Implement Min Posts for certain forum sections...

IAmOrion · Post by **IAmOrion** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:11 pm

There seems to have recently been a few people signing up only to sell stuff, and even then, are unresponsive to questions or PMs.

I think it would be a good idea to implement a minimum post count required before being allowed to post in the "for sale" section.

Just my 2 pence worth

kis · Post by **kis** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:19 pm

IAmOrion wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:11 pm There seems to have recently been a few people signing up only to sell stuff, and even then, are unresponsive to questions or PMs.

I think it would be a good idea to implement a minimum post count required before being allowed to post in the "for sale" section.

Just my 2 pence worth

More than 550 posts then?

In all seriousness this is a good idea but has positives and negatives... Perhaps member duration would be better? Member for a month or something?

IAmOrion · Post by **IAmOrion** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:22 pm

kis wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:19 pm More than 550 posts then?
In all seriousness this is a good idea but has positives and negatives... Perhaps member duration would be better? Member for a month or something?

I think from a phpbb implementation standpoint, that's "harder". Normally this kind of thing would be done on Post Count - Say 25 for example.

It does have it's cons though, the main one being it has potential to promote spammy posts just to get the post count up. But, if you used membership period, someone could join, make 0 posts, just wait a few weeks then hey presto the can post anyways...

It's a bit of a catch 22 in a way

kis · Post by **kis** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:31 pm

Maybe a mixture of the two then!
I can see someone commenting on 25 of the newbie posts with just "welcome" to rack up post counts.

IAmOrion · Post by **IAmOrion** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:34 pm

kis wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:31 pm Maybe a mixture of the two then!
I can see someone commenting on 25 of the newbie posts with just "welcome" to rack up post counts.

Yeah a mixture of the 2 would be good. Maybe like a month wait - since those joining just to sell would be wanting to sell at the time of joining so to speak.

On a side note, I've noticed a few topics that should fall under Discussion or whatever (like roof motor relocation) being posted by newbies in the "Newbie" aka introductory section which annoys me. But that's more of an OCD trait than anything lol

Marlon · Post by **Marlon** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:47 pm

The newbie who signs up just to sell stuff certainly divides opinion, it used to annoy me a little but now I don’t mind provided they follow the forum rules. Any such posts that are taking the mickey I will either give a polite reminder or worst-case delete and ban. Please report such posts, and the mods will take the appropriate action.
Keep the comments coming though, its always good to gauge opinion.

RustyZ4 · Post by **RustyZ4** » Thu May 31, 2018 1:59 pm

I think you are always going to get people who just come on to sell, or help them out with a problem and then bugger off, never to be heard of again,
I do not have an answer for this, and if im honest it doesn't bother me to much, but maybe for anyone joining a small donation ?

IAmOrion · Post by **IAmOrion** » Thu May 31, 2018 2:09 pm

RustyZ4 wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:59 pm I think you are always going to get people who just come on to sell, or help them out with a problem and then bugger off, never to be heard of again,
I do not have an answer for this, and if im honest it doesn't bother me to much, but maybe for anyone joining a small donation ?

To be fair, the ones joining just to get an answer to their problem who then bugger off don't bother me.... it's the For Sale threads that bug me, as others have noted before, they tend not to check in and reply or bother to check PMs etc. Not to mention some sale posts have been of questionable authenticity to be polite

Silverzedtom · Post by **Silverzedtom** » Thu May 31, 2018 2:11 pm

I think this came up fairly recently? I remember saying it’s no bad thing in some ways...

If someone’s looking for a new car on here and a member can’t post it they might have lost out on what they were looking for.

We can all see the star rating of that member so it’s obvious it isn’t a ‘forum car’ and their reliability would be unknown.

Buying from a forum is (or surely must be?) at your own risk. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy from a first time poster.

I can see it from both sides but personally I’d leave it as it is.

