Moderators (requests and notices)

Is there more to contribute to the original topic?

We could close most threads, bike porn, football, helmets...

We could close most threads, bike porn, football, helmets, I bin Scobled!...

ftfy.

Morning all,

Recently a guy was banned for posting a sale on lfgss and retrobike. I notice that these two current ads on lfgss may be posted elsewhere -

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117242.html - ebay

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117354.html - http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=277460

Are the above sellers getting banned?

There is another seller who posts the lfgss links on retrobike - presumably this is within the rules?

Richard

They only seem to sell, they do not donate or even contribute, and they sell elsewhere at the same time.

mobfromsimpsonswithflamingtorches

Ed, you will continue to scoble in new and interesting ways.

Why is the image uploader are always dodgy? 75% it fail to upload until several tried it work.

Subtle bugs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Loosing thread >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We could close most threads, bike porn, football, helmets...

ftfy.

I'm going to start calling you both "canoeist 1" and "canoeist 2" from now on.

Why is the image uploader are always dodgy? 75% it fail to upload until several tried it work.

One of the 4 web servers is weird, I don't know which one. They all run the same code base, so I suspect one of the servers is physically on a bad network switch and that this isn't something that materialises when doing web pages but when you're trying to upload files it does materialise.

Morning all,

Recently a guy was banned for posting a sale on lfgss and retrobike. I notice that these two current ads on lfgss may be posted elsewhere -

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117242.html - ebay

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117354.html - http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=277460

Are the above sellers getting banned?

There is another seller who posts the lfgss links on retrobike - presumably this is within the rules?

Richard

Depends on the person as to what happens to them.

We're hard-arse to new users who blatantly haven't read the rules and contribute very little else to the community and is obviously here just to sell something and spam us.

But for old-timers there is some leniency (you have to think of their dementia), and they just get a warning, especially if it's a one-off and not a regular thing.

That said... at the very least ALL threads advertising something being sold elsewhere will be closed. Some will be deleted. And some will be deleted and have the poster banned (usually very new members who haven't bothered reading the rules, or those persistently and consistently spamming multiple sites as we ban spammers). Which of those happens depends on the circumstance surrounding it, etc... very few rules are black and white as we're going for a spirit of the rules rather than the letter.

We aren't proactively moderating this stuff, it requires someone to hit the report button. So some things slip through some of the time. That's risky for sellers though, as if they hope to slip through and then get found out they will get cut off mid-sale.

And yes... it is within the rules to post an advert on LFGSS and then link to it from Retrobike. That doesn't break any rule on LFGSS, and it would be up to Retrobike whether they allowed sellers to put links up to their own adverts (eBay, Gumtree, LFGSS, whatever) or not. We take the view that a seller putting up a link to their own item is still spam, but we allow and encourage everyone else to share gems they've found that they think people may be interested in.

You should check out why this rule exists, a recent reminder was given: https://www.lfgss.com/thread48164-244.html#post3812401

This rule doesn't benefit just LFGSS, if retrobike had a similar rule then they would have fewer dead adverts as well. Whether retrobike (as a community, or as admins, depending on the political structure) want to allow sellers to spam their site with "I'm selling this" is entirely up to them. But on this site, it's a no-no.

Deal with it.

Retrobike troll is obvious.

TGR: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=24759

Yes, but he still has a point and both of those threads will now be dealt with.

One of the 4 servers is weird, I don't know which one. They all run the same code base, so I suspect one of the servers is physically on a bad network switch and that this isn't something that materialises when doing web pages but when you're trying to upload files it does materialise.

The only solution I found is after choosing a files in the Manage Attachments box, I leave it alone for a while before clicking Upload, which seemed to work well.

It's a 1-in-4 chance of not working, and the load balancer round-robins the requests to the server. Given other people are using the site too, you may as well try again immediately, and repeatedly until it works. It works, as you noticed, 75% of the time.

I found it's closer to 3/4 of the time, but just hitting back then trying again repeatedly doors do the job.

