Any way to get the classifieds to post on the "What's New"?

[ehpoole]

I'd be happy to do so, although the Home page will soon be disappearing (it is a major maintenance headache and integrates poorly with the rest of the site (you may have noticed the broken menu links for some sections when on this page) as it is a hack left over from vBulletin 3.x).

My bad, we are not showing Classified Ads on the Home page (have not since we started vB4 actually).... oddly enough because of the integration issue.

My bad, sorry for any confusion.

[ehpoole]

To me, the site's home page is the page that comes up when you enter http://www.ncwoodworker.net/ into a browser. Are you going to make some other tab the home page or create a new one?

That is the page that will disappear in the near future. Instead such calls will be referred to what is now the "Articles" tab.

[MarkE]

Well, I spent the day puzzling how best to make everyone happy (or at least mostly so ), so everyone, please let me know how this proposed workaround works for each camp.

I have customized things now so that whenever you are viewing the "What's New" page you are always seeing the 5 most recent ads.

However, when you are viewing the sidebar anywhere else on the site, you will continue to see a random selection of 5 ads that rotates every few minutes upon refresh or reload.

I think this comes closest to addressing the needs, wishes and concerns of all camps. It makes it easy for the regular Classifieds browser to see what is new when they check in each day. While it also allows casual browsers and interested parties repeated opportunities over the life of the ad to see and discover the sellers items. I believe this will also help to improve sales opportunities for our sellers -- especially when an item fails to sell in the first day or two (and has otherwise disappeared from view on the Newest 5 display) since members will still have an opportunity to see your ad elsewhere on the site over the entire 30-day duration of the seller's ad.

I think this addresses the concerns of both camps, but I am interested in comments nonetheless. (fingers crossed)

This sounds like a good compromise. I personally still like the random/rotating display, but it seems like most like the 5 newest ads to display. Either way works for me, since I pretty regularly check the classifieds anyway.

[MarkE]

That is the page that will disappear in the near future. Instead such calls will be referred to what is now the "Articles" tab.

Will the 'What's New' page be modified to show all recent posts?

I thought the reason for adding the current version of the Home page was because of the What's New page's tendency to drop off any thread that was viewed or posted to. If you open a thread from the What's New page then reload What's New, that post you just viewed no longer shows up, until someone adds a post to the thread. That makes it difficult to find an old thread if you don't recall what forum it was in.

[ehpoole]

Will the 'What's New' page be modified to show all recent posts?

I thought the reason for adding the current version of the Home page was because of the What's New page's tendency to drop off any thread that was viewed or posted to. If you open a thread from the What's New page then reload What's New, that post you just viewed no longer shows up, until someone adds a post to the thread. That makes it difficult to find an old thread if you don't recall what forum it was in.

If you will look at the Article tab, Steve has made some effort to try and semi-duplicate the functionality of the Home page. However, the recent threads in the Articles selection is really only a list of the N most recent threads. You will notice that there is no indication as to which threads you are current on (e.g. there are no bold versus non-bold titles), so there is no indication as to what you are not current on. I do not know whether Steve will ever include that functionality as well as that is some pretty heavy coding to accommodate such.

That said, I have pretty much exclusively been using the What's New page since our upgrade and I can assure you that one can adapt to it fairly readily... If you really need to find a thread you just read, either leave it open in another tab OR you can use either our SEARCH feature to find the thread OR, if you recall any of the members who responded to the thread, you can view that user's profile and then click the link that allows you to view that user's most recent posts or threads -- if it is a recent post/thread then it will be near the top of the list for that user. Either of these will get you to your lost thread pretty quickly most times. Additionally, most threads have only a very limited set of forums within which they could appear (without triggering an admin or moderator to move it) and that information, coupled with the knowledge that resent threads are near the top of the lists (just below stickies) can also help you locate a missing thread quickly.

PS - The reason the Home page was added back was to appease the masses (actually more of a very vocal subgroup, but the masses nonetheless). With all the other issues trying to get the new site working there was also a big uproar from many long timer users who were upset with the forced change to the new style. For better or worse, it was something we could do in the short term to soothe some frayed nerves.

