Change to the Marketplace

It is a bit confusing I have to say, I think the issue is that it's not intuitive like it used to be. However, what I CAN see happening is that instead of the "For Sale" threads clogging up the forum, it'll be the "Discussion" threads that will clog up the forum just as much...

I don't think the discussion threads will be showing in latest activity.
 
I don't think the discussion threads will be showing in latest activity.
They are Steve but I think this is only temporary while Ben continues the transfer. When Ben has finished then surely the Discussion posts will not appear in Latest Activity, or hopefully What's New or the whole exercise is pointless. - Andy
 
It is a bit confusing I have to say, I think the issue is that it's not intuitive like it used to be. However, what I CAN see happening is that instead of the "For Sale" threads clogging up the forum, it'll be the "Discussion" threads that will clog up the forum just as much...
It was not the clogging up if the forum that was the problem. We don’t want to reduce or hamper discussions. It was the clogging up of an advert with replies that was something we wanted to prevent. This does that.

As o have said I can’t see any negative side to this change it does not remove any options it HELPS by giving sellers a clear and uncluttered advert.
I don’t like comparisons with eBay but I can’t help thinking how negative it would be to allow people to post replies on the adverts.

I think the problems are mostly due to the fact that this is a change in layout and so will take time to get used to.
 
I feel for Ben.

With hindsight a clear announcement of the marketplace changes (and discussion) and the rationale behind it should have occurred in advance and not emerge in bits. Certainly it would have been better not to attempt the change live and suspend the marketplace for say 3 days followed by a clean restart.

In fact it is not too late for this to happen if it helps Ben with his work and on this point surely Ben is not going to transfer 5000 marketplace threads manually to the new scheme. I would suggest only threads started in 2018. The rest can be archived. Okay it might result in the odd bit of disgruntlement but if notice is given and it helps Ben then so be it.

Actually I am in favour of the change as i had noticed that parts posts were swamping everything. It should work fine.

Andy
 
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Hi Andrew

Thank you for that clear pint of view. I too feel that it would save Ben a LOT of effort if we just get people to copy their own adverts across (using cut and paste) and hopefully update them at the same time. And yes the whole point was to end up with adverts that are uncluttered. I am convinced that as the teething issues are resolved we will have a much better and cleaner list of adverts.
Cheers
Steve B
 
Hi Andrew

Thank you for that clear pint of view. I too feel that it would save Ben a LOT of effort if we just get people to copy their own adverts across (using cut and paste) and hopefully update them at the same time. And yes the whole point was to end up with adverts that are uncluttered. I am convinced that as the teething issues are resolved we will have a much better and cleaner list of adverts.
Cheers
Steve B

I'll be transferring my efforts over later this week when I finally get to sit down at a desktop to be able to do so...
 
If you look at the top of your post you will see Advert and Discussion.

As per my post above, the pictures are in the Discussion vice the Advert. If you select discussion you will see them.

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Well that’s totally logical, and not at all confusing.

If there is an error in how you have posted, I'm sorry. If this is due to the new format, which has confused matters, again, I am sorry. There is plenty of discussion on here - the team will try to work through this and make any revisions deemed necessary for the betterment of members.

I have tried to help you and feel that this isn't progressing well. I'll cease input now. Thanks.
 
I replied to the only post visible to me in the Selling category; now I’ve added photos to the original post and at the same time have been prompted to complete the details for the new format. Wonder if this change in format might only be a potential improvement for posts with multiple sale items.
 
I replied to the only post visible to me in the Selling category; now I’ve added photos to the original post and at the same time have been prompted to complete the details for the new format. Wonder if this change in format might only be a potential improvement for posts with multiple sale items.

To be honest Philip, it's probably the opposite. It just takes a while to get used to.
 
I replied to the only post visible to me in the Selling category; now I’ve added photos to the original post and at the same time have been prompted to complete the details for the new format. Wonder if this change in format might only be a potential improvement for posts with multiple sale items.


The following might help. (I hope so)

If you want to sell something you must click on the "ADVERT" link, adverts must not be placed in the "DISCUSSION" section.

Any adverts placed in the Discussion thread will not be allowed (sorry)

The whole point of this change was to stop people's adverts from being clogged up with replies and discussions.

In the old approach people would post an advert with pictures, details and price etc. The advert was clear, easy to read and tidy.
But then all replies were added to the thread (very welcome and well-meaning replies) and before you know it the advert is now several pages long. For example, hal;f way through these pages the seller added more details or more items. So to see what was for sale you had to read through several pages of replies. It was easy to miss some of the additional items, or the mention that the items was now sold.

This new approach means that the seller enters exactly the same details as theey did before and if anyone replies it does not clog up the advert and yet it is still linked directly to the advert.

The advert remains as it was at the very start without the replies turning it into a multiple page discussion, often with swerves, rather than an advert.

Now if the seller decides to change the price, add more parts, indicate something as sold, that is all done by editing the advert so all of the sales details are in the one place.

If you are interested you can then switch to the discussion link nand see if there are any relevant questions, post your own question, offer to buy the item, etc. etc.

In the past we have had coments such as "The A2OC forum is more of a scrap yard than a discussion forum for A2 owners" There have even been suggestions such as "why not remove the parts for sale section altogether, I am fed up with seeing "NEW POST" messages for a large range of parts adverts"

I personally feel that this allows the club to have a geneuine servoce that helps people locate parts, sometimes very rare parts too.
No "New post" bombardment. Clear adverts that are easy to use and sellers can discuss the items with members, members can post questions etc. all without making the separate advert messy and long with swereves etc.
Surely this is the best of both worlds, Adverts posted with no replies allowed and yet replies can be posted and they go on an associated link.

Please give it a chance, change is often scary and takes time to become familiar.

You can still poost adverts as before, it is just that they go on a thread that does not allow replies.
Sellers can edit their advert to add or change anything just by using the "Edit" option.

Steve B
 
In the past we have had coments such as "The A2OC forum is more of a scrap yard than a discussion forum for A2 owners" There have even been suggestions such as "why not remove the parts for sale section altogether, I am fed up with seeing "NEW POST" messages for a large range of parts adverts"

Steve, this is not a criticism, more an observation. When I hit the ‘new posts’ tab I still see the latest ‘discussions’ from the advert threads. You mention above that one reason for the change was to tidy up and get away from the classifieds clogging up the forum, but I still see them every time I visit the ‘new posts’ section. This is fine for me as I like seeing the parts advertised, I just don’t see how this latest change has actually altered anything in this respect.
I do see the point in keeping the adverts themselves clean and tidy, and that is a good thing.

As I say, this is not criticism as I appreciate all the time you guys take making this a great forum.
 
When I hit the ‘new posts’ tab I still see the latest ‘discussions’ from the advert threads.

This should now be resolved. Please double check that the latest discussions no longer appear in New Posts.
 
This should now be resolved. Please double check that the latest discussions no longer appear in New Posts.

I have to object at this juncture. This is going to cause a big problem in my eyes. I have just been experimenting with a for sale post. I posted a single item as a precursor to filling my thread with the parts that I have got listed in my previous thread. Now, from my understanding am I correct in the following will happen:

1.The post will disappear from the "What's New" list by tomorrow (or whenever)
2.When I add new items to the supply list in a few days or so it will NOT re-appear on the What's New listings
3.If somebody asks a question on the Discussion part of the sales post it will NOT even once appear on the What's new listings
Therefore, as I add my new items to my listing, in order to get it in What's New I will need to start a new post each time I do some new items, thereby clogging up the Market with lots of For Sale posts

I'm a long way from being convinced this is going to work well.
 
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