My vote goes to leaving as it is now. The same few people monopolized the topic with predictable and endless "reduced" replies.
Rich, I have a possible solution satisfying the concerns regarding two of the reasons people visit this board (to peruse the Buy/Sell posts and share a knowledge of model railroading.) It's obvious allowing replies to Buy/Sell posts detrimentally affects the recent posts sidebar by valuable threads on railroading "tips, solutions, etc" being bumped and pushed off that sidebar faster than they'd otherwise be if "no Buy/Sell reply" bumping was permitted.
So, perhaps removing Buy/Sell threads from the recent threads sidebar would be a compromise solution meeting the concerns of both groups - satisfying all folks. Those who come to this board for information about railroading would see those articles stay on the sidebar longer while those interested in Buy/Sell threads could go directly to that form (as many have professed they already do anyway) and find all the replies they need to make decisions on their buying and selling.
Thus, no needless clutter to the recent posts sidebar from the bumping caused by reinstating Buy/Sell forum replies.
ogaugeguy posted:Rich, I have a possible solution satisfying the concerns regarding two of the reasons people visit this board (to peruse the Buy/Sell posts and share a knowledge of model railroading.) It's obvious allowing replies to Buy/Sell posts detrimentally affects the recent posts sidebar by valuable threads on railroading "tips, solutions, etc" being bumped and pushed off that sidebar faster than they'd otherwise be if "no Buy/Sell reply" bumping was permitted.
So, perhaps removing Buy/Sell threads from the recent threads sidebar would be a compromise solution meeting the concerns of both groups - satisfying all folks. Those who come to this board for information about railroading would see those articles stay on the sidebar longer while those interested in Buy/Sell threads could go directly to that form (as many have professed they already do anyway) and find all the replies they need to make decisions on their buying and selling.
Thus, no needless clutter to the recent posts sidebar from the bumping caused by reinstating Buy/Sell forum replies.
This is a very reasonable suggestion. BUT like all previous suggestions, it COSTS MONEY to make changes, unless OGR has an IT guy that likes to work for nothing. As an Applications Engineer in a previous life, I faced dealing with many changes to SW that worked just fine. Debugging & beta testing takes time. Good luck to all & Happy Thanksgiving!
ogaugeguy posted:Rich, I have a possible solution satisfying the concerns regarding two of the reasons people visit this board (to peruse the Buy/Sell posts and share a knowledge of model railroading.) It's obvious allowing replies to Buy/Sell posts detrimentally affects the recent posts sidebar by valuable threads on railroading "tips, solutions, etc" being bumped and pushed off that sidebar faster than they'd otherwise be if "no Buy/Sell reply" bumping was permitted.
So, perhaps removing Buy/Sell threads from the recent threads sidebar would be a compromise solution meeting the concerns of both groups - satisfying all folks. Those who come to this board for information about railroading would see those articles stay on the sidebar longer while those interested in Buy/Sell threads could go directly to that form (as many have professed they already do anyway) and find all the replies they need to make decisions on their buying and selling.
Thus, no needless clutter to the recent posts sidebar from the bumping caused by reinstating Buy/Sell forum replies.
Hoop.La, not OGR has the final say on whether such things can be done or not.
Rusty
MartyE posted:I think they prefer the term "Elders".
Wow...there's a trip down memory lane!
"Elders" was a term coined by Bob Coniglio in the early days of this forum. Bob was by far the most prolific poster here for several years. I still get emails from Bob every once in a while. His health is not good and he doesn't post very often now, but he was a powerful influence in this forum's early days.
THREAD HIJACK COMPLETE - BACK TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND NOW...
I liked being able to reply to the threads there, hopefully I didn't abuse the privilege. OTOH, I do have to agree with the comment about "acting like adults", that seems to be a challenge for some folks. 
I do know how difficult it is to moderate a forum, it's quite time consuming. So I can certainly understand why the rule was put in place initially, perhaps now that people see how it is with no replies, they can be a bit more considerate in what they reply to.
I guess I'd toss my hat in the ring for a return to allowing replies.
No matter what happens. As it stand today I wish posters whoes item sells, instead of changing the title to say sold. Just delete the thread, there should be no reason for Rich to do it.
As things stand today, self deleting an add is possible. But once a post from someone other than the OP is added to the thread, the OP cannot delete the thread alone, they then need OGRF to delete it, or all others must delete their replys too.
I think the majority of FS posters are unaware of this being part of the "new rules" though; I still see lots of "sold" after sales, added to the titles.
I don't think it is a "common sense" issue.
Most members don't know that they can delete their own listing and even if they do know this, they don't know how to do it.
The reason people in authority (with concomitant responsibility) make rules is because folks are taking unfair advantage of an existing structure. While I liked seeing legitimate questions asked and answered and learned a lot from those exchanges, I was often frustrated to see one poster with 4-5 ads on page 1, several marked "reduced" , "bargain" etc. for the purpose of bumping. Cheating in this manner or having friends add useless info ("that's a great locomotive") to bump posts back to page 1 became too abusive and the moderators stepped in.
The resulting buy-sell board is less informative and interesting to read but much more fair to the members using it to sell their trains. That's an outcome that has left a lot of us less happy but with a fair shot at having our ad stay on page 1 for awhile. It's a judgement call. I completely understand why it was done.
Going forward I'd prefer to see items from a wide variety of sellers than have a few less considerate members game the system. I'm not unsympathetic to David's (OP) well written request, but I just don't see the abusers changing their ways if we revert to the previous format.
