Classified section overhaul and other Mantidforum reforms

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Pizzaparlor45

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 18, 2013
Messages
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Location
Ft. Lauderdale Florida
I've been thinking about a potential way to overhaul the classified section, which is honestly one of the most important features of the forum. While the system has been the same for over a decade, I think that a major improvement can be made. 

Instead of people haphazardly posting what they have and what they want, what if there was a dedicated section where breeders could post an inventory of what they have in stock and keep it updated at their whim without having to either keep making new threads or make their own website. I feel this could be a much more efficient way of buyers finding breeders. Perhaps it could be further optimized by organizing breeders by continent. 

Secondly, I think the system of waiting for approval to join the forum does more harm than good. While it does prevent scammers, thieves, and bots from joining, I feel that it also turns away a lot of prospective new members, which a vital to keeping the forum active. 

 
I think the system of waiting for approval to join the forum does more harm than good. While it does prevent scammers, thieves, and bots from joining, I feel that it also turns away a lot of prospective new members, which a vital to keeping the forum active. 
Visitors can access the Dedicated Caresheets and General Discussion section without signing up. If someone is really interested in the hobby enough to visit the site, they'll probably take the time to sign up and hopefully choose to chip in to help pay for the upkeep. Obviously, the internet has become a hostile environment for almost any type of discussion. Thanks to the moderators, this is a family friendly site and not a place for people to abuse or harass other users like we see in so many other forums. I find it rather refreshing. 😁

The Wanted section is a free perk offered solely for registered users, but since this type of system is very expensive to operate, I can understand the reasoning behind not wanting to have a dedicated section for breeders who may want to operate a full blown business using the forum as a replacement for their own website... all at the expense of the owner of the forums, who also runs a business. 😉

 
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Visitors can access most of the forums with the exception of a few
Actually, when I'm not logged into the forum I can't read or access any of the forums. 

I agree with what @hysteresis said, that the way the classifieds are now is probably the most efficient way for them to make sure rules are followed. 

@Pizzaparlor45 Great ideas, but as @Synapze stated, there are reasons for why things are the way they are now. 

- MantisGirl13 

 
Actually, when I'm not logged into the forum I can't read or access any of the forums. 
That's odd. When I'm logged out I can access the caresheets and General Discussion sections. I thought many other sections were accessible to nonmembers, but I was wrong. 

 
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I for one would support a change to the forum if any. I used to be on this forum a long time ago and it seems nothing has really changed at all. not only that but it seems all the most influential members have all sort of left or become much less active. I feel some remodeling will maybe spark a little more discussion.

 
That's odd. When I'm logged out I can access the caresheets and General Discussion sections. I thought many other sections were accessible to nonmembers, but I was wrong. 
I don't think I have access to even those sections. I stalked the forum for nearly a year before joining, but the only thing I could access were the blogs, which nobody uses anymore.

- MantisGirl13 

 
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The Wanted section is a free perk offered solely for registered users, but since this type of system is very expensive to operate, I can understand the reasoning behind not wanting to have a dedicated section for breeders who may want to operate a full blown business using the forum as a replacement for their own website...
While such reasoning is understandable, I think that a dedicated breeder section would enhance the "mantis economy" so to speak. There are many desirable species that are hard to find (at least in the United States) in part because a majority of prospective buyers do not have easy access to many breeders outside of the major websites. Mantis Keepers on Facebook is difficult to use for the purpose because of Facebooks rules. Perhaps to alleviate the problem you mentioned, the administrators could charge a modest monthly or yearly subscription fee for the privilege of having a breeder page. 

 
@Pizzaparlor45 if your reasoning behind not having the wait period to be accepted into the forum was to have more new members and a more active forum, I think it's kind of contradictory to then suggest imposing a fee. I see where you are coming from, and you have good ideas, but there might be some flaws in your suggestions.

- MantisGirl13 

 
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