• 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.

The Discussion Forums future

What should I do about the discussion forums on this site?

  • Remove them now. They are not needed nor wanted here.

    Votes: 5 5.5%

  • Remove any after 30 days of no activity.

    Votes: 16 17.6%

  • Remove any after 90 days of no activity.

    Votes: 12 13.2%

  • Leave them. What's the harm?

    Votes: 51 56.0%

  • What discussion forums?? I didn't know you had any!

    Votes: 7 7.7%
  • Total voters
    91
That is what I think I am trying to convey (and not so well).
Sean is going over there to post some pics, people like talking about their animals and showing off their animals and knowledge.
Somehow, people need to see that these forums are not the BOI. They can be fun and interactive.
Again, I am not sure I am making myself clear. Unfortunately, it is alluding me as to how to make these forums feel friendly. Or how to make the forums stand out a bit more. UGGGGG!!
 
Some have suggested that I need to move the Discussion Forums to the top of the page. That, of course, would push the Classifieds section (along with the BOI) down to the bottom of the page, maybe removing some of the emphasis on that aspect of this site.

Would that be a wise move? Would I really want to then run the risk of not increasing traffic to the discussion forums, but as well reducing traffic to the other sections that are now getting the traffic?

If I could think of a decent redesign of the front page of FaunaClassifieds.com, I would do that. But I look at that *other* site and it looks so cluttered that it makes my teeth ache. I don't want to have the same thing here.

In some respects I feel my move from HerpWantAds.com to FaunaClassifieds.com was a mistake. The other animal sections get nowhere near the traffic to warrant my putting up with the headaches of trying to cater to the area that gets the greater majority of the traffic here. Maybe I should strongly consider rolling back to that other domain name.....

What do you all think?
 
Perhaps if you move the discussion forums just underneath the for sale. People would have to scroll down to the boi and business forums, and would see that some of the discussion forums are highlighted when people have written in there.
 
Rich, Maybe it would be better if you made the Forum Table of Contents smaller. Instead of showing all the forums in the Classifieds and Business Section, maybe you could just show "Classifieds and Business Section" and let people click on that link if they want to see all the forums in that section. Same goes for the Laws, Legislative Issues & Alerts. Why list all the states on the Forum Table of Contents when people could just click on the link to see all the forums for each state? I think if people went to the Forum Table of Contents and saw just each category of forums, the list would not be so long and the Discussion Forums would be closer to the top as a result. People would probably not get overwhelmed with all the lists of forums too.
 
My suggested order for "Reptiles and Amphibians"

BOI
General Business Discussions
Consumer Reports
For Sale
Wanted
Trade
Events
General Herp Talk
Photos
 
Nope sorry Steve, think the BOI should be lower, with it on top that is where people will stop without looking any further.
I think sales should be first, then discussion forums, a little more condensed.
People are going to look for the BOI no matter where it is at, so why not put it low, so when scrolling down to it people are looking at all the other forums as well.
General Business is also a place where people like to go and know it is here, so it as well should be lower.
Photos, well, from what I have seen on other forums, people like photos, that is an eye catcher and also, IMHO be on top.
 
Steven - I probably don't really understand the structure you are proposing, but are you suggesting dropping ALL of the discussion forums except for those few you list? Basically one large catch-all forum for everything concerning snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and amphibians? Dropping everything else, including Herps in the News, Taxonomy, Field Collecting, etc.?

Is the additional layer of the following suggested that it be dropped?:

  • Classifieds and Business Section
  • General Discussion Forums
  • Snake Discussion Forums
  • Lizard Discussion Forums
  • Turtle/Tortoise Discussion Forums
  • Crocodilian Discussion Forums
  • Amphibian Discussion Forums

That would leave one LARGE section with all of the forums (assuming that my interpretation of Steven's suggestion is incorrect) shown together.

