Public vote on a proposal for sub-forums within the Classifieds forum

Good that you mentioned Twitter... I'm inclined to create a second twitter account for LFGSS classifieds... so that those who want latest discussion topics get them, and those who want classifieds get those.

A frequent complaint from Twitterers is that they unsubscribe because the classifieds makes it too noisy for them.

I'll wait for the outcome of this debate before doing that though.

I suspected the same... but you can see that's not the case OmarLittle.

I made the vote public, just view the results and hover your mouse over who voted and you'll see the userIds in the links and then will see that a mix of old and new voted each way, and not all of them are power sellers. All of the sub < 1000 users who have voted are so far in favour of sub-forums even though I don't recognise any of them as power sellers.

As your whole post is predicated by an assumption and the assumption is false... hard to then listen to the objection to the proposal.

LFGSS is free and very effective ( you can buy either a £700 titanium frame or a used pair of trainers for a fiver) at what it does and over complicating (and I think therefore over regulating) the classifieds would be a pity.

As always a perfectly put and well founded rebuttal Velocio so therefore only my last sentence applies now and that's purely my opinion.

I also wish people would put bike frame sizes in the blasted title instead of "SOOPER BIEK FOR SALE, FABULOUS COLOUR" . All for subfora, though - I like browsing randomly but sometimes I am looking for something specific, and this would help with the latter while having minimal effect on the latter.

and this would help with the latter while having minimal effect on the latter former.

Exactly.

Would love a structured way of having bike/frame sizes added.

That's something that is in my work for Microcosm. If all I want is a 59cm bike or frame, then just show me that (and optionally 1cm up and down).

But that's way beyond the scope of this debate.

I like change, I voted yes.

Complete bikes inc frame and fork, components and maybe a OT sub forums would be my choice.
It's a bit busy as it currently is.

So what happens when the bikes get split, as they inevitably do?

I think do the Twitter thing by the way, people like me will just follow both, but it makes sense to have a choice.

If we had sub-forums... and you need to split a bike... you would leave the whole bike advert up but just explain "Frame and Forks only", and then shift all components into a new thread in the "Components" sub-forum.

So a split is that... split. It takes 1 thing, and makes it more than 1... 1 whole bike thread becomes 1 frame thread and 1(+) component thread(s).

It's up to you if you'd create a thread per component or 1 "I've got lots of components to sell" thread.

That's basically the inconvenience of it.

But if the upside is that you sell your items easier because buyers find it... then the inconvenience is offset by the benefit of selling it sooner (at all).

Is there a way to include a tick box list when you start a classifieds thread for key items (frames, whole bikes, wheels etc) and then you can filter them via search or maybe even have icons next to the thread showing what it contains?

That way, you can have everything in the same thread, still filter if you're looking for something particular & you don't have to have a list of prefixes

I find the CTC classifieds (which is split into whole bikes/parts) quite annoying but that's because I'm lazy and dislike clicking on things. I prefer the LFGSS setup as it is. I rarely buy anything anyway though and this is probably representative of my chaotic brain which is not a model to be followed.

I can see the benefits of both ways. Sometimes it'd be good to find things quicker, but it's also interesting reading through random threads. After a bit of reading you can normally figure out what you're after and then search for it specifically. But it is a bit messy so sub-forums might make it simpler to browse.

I definitely agree about the Twitter thing. I unsubscribed because of all the classified threads.

Is there a way to include a tick box list when you start a classifieds thread for key items (frames, whole bikes, wheels etc) and then you can filter them via search or maybe even have icons next to the thread showing what it contains?

That way, you can have everything in the same thread, still filter if you're looking for something particular & you don't have to have a list of prefixes

That's basically the kind of thing I am building into Microcosm.

I want to make it easy to describe the things you're selling in a way that helps people search for them.

That isn't so easy to do in the existing software though, hence my building Microcosm (there are lots of simple things that should be done that I can't do because of the current software).

I find the CTC classifieds (which is split into whole bikes/parts) quite annoying but that's because I'm lazy and dislike clicking on things. I prefer the LFGSS setup as it is. I rarely buy anything anyway though and this is probably representative of my chaotic brain which is not a model to be followed.

That's a good example of the structure. I wouldn't like it if that were the only way to navigate it.

However I have no intention of removing the links to the searches that are in the navbar at the top... it would still be possible to search for all "For Sale" adverts and to see them all in one page.

I'm basically saying that if the proposal were implemented, then the categorisation as sub-forums is in addition to being able to search across all classifieds and to view them all.

You don't lose the ability to do what you can do today just because the adverts would be catergorised into sub-fora.

i would take the "do nothing" option

classifieds generally work well, there is a lot of trading going on

people need to utfs, they can look for certain words within prefixes like "for sale" and list by posts

it seems like a lot of bother for you, for no extra return

as the site continues to grow the sub forums could continue to expand, i am not sure what extra value is added as people still need to UTFS within the sub fora

That's basically the kind of thing I am building into Microcosm.

I want to make it easy to describe the things you're selling in a way that helps people search for them.

That isn't so easy to do in the existing software though, hence my building Microcosm (there are lots of simple things that should be done that I can't do because of the current software).

I'm glad i'm ahead of the times :)

There are basically 2 ways in which people browse the internet.
1) Search (usually a search box, and refine the search with multiple searches)
2) Browse (usually hierarchically within a site)

This proposal is saying that #2 is broken because it's all in one place and there are too many adverts, and that for the people who prefer to browse that #1 doesn't fit their requirements.

Search will not be affected at all... but in some ways will be further enhanced by being able to search within a specific sub-fora.

Browse is what is broken. And to the people that browse, search is not what they do. All successful sites offer both methods of navigation because search doesn't answer everything even if we repeat the mantra UTFS until we're blue in the face.

"Do nothing" is an option. But then, that's reflected in the poll... people could vote "No". So far, fewer than 25% of people who have voted think it's the right option.

Not read this ^ but I like the idea of sub-cats, so long as I can cock punch anyone who posts their shit in the wrong one.

i can see continual flaming of noobs posting in the wrong sub cat

puts popcorn machine on and sits back

"punch cock machine"

which sub fora will that be listed under?

i can see continual flaming of noobs posting in the wrong sub cat

Then don't do it.

Anyhow, I'll likely as not create a simple page for "Create Advert" that asked which type of thing you're selling.

That would replace the link in the navbar for "Post an Advert" that at the moment puts new threads in the Classifieds forum.

So no... shouldn't happen. And hippy can cock punch the ones that do screw up such a simple thing.

threats of violence? i thought that was a bannable offence

woohoo, no mods for a couple of weeks

I personally am happy with the current way - search function works well as long as people label their threads properly.

I think there should be thread titling guidelines, but these needn't be enforced - they should be there so that sellers can make it more likely for their items to be found.

I do think perhaps that For Sale and Wanted could be separate - if I do a search for 'wheels' because I'm looking to buy a new rear for example, I don't need to see all the listings of people wanting wheels too. Unless there is a way I can already do this?

Other thing is that I wouldn't mind having the OT stuff separated off - I don't want to be plouging through tons of adverts for camera lenses and macbooks when I'm looking at bike stuff.

^ on the full search page, restrict to the prefix you want (For Sale and Wanted already exist)