As a point of information, I read the buy-sell forum almost every day, have made multiple purchases from fellow forumites and rarely read beyond page 2 unless I'm following an item.
I just wish those that have a product "SOLD" would just delete the post...
OGR Webmaster posted:I don't think it is a "common sense" issue.
Most members don't know that they can delete their own listing and even if they do know this, they don't know how to do it.
Well if they are reading this thread, I bet they do now.
My vote is to stay with the current format. It's so much cleaner without the bumps, the I'll take it, the I'll take it if the first buyer backs out and the low ball offers. Let that all be done via private email vs. cluttering up the forum.
I'm not much into selling these days but I have listed an item or two since the change went into place. While I agree and applaud the effort, the biggest issue is if there is a price reduction, I've got to repost the whole post and re-upload all of the photos/videos related to the post. Is it a big deal? No, but a PITA compared to simply editing the post and adding a post indicating items with price adjustments or even sold.
SJC posted:I'm not much into selling these days but I have listed an item or two since the change went into place. While I agree and applaud the effort, the biggest issue is if there is a price reduction, I've got to repost the whole post and re-upload all of the photos/videos related to the post. Is it a big deal? No, but a PITA compared to simply editing the post and adding a post indicating items with price adjustments or even sold.
Exactly. The new rule does nothing but make it more work to accomplish the same thing. (Maybe that is good and people aren't bothering re-posting due to the hassle).
Of course you can edit anything you want, but no one will see it, as someone said when he reduced a boxcar to a penny and no one noticed to take him up on it.
If someone does go to the hassle of re-posting with a new post, that new post for the same item with different pricing just means it's a new thread instead of a bumped thread that "goes to the head of the line" on the pages of the forum, takes up the space on the right side "Recent Posts", etc.
Of course if you add the commentary/questions then it becomes a little more traffic with the non-seller replies, but as many have said, it also adds some useful interaction sometimes.
-Dave
Chris,
As for there being no email in the sale, I listed it this way due to me not selling a thing since the changes went into place and the two times I have purchased items from forum members, I went to their profile page, located their email address, copied and pasted it into my email, then sent the message regarding the purchase of whatever I was interested in purchasing.
Darren
Santa Fe 3751 posted:superwarp1 posted:Rich, has OGR ever considered hiring a forum moderator? Can't imagine how much time you put into this forum every day.
I would be happy to moderate the forum, if you (OGR) are hiring. Email in profile. Thanks.
No need to pay me. I'm retired and would be happy to moderate for FREE!
I have no problems with the rules it shoud stay as is on the "For Sale Forum"
Just copy and past and hope you are the first one, if not move on.
I posted things on the forum before the new rules and yes I always saw people bumping their items up and pushing my down by answering question even when no reply was necessary.
I also saw on the For sale Forum that someone posted 3 post for for different sale items. It should of been one post for all.
Question: Should a forum member email this person when this is dome or just leave it to the WebMaster?
On the wanted site I would like to be able to comment in this forum section. In reading the Wanted post, one can gain a lot of information on particular subject and sources. I do not think that bumping was a issue here as folks would just scroll thru as I do.
This is just my input on how I use these two Form section.
I'm not much into selling these days but I have listed an item or two since the change went into place. While I agree and applaud the effort, the biggest issue is if there is a price reduction, I've got to repost the whole post and re-upload all of the photos/videos related to the post. Is it a big deal? No, but a PITA compared to simply editing the post and adding a post indicating items with price adjustments or even sold.
You can edit your post to adjust the price.
It will not move to page 1, but some folks claim that being on page 1 is no big deal.
I think the new format makes it easier for us shoppers to see what's new.
I like it.
Darren Caruso posted:I apologize, I have no idea why my email was not there and only my first name was present. I have since corrected the issue.
Yet another example why it would be nice to be able to reply. From your response you obviously had no idea your email wasn't included until it was called out here. Stuff happens, and there was no way for anyone reading your for sale thread to let you know.
-Dave
If it aint broke dont fix it. Keep it the way it is.
Every-time I click on an OGR sponsors ad banner or a post for a sale they are having which seems to be a lot as or recent; I am indirectly supporting OGR ad revenue. As a digital subscriber I don't want to pay more fees.
I like the new format.
It just eliminated a bunch of repeat/bumped ads that you have to sift through to find a new ad. I have noticed a dramatic decrease in seeing the same old ads from the same old people.
I have also noticed that some people CAN post replies and bump their post in the for sale section.
If the software is capable of blocking an ad from an individual without an email address in their profile it will be one less thing to police.
I don't think the moderators check postings to see whether the poster has a valid email.
I enjoyed the for sale posts the original way. It was nice to read about the item and other peoples experiences with it.
JoeSage posted:I enjoyed the for sale posts the original way. It was nice to read about the item and other peoples experiences with it.
And THERE in lies the problem, i.e. the "bumping" of an item posted for sale as a result of commentator drivel!
Let's just close this post as well. It's just no going ANYWHERE.
Gpritch posted:Let's just close this post as well. It's just no going ANYWHERE.
I have to agree, I'm pretty sure every point of view has been covered.
I thought Rich was just totaling up the votes to further consider how he wants to go on this...there are probably only a few unintended consequences to consider and most of them should come up in 5 pages.
The votes are in. Replies are turned back on in the For Sale and WTB Forums.