IAmOrion · Post by **IAmOrion** » Thu May 31, 2018 2:17 pm

Silverzedtom wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 2:11 pm If someone’s looking for a new car on here and a member can’t post it they might have lost out on what they were looking for.
We can all see the star rating of that member so it’s obvious it isn’t a ‘forum car’ and their reliability would be unknown.

But then again, you wouldn't pay for a car and have it couriered to you (I guess it does happen but...), especially not from someone with 1 or 2 posts, and generally it's not the Car for sale section that bugs me lol - it's the items section (the most commonly used for sale section)

Individual items are far easier to "scam" people with... but even so, it's more that these newbies don't bother checking in to see replies or PMs which IMO makes the post a waste of peoples time and somewhat "spammy" in that it's a pointless post if they're not going to bother following it up.

I agree though, in that there's plus and negative points either way

Phoenixboy · Post by **Phoenixboy** » Thu May 31, 2018 2:51 pm

Silverzedtom wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 2:11 pm I think this came up fairly recently? I remember saying it’s no bad thing in some ways...

If someone’s looking for a new car on here and a member can’t post it they might have lost out on what they were looking for.

We can all see the star rating of that member so it’s obvious it isn’t a ‘forum car’ and their reliability would be unknown.

Buying from a forum is (or surely must be?) at your own risk. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy from a first time poster.

I can see it from both sides but personally I’d leave it as it is.

yes, I posted that a while back, but was criticised, so , it was jmo, pluses and minuses.
as has been said, you use your common sense when buying.

kis · Post by **kis** » Thu May 31, 2018 5:34 pm

IAmOrion wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 2:09 pm
RustyZ4 wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:59 pm I think you are always going to get people who just come on to sell, or help them out with a problem and then bugger off, never to be heard of again,
I do not have an answer for this, and if im honest it doesn't bother me to much, but maybe for anyone joining a small donation ?
To be fair, the ones joining just to get an answer to their problem who then bugger off don't bother me.... it's the For Sale threads that bug me, as others have noted before, they tend not to check in and reply or bother to check PMs etc. Not to mention some sale posts have been of questionable authenticity to be polite

This happens with other ‘problem threads’ as well. Some solutions will be proposed and one of them will work but seemingly it hasn’t been fixed as the OP never updates the post.

I’m still 50:50 about buy and sell. Sometimes there are good item/s on offer at a acceptable price. So this is when it’s okay lol. Sometimes prices are wildly optimistic and ‘double’ comparative sites such as eBay. And like mentioned sometimes PM’s or thread updates aren’t made.

I’m in favour of something being implemented, just not sure what that is? Possibly a mandatory donation of like £1 (or something) to activate the functionality to ‘start a new thread’ section could work. Obviously just as a one off!

Post by **Wondermike** » Thu May 31, 2018 7:41 pm

We do have a minimum 25 post rule for the "Buy and sell - Non Z4 related goods" but this is enforced manually rather than anything automatic.

IAmOrion wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 1:34 pm On a side note, I've noticed a few topics that should fall under Discussion or whatever (like roof motor relocation) being posted by newbies in the "Newbie" aka introductory section which annoys me. But that's more of an OCD trait than anything lol

True, we move a lot of these to the other sections but aren't catching them all.

IRD · Post by **IRD** » Thu May 31, 2018 8:27 pm

There is no easy answer that will please everyone in a situation like this. Looking at the full picture the Forum works really well in imo. I have bought several items advertised and have been really pleased with my purchases. I have also sold a few. Right from the beginning I sought advice and always got decent responses. Without the help of Forum members for instance I would never have got my heated seats installed. So whilst I understand the concerns expressed in other posts I think that the current system works pretty well.

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Thu May 31, 2018 9:49 pm

There is no easy answer IMO.

It seems kind of generous to let people join just to make a sale, but for those of us on her it may mean we see something we might otherwise miss so I'm not sure any change would necessarily be better than how it works now.

I've sold a couple of items, and bought several with no issues - albeit none from complete newbies.

It isn't exactly broke, so I can't see any reason to fix it!

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