I don't know, but my gut feeling is that having just a single general discussion forum for EVERYTHING I now have listed under the Snake, Lizard, Turtle/Tortoise, etc. forum sections would be kind of ridiculous. This site just isn't about talking about those subjects, it is also about someone being able to FIND that information that has already been discussed. I might as well go back to the old subthreaded format and just have three forums:

  • Buy, Sell, Trade
  • BOI
  • General Discussions

Personally, I think this site would then become completely useless. I believe I actually had something similar to this way back in the dark ages when I first started up HerpWantAds.com

Maybe my whole premise of what this site should be is just way off base. I don't want a site where people can just come on and chatter away at any sort of BS that pops into their heads. I want a serious transfer of information from those that have it to those that want it. I want this to be a valuable resource for people looking to find answers to their questions.

But maybe that's not what everyone else wants here. Maybe I just can't fix a design based on a flawed concept. Maybe it just can't be what I want it to be, at least not as fast as I would like it to happen.

Heck, maybe I should just stop worrying about it, leave it as it is, and go do something else with my time and let it either sink or swim. Throw my time and efforts into other areas and leave this one alone. It is growing quite nicely right now, so maybe I should leave well enough alone. I can see too many cooks trying to crowd into the kitchen (at my own invitation, I do realize) and maybe I should just follow my own instincts, right or wrong, and let the ship follow the current.
 
Rich,

If dissemination of information from those what gots it to those what don't is your aim, I think you've hit the bullseye here. There has not been a question asked that I know of that hasn't been answered in a timely and lively fashion. I think this may be more of a success than you think. It's sometimes hard for a parent to see how good his kid actually is and I think this may be true for you in this particular instance.

As far as the rest, it may well work itself out, but I think the guidence you provide is necessary and needed, afterall it is your kid. Not to say that you need to be here 24/7 but don't go off and ignore it.

I think you're pretty damn successful here.

Wes Pollock
 
Oh, I'm not saying I am going to abandon the site. What I'm saying is that as the cook, maybe I should just consider this soup as done and stop trying to change ingredients while it is cooking.
 
Rich, since you're reading this I will post my thoughts quickly.

You've done more for reptiles then anybody else I can think of! Mainly...you've done it unselfishly and I applaud you for that as I doubt I would have been that big of a person.

This site is great! It's forforums cover the issues that need to be covered and people are allowed to speak their mind here and no other site.

What I would ask you to do would be to lay it out better. I think the layout of the site is really bad and there's much I didn't even know was here to be able to post in or about. You have the missing persons forum (GREAT IDEA), the consumer forum, you have so many great ideas laid out so poorly. I don't know how much room you have to work with this format as I know it's a faily often used format ad I have no clue what changes can be made.

Start with the first page you come to. I would put reptiles at the top of that page. Fish hasn't had a post in over a month, delete it! I would also do away with that Misc section as you have so many others I can't see anything even falling into that.

Things like the Flea market should be on that first page so it can be used by all the forum users.. Many I
'm sure don't know it's there. Same with the BOI as it would be nice if other got to take advantage of it.

Basicly I would list the forums on the main page with the sub-topics from there.

I would list the BOI as a stand alone as well.

Heck, it's a mess if you ask me. I would also make less topics like your Amphibian Discussion Forums haven't had a hit in 4 months. Delete the topics that aren't getting used or haven't had posts in say 90 days to allow the others to get more traffic then expand as you see fit. I think you gave us too many options when you changed formats and many have gone over looked.

Whole point is, the site is great! Just sort it a little better and delete everything that hasn't gotten a hit in the past 90 days, at least for the time being.

Hell if I know anything though, that's one thing this site has proven:)
 
I think that the design of the very first page is the true answer to "fixing" the site so that it gets more traffic, if there is more traffic to get. There is no way in heck it needs to be as busy as "The other site" ... it can still be eye pleasing and yet convey all of the information necessary for anyone to know what is out there.

The suggestion to modify the table of contents page was, I think, more a suggestion of eliminating the LINKS to the subgroups rather than the GROUPS themselves. If the Table of Contents page only had links to the larger sections (instead of listing all the minutia found in each section), people would see.. "oh, there are discussion forums!"