The only solution I found is after choosing a files in the Manage Attachments box, I leave it alone for a while before clicking Upload, which seemed to work well.

Did you find it helped to stand on one leg, or face north, while you were doing it? Make careful notes of everything that happens each time it succeeds, try to ensure that all these conditions are replicated each time you try again. This is a totally legitimate forensic approach to solving the problem.

Post hoc non ergo propter hoc.

I found it's closer to 3/4 of the time, but just hitting back then trying again repeatedly does do the job.

That's just bad luck... round-robin load balancing can feel like that.

I used to use sticky sessions... but then 1/4 of the people could never upload.

And I could just re-provision all servers... but cloud hosting is strange at times and who is to say that I didn't end up with 2 servers behind whatever dodgy switch or bit of the network is responsible.

It help more if you run bigger tyres.

Morning all,

Recently a guy was banned for posting a sale on lfgss and retrobike. I notice that these two current ads on lfgss may be posted elsewhere -

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117242.html - ebay

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117354.html - http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=277460

Are the above sellers getting banned?

There is another seller who posts the lfgss links on retrobike - presumably this is within the rules?

Richard

eBay one had the thread deleted and the user banned.

stuarts is fine.

stuarts listed the advert here 10 days after Retrobike and it's really only active here. Retrobike don't allow deletion or marking an advert as closed, so I can't see how he could remove it from Retrobike in any meaningful way.

Unless TGR, you want us to enact some kind of "must never have been sold on retrobike" rule... but that would seem to serve absolutely no purpose and would seem to be petty and pedantic.

I refer you again to the link I cited above stating why these rules exist and that we follow the spirit of the rule.

The eBay advert was clearly against that spirit, stuarts is not.

Post hoc non ergo propter hoc.

Romans go home!

I delete the threads that appear elsewhere (according to the rules) but I have to know about them. If no other user points them out then nothing will happen. I was actually under the impression that we were allowing cross selling as long as it was on other bike forums?

I delete the threads that appear elsewhere (according to the rules) but I have to know about them. If no other user points them out then nothing will happen. I was actually under the impression that we were allowing cross selling as long as it was on other bike forums?

Depends on the circumstance.

When it's obviously a "I'm selling a bike and will immediately spam every bike forum I can find", then they get nuked regardless of the source. And you can spot these by the listing dates here and elsewhere.

But when it's a "I've tried to sell my bike on site X, and they weren't that interested but I think that site Y (LFGSS) users might like it"... then I basically turn a blind eye.

The difference is whether or not it's spam (bulk, unsolicited), and whether they're going to manage their advert (they'll manage an advert on a site, but not many adverts on many sites).

So if there is only 1 current instance of the advert, then that there are older adverts elsewhere is irrelevant.

After all, we're not trying to be a pain in the arse and it is a chore for us to police... what we're trying to do is ensure that when adverts appear that they are being managed by the person selling it, and that the seller is proactively telling us when it's sold, and responding to buyer inquiries, etc.

Afternoon Dick.

Morning all,

Recently a guy was banned for posting a sale on lfgss and retrobike. I notice that these two current ads on lfgss may be posted elsewhere -

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117242.html - ebay

http://www.lfgss.com/thread117354.html - http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=277460

Are the above sellers getting banned?

There is another seller who posts the lfgss links on retrobike - presumably this is within the rules?

Richard

Velocio,

Thanks for clearing that up. There is a thread on RB relating to someone who was banned from lfgss for cross posting - i still think that the ban was a bit ott, but that is my opinion.

Scilly Suffolk, i will check the meaning of troll to see if i am one. And you know me from both RB and here.

I am a relatively inactive member here - i do not ride fixies and i am not in London. I do, however, purchase quite a bit from here and have got some good stuff. Maybe if i build a fixie, i will be a more active contributor...

