Can We Get a Vendor Subforum

[apexanimal]

you know... something where only vendors can start a new thread, but anyone can reply to...

this so that vendors can bump and add info to their products without interfering with other tech-related threads...

and we know what products are being offered, by whom, and where to purchase...



just saying...

[gwarden]

+1 for this idea

[Aero STI]

An 818 vendor subforum and an 818 private for sale subforum would also be nice.

[Mechie3]

I would support this. I don't bump my threads often as to not drown out technical discussions. It would be much easier if there was a single location to store everything available from vendors.

[myjones]

I would support this. I don't bump my threads often as to not drown out technical discussions. It would be much easier if there was a single location to store everything available from vendors.

It would be nice to have a proper place for vendors to post their wares.
I don't blame the guy for trying to sell shirts and he makes some nice designs but it does seem to be posted often and in the wrong place for that purpose.
When I do want to shop on here it would be a much easier way to find things.
DB

[TahoeTim]

I use this forum by logging and clicking on new posts. I scan all the 818 new posts. We only have ONE 818 vendor who is abusing the forum and we know who that is. I will never send a single dollar to that vendor. Giving him his own sub forum will not solve anything unless they are put in an area where their new posts can be ignored.

There's already a for sale - parts forum. Add a "vendors" sub forum there.

[AZPete]

I agree with Tahoe Tim that primarily one vendor is clogging this 818 forum. Isn't there a set of rules for vendors that prohibits frequent, repetitive posts? There should be. Can't the moderator handle this one-on-one with the vendor?

[C.Plavan]

I agree with Tahoe Tim that primarily one vendor is clogging this 818 forum. Isn't there a set of rules for vendors that prohibits frequent, repetitive posts? There should be. Can't the moderator handle this one-on-one with the vendor?

I agree with this. So tired of stupid vendor bump threads.."All is stock, ready to ship!!!" Is getting very, very old.

[Ray]

I use this forum by logging and clicking on new posts. I scan all the 818 new posts. We only have ONE 818 vendor who is abusing the forum and we know who that is. I will never send a single dollar to that vendor. Giving him his own sub forum will not solve anything unless they are put in an area where their new posts can be ignored.

There's already a for sale - parts forum. Add a "vendors" sub forum there.

I am very rarely on the 818 Forum and am not aware of this vendor. Would you please send me a PM with the vendor information and I'll look into it.

Thanks,

Ray

[TahoeTim]

pm sent

[David Hodgkins]

I've been aware of this for a while now and it seems to me to be a vendor issue. I don't want to restrict where a vendor can post but at the same time we do have general rules in place regarding "spamming" the membership:

For the COCA:
Spam includes, but is not limited to, the following:

* Excessive off-topic threads
* Posting nonsensical messages
* “Flooding” the forum with similar meaning messages
* Post-Count farming
* Inciting a forum war or riot
* Outwar-style links
* Blatant advertising
* Messages without content
* Fraudulent activity (Pyramid schemes, chain letters, etc.)
* Free-____ links (i.e. Free iPods, Free PSP, etc. etc.)


Now, we give latitude to Supporting Vendors to "bump" a thread. The question is how much is excessive and when does the line get crossed to being spam?

Several vendors bump threads here. They only tend to have one thread, and it usually get gets bumps either once every few weeks or once a month.

What are your suggestions for vendor "bump" guidelines? My first suggestion, as a way to get started, would be to limit the number of threads to just a few, and limit the bump to once a month, unless a relevant event is unfolding.

For example, I could see a vendor that is running a week special bumping once a day. What should be the guideline in this scenario? What about a one-day sale?

[Mechie3]

That's where it gets messy. I think it's mostly common sense and generally understood what it is appropriate, but for those that don't, it's nice to have rules to point to vs "well, you should have known".

I sometimes bump mine if something new happens (ie: new batch of parts are in, or it's been a while and it's fallen off the first few pages) othewise it slowly sinks to the bottom. In a general vendor thread everything would be there if someone wanted to quickly see "what parts are available for my 818?". As it is now, you have to know that a product is there to go looking for it. Another reason I've tried to keep all of my vendors posts in the general discussion is so I'm not bumping it over the technical talks.

Some people mentioned they use the new posts button. Not sure how many do or don't. I don't as I don't want to have to search through all the 818 vs non 818 content. I just go by the dark icons indicating a new post in a subforum.

[rori]

An 818 vendor subforum and an 818 private for sale subforum would also be nice.

I've suggested this in the past and would still like to see if implemented.

[AZPete]

No.

[apexanimal]

i don't think bump guidelines solve everything...

there's still the issue of enabling members/consumers to be informed about all the products that are being produced and sold by our vendors here... having a single sub forum where these vendors, products, and services can be listed and found would help all of this...