We try very hard to make everyone happy (though we also sometimes fail), and sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot with those accommodations (such as the trouble that the antiquated Home page plugin causes). Or you stir the hornets nest like I did with this topic yesterday (I'm kidding, really, you all are far more enjoyable than hornets!).

[SteveColes]

To me, the site's home page is the page that comes up when you enter http://www.ncwoodworker.net/ into a browser. Are you going to make some other tab the home page or create a new one?

Yes, within the next few days. The tab that now says article will be the home. But it will not display as it does now. I have been playing around with it a bit and as soon as i get a bit more time. I will change to what I have in mind.

[Glennbear]

Well, I spent the day puzzling how best to make everyone happy (or at least mostly so ), so everyone, please let me know how this proposed workaround works for each camp.

I have customized things now so that whenever you are viewing the "What's New" page you are always seeing the 5 most recent ads.

However, when you are viewing the sidebar anywhere else on the site, you will continue to see a random selection of 5 ads that rotates every few minutes upon refresh or reload.

I think this comes closest to addressing the needs, wishes and concerns of all camps. It makes it easy for the regular Classifieds browser to see what is new when they check in each day. While it also allows casual browsers and interested parties repeated opportunities over the life of the ad to see and discover the sellers items. I believe this will also help to improve sales opportunities for our sellers -- especially when an item fails to sell in the first day or two (and has otherwise disappeared from view on the Newest 5 display) since members will still have an opportunity to see your ad elsewhere on the site over the entire 30-day duration of the seller's ad.

I think this addresses the concerns of both camps, but I am interested in comments nonetheless. (fingers crossed)

Just MTCW, I like the solution you propose. It seems to be the perfect compromise.

[merrill77]

I think this comes closest to addressing the needs, wishes and concerns of all camps. It makes it easy for the regular Classifieds browser to see what is new when they check in each day. While it also allows casual browsers and interested parties repeated opportunities over the life of the ad to see and discover the sellers items.

I like this proposal as well. I'm not on the forum every day, so if more than 5 things are posted for sale within a few days, I'd be likely to miss a bunch of them. I don't always think to look in the classifieds, but when they are right there on the page, I frequently noticed items that interest me.

[richlife]

I stumbled on this thread while I was looking for the answer to another "problem" related to clasifieds. (I'll post if I don't see it in the thread list.) But this struck me because I realized yesterday that no one is ever likely to notice my new add just as Andy has said.

I can't find the "Classified Rules", so may this is against them, but today I decided to put a brief statement in "Announcements" with a link to my ad. At least it will briefly let people know what I have for sale and I requested that replies be made to the ad, not to the announcement in keeping with that sections intent.

Otherwise on this topic, I agree with everything that Andy has said. Regardless of the way that ads may be exposed (new or rotating), I think every ad should generate and Announcement so that there is some visibility. I agree that we as advertisers should not in any way bump our announcement later. The Classified section should be able to work as intended for those who want something and will look for it. If my announcement didn't get any results, bumping is no likely to help and will simply tend to upset people who may have seen it before and ignored it.

Now back to my search for the "Rules".

Rich

[CarvedTones]

I believe that the ads are rotated randomly in the sidebar because I keep seeing different ones, but oddly enough I have not seen mine yet. It likely has been there once when I didn't look.

[ehpoole]

I believe that the ads are rotated randomly in the sidebar because I keep seeing different ones, but oddly enough I have not seen mine yet. It likely has been there once when I didn't look.

Andy, your ad was up steady for a day or two on the What's New page (where only New ads are shown) before it was bumped by a heavy day of new ads. Part of my concern with regard to a policy of *only* showing the newest 5 stemmed from the fact that every few days we tend to get hit with a large batch of new ads that can literally bump an ad from being at the top of the "newest 5" list to off-the-list in less than a day, which is what the random rotation helps to make up for. It is not uncommon for there to be 5 or 6 new ads posted to Classifieds in a single day, followed by a quiet day or two before the next new ads.

Your ad is now continuing to be shown about 1/8th of the time on the Forums and thread-view pages (which get lots of views) -- whereas before my changes it would never have been shown once bumped from the "new 5" list. I've seen your add probably a good 30 times over the past few days, and that is without even looking for it, so it is definitely getting views. About every 3-5 minutes a new rotation is selected for the sidebar (in random-view areas).

