POLL: Combined ISO and For Trade thread?
 

Second input thread on what to do with the stickies. Do think it is best that we re-seperate the ISO/WTB thread and the For-Trade thread?

Voted, but just to echo something I mentioned in the other poll--what about slightly expanding the valuation subforum to include ISO/requests and trade offers? Call it the valuation/exchange forum or the C&V trading board, or some such. Although I suppose that comes close to creating an unofficial C&V marketplace, which is supposed to be a premium BF service. But it *would* further the valuation subforum's purpose of separating out the more commerce oriented threads from the more general hobbyist discussions in C&V. Then by searching the subforum you'd be able to pull in ISOs, WTBs, trade offers, and valuation requests very cleanly.

I'm not being sarcastic, as I don't know since I've never ran a forum, but is there any disadvantage to having seperate threads for alot of things? Other than the convience factor some people may like of having them in one thread, is there any other reason, like subforum creation costing extra for the hosting or taking up a significant amount of server space?

for the time being the valuations forum will remain for only what it was started for. we may consider expanding it's scope later. I disagree with your combination though. the valuations forum is specifically EXCLUDING any attempts at trade / sales. It is there only for people who want to know what a bike is worth, not to attempt to sell / trade it. Again, in time we may change this, but for now it will stay as is.

It's sort of a common perception that too many stickies make for a disorganized forum--especially if they are overlapping or redundant in some way. I don't think server resources are the issue, it's more of a question of utility and usability.

Yep, I certainly realize those are the rules under which it was established. Expanding it is just a thought I wanted to toss out there. Feel free to stick it right in the circular file if it's unworthy. :innocent:

all constructive feedback is welcome. there is usually some sort of logic behind what we (the mods) try to do. :beer:

I prefer the single stop reference. Very often I've seen the same exact thing duplicated in both threads.

I think, if anything, that there should be another sub-forum which is C&V sales, trades, saddle swap that kind of thing. Posting in the forum would be for paying members like the for sale forum.

I've been meaning to send a PM to moderators about this very thing. We really need to be able to offer for sale stuff that would be desirable only by other C&V members. The general BF "For Sale" forum just doesn't address our needs, or serve our community.

I wasn't thinking as "big" as cyclotoine or bbb. What they suggest is something I would find helpful also. On the other side though, this would by necessity separate items for trade from items for sale, which I think could be a bit of a hassle, and is something I don't think that thoughtful reorganization would be able to eliminate if that is the direction things go.

Well, if you create a sub-forum as cyclotoine suggests, you actually kill two stickies in the C&V forum as they become part of the sub-forum. That sub-forum would have 4-5 threads, FS, swaps, ISO, WTB, For Trade, etc.

I don't know if a FS/Trade/WTB subforum is likely to happen. But it can always run it up the flag pole if there is some agreement that it is a good idea. Question is would it be as active as it is as a set of stickies? Right now we have permissions to allow anyone to post For Trade and ISO inquires, however there is a long standing rule that only red star (and now Ti) members can post For-Sale threads. Creating another for-sale section in here may cause more issues than it would resolve. My suggestion would be to create your for-sale thread in the marketplace and post a link to it in your signature (as I am doing currently with my for sale thread - which is a near copy of what I most recently posted in For-Trade but with prices omitted in the for-trade thread).

This is sounding like a workable plan to me. Transactions all in one subforum. What to call it, if accepted? Commerce Subforum? Buy/Sell/Trade?

Let's keep this thread focused on the solutions in the poll for now. We can evaluate other options in due time. Thank you. :)

Cuda,

I've said it numerous times before: This whole stickies issue stems from a juvenile desire to wrest some control from the mods. It's just an obvious way for people who have little to say to get under your personal skin with a stupid 'You're wasting my time so you must be no-good' bull**** commentary.

It's ludicrous! It's ridiculous! And now it's effectively toying with the logical usability of CV for everyone. WTB and for trade are obviously not always the same. Wasted bandwidth is the test and non-linear reading post-to-post cadence is the proof.

I voted to keep them separate and I really think that what this has done to the 'For Trade' thread is a crime.

Danny

Keep them combined, that way folks can say what they want and what they have all in breath. I don't think it takes too many brain cells to figure out what is for trade and what is a want to have.

Danny,

we C&V'ers are set in our ways. Change is bad, steel frames and lugs are good. ;) Seriously though, after seeing the new stickies in action, even ignoring the posts complaining about some of them, I wasn't happy either. And I very highly respect the opinions and feedback of many people who had expressed their dissatisfaction with the changes. As a mod, I am here to moderate, not be a ruler. We try to make the forums run smoothly for as many people as possible without causing disruption for others. Lotek and I agree, and I'm sure you all will to, that you can never satisfy everyone so you have to spread out the dissatisfaction equally some times. The benefit we got from combining a few stickies wasn't enough for the cost that came with it to the quality of the forum, in my opinion. Which is why I contacted lotek and offered to post these polls, and eventually redo our stickies again. Many of the stickies we do have are great threads that lots of people participate in, most don't go more than a day without being posted in. And get a ton of views too. So, I guess, in the end, for most people, 11 stickies is not too many. And if 11 is too many for them, then so is 2 in most likelyhood. Since there is no middle ground, at least in this case, I'm all for letting majority rule.

p.s. - at least ya'll are easier to reason with than the Road Cycling bunch! Think I'll stick to C&V again for a while.

I voted for seperate threads simply because I don't subscribe to threads and it makes it easier, for me, to keep the two "on topic".

So, was there a final decision on the merge or split of the Trade/SeekOut thread, or is the decision still pending?

I've got a couple of items I'm about to offer up to swaps and a thing or three I'm about to post a looking for inquiry.

New stickies were made up this morning. ISO and For Trade will remain combined. Post away, no more changes are planned.