I think that as the [bleeping] gets worse elsewhere, extending even to a person's private email via the site, that people are going to start looking elsewhere to find a "home"... that's what happened to me. I got tired of [bleep] and I came here, because of course anything worth [bleeping] is worth visiting to find out why!

I do have to say that when I first came here, it was VERY hard to figure out where the BOI was and all the other things of interest. So rather than eliminating those groups you've already spent your time establishing, change the front page.

Sorry.. I'm rambling
 
Stardust said:
Nope sorry Steve, think the BOI should be lower, with it on top that is where people will stop without looking any further.
I think sales should be first, then discussion forums, a little more condensed.
People are going to look for the BOI no matter where it is at, so why not put it low, so when scrolling down to it people are looking at all the other forums as well.
General Business is also a place where people like to go and know it is here, so it as well should be lower.
Photos, well, from what I have seen on other forums, people like photos, that is an eye catcher and also, IMHO be on top.
Click to expand...

Rozann,

While I agree it would be nice to force viewers to look at underused forums first. Personally I don't think the discussion forums should be disbanded, but I don't think forcing people to view them before getting to the BOI is going to encourage use of the site.

If you wanted to call attention to specific underused forums you could put a rotating "Spotlight on..." topic right above the BOI.
 
Steve,
I in no way meant to say or imply to "force" people. Sorry if that is what came across.
I just know that for me, I forget the dicscussion forums are here. I come here, look on the BOI, maybe scan around to sound off, and a few other places that I know that get hits and then leave to other forums for discussion. I have been on here for awhile now, so I know what doesn't really get used so I usually just ignore them and forget they are there. I do not even scroll down enough to see. If I did have to scroll down to get to somewhere here that I am used to getting to and I happen to see that something is lit up, I would probably look. I simply have looked at the discussion forums enough to know they hardly get used and now have forgotten about them, kind of like out of site out of mind.
 
Please leave the discussion forums

Hi, I'm new here. I was first told to come here for the BOI to check someone out. Since then I've discovered a lot of very good information. The BOI also helped me dodge a bullet with Upsate Exotics. I think this is a great site for newbies to learn more about caring for herps.

I think moving the discussion forums up a bit on the page would be a good thing. Begginers would see For Sale first, then discussion forums. Those of you with a "college level" of interest would know to scroll a little farther down for the in-depth info.

As a matter of fact, I currently have a question I posted in the Boa discussion forum that I'm still waiting for one of you "college level" herpers to answer. :)

Just my $.02

Thanks,
Dennis
 
I did a little bit of restructuring and changed the depth of forum levels that are displayed when you go into the Reptiles & Amhibians section.

I suppose some people will like it and others will hate it, though. Of course, if EVERYONE hates it, I'll change it back.

But I moved this thread out of the BOI into the FaunaClassifieds Feedback Forum so I won't hear as much grief about it. ;)

But at least in one screen someone can see that there are a lot more forum sections available.
 
I went to my favorites, got on the usual way clicked and saw something different( kind of when the food stores change the isles on you) so I backed up, and tried again, that is when brain started working and I figured out you had changed it.
I like it, though, perhaps the only suggestion would be red the letters BOI under the section it is in.
Other than that, thought it was good.
 
Good idea on the highlighting of the BOI. Thanks!
 
much better!

I just wanted to say I like the format of the front page much better now! I don't have to do so much scrolling just to check whether there are new posts in the forums now. It's much easier to get around now, in my opinion, and looks much neater too.
 
Web [Cult Leader] Master I think You should Leave well enough Alone , As a newbie [Hate that word] i think that Ive gotten a better Education here, then any where else ..Ive watched ppl who didnt know how to breed a snake kill their name in less then a year, I found alot of these things out by just reading the posts and in my humble opinion this site is great just the way it is .....thought you would wanna hear it for some body other then you regular ppl......Peace:)
 
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