I'm going to reply to both topics.
The advanced forum is just a good idea gone wrong. If it was properly moderated from day one, there wouldn't be as many useless topics there as there is today. As it stands, the moderation that has occurred there has been arbitrary at best unless things have changed over the last year. The only way I could see it improving is with standard moderation across the board.

As too the for sale section, something I have seen done on a couple of other forums the filters A LOT of the garbage in addition to a minimum post count and membership time is that users have to submit an application in order to be able to view, post, or respond to the classifieds. It give's potential scammers one additional hurdle.

 

Dude, I am new to the forum, new to owning an Evo. I have limited experience to contribute. If you really want me to make 50 worthless posts, no problem. It will just clutter up the forum like many have already done. Thats exactly what this forum doesn't need. And, by contributing my opinion, that is a contribution to Evom. ;-)

 

Thanks! That was my thought, I could get to 50 posts in about 10 minutes if I really wanted, but, don't want to do that just to get to my post count. I will contribute in a big way once I settle in, I assure you of that.

 

^^These guys are exactly why that other forum requires you to submit an application^^

 

my bad, i just re-read that and it came across as negative. i was agreeing with you as to contributing and not just post whoring.

 

Personally I dont think time or a post count is going to really deter scammers from this site. It will just take them a little more effort until they are able to scam.

I think there should be stricter selling guidelines, such as the need for multiple photos with the seler's username clearly in the photo(not photoshopped on). Also I know someone mentioned this and its difficult to coordinate with the software of this forum however I think paypal should be more closely linked as it is on ebay. I have no idea how this could be made possible but I sure think it would improve current conditions!

 

Personally it's a bad idea.

I browse these boards for HOURS a day---I don't typically post noobish questions (well, every ONCE in a while)

then again i'm not a noob. I just don't post all that frequently unless its in response to someones technical questions that nobody has given a good answer for.

If I'm like that, there are others just like that too, which means people that:

A) are not noobs, will be getting blocked out
B) don't post frequently, but still need to browse, get blocked out


also, coming from someone from about 1000 other forums....if you start setting post requirements, people will start making ridiculous posts, just to get the post count up.

just moderate better, moderate more, or get more moderates, and that way you can split the work up a little differently :P

 

Very well said

 

how many moderators do we have? and couldnt we have one moderator for the marketplace and another for the advanced forum? that way they could concentrate solely on those areas and the other mods could monitor the other sections.

 

I am personally against upping the min post count. I have been on this board for a while, but don't post a lot. Basically the same boat as the others that have said they have nothing meaningful to add to the discussion. I like seeing threads that are interesting, not seeing 10 threads that all ask how many miles are on your evo. Just because I choose not to post ***** around doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to look at the for sale section or the advanced section. I think that this requirement would drive new members away. Members that could have something meaningful to add.

 

I'm aslo against the 100 post count, i'm member of various forums and i use a lot of searching and not really post anything unless i don't find it, which is rare.

 

What about knowledgeable people who want to make a contribution every now and then but don't post often?

I'm not going to post and post and post just so I can bring the tech when its needed.

 

I'm opposed to post minimums because there's no advantage to keep new members from buying and selling. I just bought a new X and wanted to sell my take-off new tires...but couldn't. That might have been just what one of your established members wanted to buy. Hurts me / hurts him.

If there are scammers, there must be a way to deal with them that doesn't catch up the rest of us in the same net.

 

Verified paypal account is a no, cuz some of us do money orders. You want to stop useless post whoring limit what is said to at least a sentence. So sick of seeing "nice", "looks good", "gold ftw" as a response in a thread. A lot of members will continue to answer a thread that already has the right answer! If people were forced to read 3,5,9 etc pages in the thread before writing a reply everyones thread count would be down.

Back to the for sale section issue-- I don't think people should be able to sign up, look in the sale section and purchase used items at a discounted price without contributing to the community. I read for about a year and a half before I wrote a single thread or made a post. I think the for sale section should be blocked to members under 90days/xxx posts. They should be coming on here to talk cars and help each other out with small problems, not score deals.

 

I'm against the minimum post requirement if that is going to be the only qualifier. I've been a member since I bought my car in 2004. I don't believe that I am a noob. But, according to my post count I am. I'm retired so I don't always have the money to run out and buy the latest mod. That often puts me behind the knowledge curve. I read the posts, I search, and I usually know exactly what I want to do by the time I've saved up to do it (thanks to other members who share their experiences on this forum). I don't post unless I think I have something to contribute or have a valid question that I can't answer by searching. Therefore, my posts are rare. I don't believe that I should be barred from selling or posting in any forum because of this. Just the opposite. I do my best to avoid making stupid or irrelevant comments, and I search my tail off before making any posts at all.

I respect the difficulty the moderators have, but I would disagree with a minimum post requirement unless it is balanced by time as a member. How about at least 100 posts/ or have been a member for at least 6 months?