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Thread title: Forum Plans
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04-14-2011, 06:46 PM
#51
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Originally Posted by t0m View Post
I'm sorry (and this is no disrespect to the handful of talented individuals on here), but what on earth? This place, in particular the marketplace, would be the last place I'd send someone looking for a reliable, professional freelancer. Its riddled with rubbish.

In terms of keeping the marketplace or not, think generally. Stand back and ask if it actually adds any value to this place. It doesn't. If I were a new user and contemplating signing up, one look at the current marketplace would send me packing.

I couldn't disagree more with your statement. There are many reasons to keep a marketplace running on some level. Does it need it to be cleaned, moderated and revamped? Absolutely. However to say that a marketplace won't add any value is a very naive statement. Let's say you do remove the marketplace completely and proceed to work on increasing the quality of posts/users here. This community will then find itself missing out on the opportunity to offer the talented individuals here a convenient way to offer and trade services. More users = more bandwidth = more costs. In order for the quality to remain high after this community has been revamped, revenue will need to be generated to maintain this place. Sitepoint and numerous other forums are clearly very familiar with that reality, and I'm pretty sure they know a thing or two about running a community that revolves around the freelance industry. I don't understand why that's such a difficult concept for a few people here to understand. I'd much rather have a streamlined "pay to post" marketplace to sell and buy services with very few ads throughout the forum, than to sit here and have to shuffle through many annoying ads that no one clicks on anyway. The bottom line, is that if the owner/owners sincerely want this community to grow and offers users value, the costs will grow as well and they will have no choice but to find a way monetize.

Also, you say that you mean no disrespect to the talented users who do frequent this forum, however saying that it's "riddled with rubbish" is not a very accurate statement. Are there poor quality products and services being sold here? Yes--but you'll find that anywhere you go. Are there multiple posts featuring the same domains or designs for sale over and over within a short time period? Yes, there are. Does that make individuals like myself poor quality or "rubbish"? I sell high quality domain names at reasonable prices. I offer 10+ years of experience in the industry. I've been able to post numerous domains and designs for sale over the years, using multiple and sometimes even "split" posts, which on most forums would never be tolerated. So this kind of "rubbish" within the marketplace that you're describing can easily be fixed with proper moderation along with my previous suggestion. I'd be the first person to sign-up, pay and contribute.

Contrary to what you may believe, there's talent to be found lurking within the marketplace as well as other TF discussion posts. I have personally found quality people to work with via TF. Hopefully the owners of this forum have a more positive attitude than what I'm hearing from a few people here (and I'm sure he/she does) otherwise this forum would be doomed before it even gets revamped.

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04-14-2011, 09:25 PM
#52
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Originally Posted by The Rover View Post
Absolutely. However to say that a marketplace won't add any value is a very naive statement.
If you re-read my post, you'll find that I never actually said that marketplaces do not add value to forums. Its very obvious that they do. What I did say was the current tf marketplace adds little value.

Also, I'm not doubting that there are a few golden nuggets in the marketplace. But for every decent thread of good quality, there are 200 awful ones.

What I'm trying to say is the current marketplace is a complete joke (obviously there is the odd exception). Until a proper strategy is put in place and improvements made, it does nothing but have a detrimental effect on the site.

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04-14-2011, 10:46 PM
#53
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t0m, trust me I certainly agree that the current marketplace is definitely in need of major repair. At this point, it's nearly one long sales thread that never ends. I agree that it's pretty ridiculous. Hell, in the last 3 weeks I've probably reported 2 or 3 different spams on my sales threads alone, so I'm aware of how crappy it is. You might have a few users who initially come to TF for the sake of posting something for sale and end up staying and contributing to other threads, but yeah until the marketplace is improved, those cases will probably be few and far between.

However, I spend most of my time in the TF marketplace and I know there's a few others who do the same. That's the only reason why I'll have to disagree with you that the current marketplace is completely worthless. It certainly hasn't been worthless to me, or anyone else who's sold services, domains, or designs here. Also, after looking at your itrader, it seems that you yourself have even found a couple of items this month that you purchased in the marketplace that must have interested you on some level, right? So there must be some value in terms of member retention even if on a small level, and even if the current marketplace is only a tiny fraction of it's potential--which I'm guessing is why it hasn't been removed just yet. I'm not wanting to get technical and argue until the sun goes down, but I am a stickler when something is being claimed to have zero to little value when that's not really the case.

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04-15-2011, 03:27 AM
#54
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I am absolutely amazed to see this level of passion! While some of the ideas are new, most have been mentioned here and there, but all are definitely appreciated.

I have just shared something with my members of staff, and I also wanted to share with the rest of you that it is true that lately I have not been what you'd expect from a leader. The first few months were great, then something happened in life that consistently prevented me from staying actively involved and on top of things. As a result, the development plans took a hit and like some of you, I have noticed the drop in activity and quality of discussions/marketplace listings. The fault is solely mine and I am the only person who eventually holds the responsibility.

However, I have a strong belief in the community and my abilities. I promised my staff and I promise you as well that I will bring sexy back in the shortest time frame possible and get people involved in the future development of this community. I am definitely not giving up and as I mentioned before, I have the financial muscle to continue the push forward.

The only thing that I can ask for is YOUR loyalty, patience and assistance in helping us bring life back to this community. It will, however, require some level of contribution through creating quality discussions, asking great questions, engaging in conversation and creating knowledge.

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04-15-2011, 11:41 AM
#55
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Originally Posted by Artashes View Post
The fault is solely mine and I am the only person who eventually holds the responsibility.
Firstly, let me say whatever has happened behind the scenes in your personal life - I hope its ok. But, I'm really pleased someone has held their hands up and admitted some sort of responsibility for the current situation.

I'm keen to stick around and see how things go in the foreseeable future - but whatever you do, don't make promises that are clearly going to be broken (I'm not saying you have already...).

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04-15-2011, 11:43 AM
#56
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Oh and I genuinely believe, that this is the very last chance for TF to ever pick up again. Another failed 6 or 12 months and its beyond repair. Good luck.

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04-15-2011, 07:27 PM
#57
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Originally Posted by t0m View Post
Firstly, let me say whatever has happened behind the scenes in your personal life - I hope its ok. But, I'm really pleased someone has held their hands up and admitted some sort of responsibility for the current situation.

t0m, whatever happened was nothing bad at all. I have just gotten more involved in the offline businesses, which is growing rapidly and requires a lot of attention. However, I fight to get some hours for my online operations which is my where my passion is.

Its crunch time this year. Big time.

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04-17-2011, 10:33 PM
#58
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Originally Posted by Artashes View Post
t0m, whatever happened was nothing bad at all. I have just gotten more involved in the offline businesses, which is growing rapidly and requires a lot of attention. However, I fight to get some hours for my online operations which is my where my passion is.

Its crunch time this year. Big time.
What is planned aside from a redesign?

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04-18-2011, 06:14 AM
#59
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I come here just for the marketplace. hope this place gets to where it use to be.

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04-18-2011, 04:51 PM
#60
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Originally Posted by Dan View Post
What is planned aside from a redesign?
why are staff even asking these type of questions, is there no discussion behind the scenes?

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