, too, volunteer my services if need be.