The only exception to the random-rotation is that the sidebar is not visible in thread-view mode to users viewing this site with mobile devices (cell phones, PDAs, or tablets running a mobile operating system). The sidebar is hidden from these devices in thread-view because some mobile devices, with their limited screen real estate, were having difficulty rendering the thread views with the sidebar. So, if you primarily use a mobile device while visiting the site then you will have fewer opportunities to see older Classified Ads (but you should still see the newest 5 on What's New and/or Articles).

[ehpoole]

I stumbled on this thread while I was looking for the answer to another "problem" related to clasifieds. (I'll post if I don't see it in the thread list.) But this struck me because I realized yesterday that no one is ever likely to notice my new add just as Andy has said.

The "5 Most Recent" ads are always displayed on the What's New and Articles pages (soon to be the new Home page) until they are bumped from the list due to no longer being amongst the newest 5 (which can vary from a matter of hours to a few days).

For the entire duration of your ad (up to 30-days), our Forums and Thread-view pages (which get lots of views) will continue to display your ad approximately 1/8th of the time on average (actual frequency is #ads/5=frequency). A new block of 5 random ads is generated every 3-5 minutes, so if you do the math your ad is visible for about 8 minutes of each hour throughout the day. Over 30-days that comes to quite a lot of impressions for our members. Plus, your ad is continuously displayed on the What's New and Articles/Home pages for as long as it is among the "5 Most Recent".

Over the past day or two I can recall having seen your ad (as in actually noticed without even looking for it) several times already -- as I am sure many other members have as well. Don't assume that because it did not sell within the first day or two that that means nobody saw the ad.

I can't find the "Classified Rules", so may this is against them, but today I decided to put a brief statement in "Announcements" with a link to my ad. At least it will briefly let people know what I have for sale and I requested that replies be made to the ad, not to the announcement in keeping with that sections intent.

The Classified Ads Policy, like all of our Site Policies, can be found under the Policy section of our Articles area. We have gone to great lengths to condense all of our various Policies into this one location to make them easier to locate for members. We will soon be making the Articles tab the new Home Page, which will hopefully make members more aware of the Articles Section.

Otherwise on this topic, I agree with everything that Andy has said. Regardless of the way that ads may be exposed (new or rotating), I think every ad should generate and Announcement so that there is some visibility. I agree that we as advertisers should not in any way bump our announcement later. The Classified section should be able to work as intended for those who want something and will look for it. If my announcement didn't get any results, bumping is no likely to help and will simply tend to upset people who may have seen it before and ignored it.

There is no mechanism for an Ad to create a post -- it just is not a feature of any of the existing Classified solutions on the market. Regardless, all Classified ads -- especially those with a good photo -- get good exposure on our Sidebar with many viewer impressions per visit for each member at all hours of the day.

We may or may not permit (it is undecided and our commercial policies are presently under review) users, in the future, to make such posts manually to a singular and specific forum. This is a very tough call because every advertiser considers their ad to be of great importance to all, but this has to be balanced against not flooding our members with a ton of advertising posts each month. The reality is that any given ad is only of interest to a very small and select group of members (the persons that actually want or need the item) and is of very limited interest to any and all members outside that limited group. Right now, ads are getting pretty good exposure to all members via the sidebar listings.

I know that in every case where a user has complained that they have not seen their ad, I have seen the same ad numerous times in the previous day or two without even having reason to look for it. And if an individual with known short term memory deficits has seen an ad they were not even looking for enough times to remember it then it *has* to be generating quite a lot of impressions. Just think, for roughly every 7th or 8th thread you visit you are seeing your ad -- and the same goes for every member that visits this site each day (and that does not even take into consideration the period where your ad is displayed 24x7 while amongst the New 5)!

Now back to my search for the "Rules".

Rich

See the above comment with regard to the "Rules", they can be found in the Policy Section under Articles -- along with all of our other Site Policies.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Even that feedback which cannot be acted upon presently is still kept in mind for future consideration.