• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

A suggestion to help prevent ancient threads being rejuvenated

Helenthereef

Helenthereef

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I was just wondering whether it would be possible to post the date of the inital post next to the name of the original poster in the forum listings? (as is done for the most recent post).

It may prevent people inadvertently digging up long dead threads - I know it's there on the first post when you open the thread, but by then people can be so involved in the subject that they overlook it.

Just a thought.
 
Maybe I'm missing something obvious...but doesn't the date of the last post show that the thread is old, right up until somebody drags it up. If the fact that nobody has posted to a thread in 6 months (or 4 yrs, in some cases) isn't a deterrent, I don't think that seeing the date of the original post will do much (just my opinion, of course). It may dissuade some members from looking after a new post has been made...but, a lot of times, people will still look - just to see what the new post, and how it could be relevent after so much time.

While I agree it can be annoying to see old ads dragged back up, there really isn't anything wrong with it in the discussion forums. In fact, reasonable arguments could be made that it is better to continue a discussion rather than start an entirely new one about the same thing. (In the classifieds, if I see old ads being dragged up, I just close them - our guideline was 1 yr, so if it's close to that mark & gets brought to the top, report it)
 
OK, no biggie, just I see a lot of comments about "This is an old thread, why are you digging it up?" and I thought it might help.
 
I don't usually care if an old discussion thread is drug back to the surface, if the person isn't dragging it up just to be a jerk.

Some of the old threads are pretty good & a few are ongoing discussions that just get dropped down when the people in them get busy. As soon as I have the time & energy to formulate a coherent serious non sarcastic comment I have to go kick one up back up myself :eek:
 
Helenthereef said:
OK, no biggie, just I see a lot of comments about "This is an old thread, why are you digging it up?" and I thought it might help.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is said...though it doesn't necessarily mean that the person posting those comments is correct in doing so. As Annabella mentioned, dragging up an old BOI thread out of spite, is a problem. By the same token, offering some "helpful" insight 3 yrs after the fact might seem silly...but there's nothing wrong with it. Dragging up old ads, well, that's frustrating to the people that are looking, lol...but at least it brings them to our attention so they can be addressed. Heck, fwiw, I've seen a seller come back to an ad after it has been raised (18-20 months after the last comment), and post an updated availability list - I had to go back and reopen the thread because I had closed it when I noticed the start date.
 
I've often found old posts interesting myself - I just hit a lot of posts saying "This is xxx years old doofus!" while wandering around recently, and thought it was more of a problem than it obviously is.
 
Are you talking about in the classifieds, on the BOI, or in the discussion forums?
(To an extent, it does make a difference)
 
Well, I usually wander around in the "New Posts" listing and sort of bounce in and out of forums as my attention is attracted, so to my embarrassment I can't remember. I'll pay more attention. I've a feeling it's predominantly BOI and classifieds.
 
One was me in a discussion thread, not because the thread was old but for the aforementioned reason.

It was the nicest thing I could think to say that wouldn't start more strife.
 
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