Thanks,

Richard

To be fair TGR's question probably relates to this: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=273607

The reason I never responded to the OP in question is that once someone is being unreasonable in email (the ban was already explained but he emailed 3 times basically demanding it to be reviewed/lifted), it is unlikely that anything constructive will come of it.

The OP attempted to whip up an "us and them", which is ridiculous as we're all just cyclists conversing via the internet.

Each site individually chooses how best to try and police itself, and that varies greatly depending on the people involved, the demographic of those people and the views of the administrators/moderators.

We have rules that are slightly different from retrobike or other sites, and likewise they have rules that differ from LFGSS.

But... there is a massive amount of overlap in core etiquette on forums, and it's no surprise that someone gets banned or has posts deleted when they ignore the rules of a given site.

What I try and do here, is to explain why we have certain rules. Almost every rule has come from the experience of the people here, and we're usually trying to codify something that helps keep the place functioning within some relative parameters of normality and peace.

I'm not really for rules... I much prefer things being a little more wild and policed by members rather than by central authority. Thus, whilst we have a stack of rules we only harshly enforce two of them:

1) Did you read the rules or at least get to know the site? i.e. nursery period
2) Are you spamming us or otherwise screwing us over? i.e. classifieds rules

Experience has shown us time and again, that if someone wilfully ignores those two that they'll ignore all the others too. That they will be far more hassle than they're worth to everyone on here. And so, these two rules are canaries... break these, and yes you risk getting banned quite quickly. If someone doesn't break those two rules, then it's really hard to get yourself banned. It would take some serious trolling in the form of sexist and racist or blatantly illegal behaviour to get yourself banned.

That OP did the standard nursery evasion, and then spammed us. He got his advert deleted, and then threw a hissy fit and emailed a rant several times.

It's this weird sense of entitlement... like the forum exists for his benefit, and he can do no wrong. When actually it exists for the people who use it, contribute to it (go on rides, hang out at the bar with others, share wisdom, etc).

And the classifieds is an extension of that... it may now be a huge part of the site, but it remains something that exists for the benefit of the people who are in this community, and not for the benefit of someone who just wants to sell something.

That's just the way this online community evolved and chose to codify the rules to reflect the tight offline community. Everyone does it differently, we did it this way.

http://www.vegastributes.com/images/TIM%20BEASLEY%20AS%20INSPECTOR%20CLOUSEAU%20BUST%20SHOT%20COLOR.jpg

Velocio.

Thanks for the further info. I will not be bothering you about cross posting, i am sure you have better things to do with your time. I think i made my point that it happens; i was unaware of any abusive or similar emails from the banned person.

You have made a good point about forums in general - each serves a specific need and has different ranges of people, that can clearly be seen when you look at lfgss, RB and CRC - all bike forums and all well run, but cater to different people and probably age is the defining factor. I will reserve judgement on BikeRadar as it seems just odd to me. Do yuppies still exist?

Anyways, thanks (again) and have a great weekend,

Richard

Depends on the circumstance.

When it's obviously a "I'm selling a bike and will immediately spam every bike forum I can find", then they get nuked regardless of the source. And you can spot these by the listing dates here and elsewhere.

But when it's a "I've tried to sell my bike on site X, and they weren't that interested but I think that site Y (LFGSS) users might like it"... then I basically turn a blind eye.

The difference is whether or not it's spam (bulk, unsolicited), and whether they're going to manage their advert (they'll manage an advert on a site, but not many adverts on many sites).

So if there is only 1 current instance of the advert, then that there are older adverts elsewhere is irrelevant.

After all, we're not trying to be a pain in the arse and it is a chore for us to police... what we're trying to do is ensure that when adverts appear that they are being managed by the person selling it, and that the seller is proactively telling us when it's sold, and responding to buyer inquiries, etc.

When it has been another bike forum I've tended to leave it or check the dates. If they were both posted on the same eve then it's clearly not a case of "oh, well that didn't sell here maybe they want it".

Meh.

Delete ALL the adverts!

Cross-forum merge