[Burner1]

Coming up with new products or bringing new products to market can be tough. Often in these forums we make things which people don't understand, and, or, are different then normal items and it is difficult to get the information out there. Many times these are really neat products but do not get traction because the vendor does not want or cannot spend the time in the regular forums discussing it. For this is understandable...But I think a place to talk about them, introduce them and educate people on them would be very useful.

New vendors with new product ideas often do not have the capital to put adds on every forum or magazine to get started and getting people educated on what these products are in order to get going can be a catch 22.

The saying that a good product sells it self; true however sometimes there is an education hump for people to get over.

It is good not only for the vendor but for the industry looking for more products and better solutions; and to make the vendors product better.

[Turboguy]

I'd toss in another vote for a vendor subforum.


If we don't do something soon, I feel it's going to turn into a daily bumping free-for-all. We'll have to go to page 3 just to see threads from fellow builders.

[Boog]

Many of us link directly to the 818 forum and never see the home page. I didn't even realize there was a parts for sale section until someone mentioned it.

I can change my interaction with the site, but I'm more surprised at the resistance to adding a vendor sub-forum. It costs a few minutes of a moderators time and seems to resolve all the complaints people have been having regarding a lack of grouping and the displacement of tech discussions. What is the harm of a vendor section?

[waruaki]

I'd toss in another vote for a vendor subforum.


If we don't do something soon, I feel it's going to turn into a daily bumping free-for-all. We'll have to go to page 3 just to see threads from fellow builders.

+1 well said.

[David Hodgkins]

It won't turn into a bumping free for all.

There was only one vendor that created a stir. I have talked to them and the issue should now be resolved.

I'm still mulling over the Vendor sub-forum request. I don't like the idea of attempting to control where vendors post, but agree that the amount of 818 sub forums plays into any solution (if any is implemented).

[Turboguy]

Actually something I meant to write, but forgot, is that there are already a lot of 818 subforums - perhaps too many. Well, in my opinion too many to look through.

Perhaps some (or a lot) of them could be merged, and then an 818 vendor-only subforum created.


The roadster forum on the old "ffcobra.com" WEBsite worked well, and I think there was just 1 forum dedicated to that model, wasn't there? At times, there are too many places to look to find 818 stuff now.

[AZPete]

David, I agree that the problem is only one vendor, so if you've solved that, then the problem is solved. And, hopefully he learned that pestering customers usually drives them away. The repetitive posts have had that effect on me.

Turboguy, you know the bold circles take you to just the new posts, right?

[Burner1]

I don't like the idea of attempting to control where vendors post, but agree that the amount of 818 sub forums plays into any solution (if any is implemented).

I don't think it would stop or should stop vendor participation or helping with a problem or question in other areas but it would be a good spot for the vendors to introduce a product, explain a product, etc without hitting the regular list. If people are not interested then they don't have to go in and they are not cornered with that which they don't want to hear so to speak.

[ssssly]

I can't for the life of me understand the resistance to this.

Most of the folks making 818 custom parts are individuals. Who do not have full blown web pages linked off of the vendor's page.

And the "for sale" section of this site is horrendous. It is a mash up of all the kinds of cars together and not divided by kind of part.

I would say that a real solution would be to properly categorize the for sale section. But a vendor subsection to the 818 forum would not be a bad intermediary.

A good look at the way that NAtional Subaru site is set up would go a long way to making the for sale section of this site a value to the community.

Split it up by Cars, Parts, Wanted, personal for sale, vendor for sale. Then by car type, then by part type. That way it would actually be usable to find the part you want as opposed to having to wade through a useless uncategorized list.

[TahoeTim]

the sucky search engine contributes to the problem too

[Boog]

While I think a 818->vendor subforum is a reasonable stopgap, I want to point out that he was describing a tree at the highest level of the forum, not within the 818 subforum.

In general, to deal with the number of threads on the FFR forum you can add organization, a better search or ideally both. Take craigslist for example. Browsing a category will always work but imagine if their search feature didn't let you specify a subforum like 'cars + trucks for sale'. Every search you did to see if there was a gem of a donor WRX, C5 or foxbody would also be overloaded with results for jobs as a mechanic, plastic models of a car, hubcaps for a '73 olds, and for some odd reason a lizard for sale. All this because of random/overlapping words added to craigslist posts. What about if craigslist didnt have an initial division based on location (LA, Orlando, Vegas, etc...), or subdivision based on interest, would anyone ever want to look through the posts? I am in no way suggesting that the FFR forum is this bad, I'm just trying to highlight the ends of the spectrum.

I believe Ssssly's idea would look something like this:
Classifieds
-Cars for sale
-Member Parts for sale
--33
---Engine & Drivetrain
---Suspension & Brakes
---Wheels & Tires
---Interior, Body & Aero
--Type 65
---Engine & Drivetrain
---Suspension & Brakes
---Wheels & Tires
---Interior, Body & Aero
--GTM
...etc
-Vendor Parts for sale
--33
---Engine & Drivetrain
---Suspension & Brakes
---Wheels & Tires
---Interior, Body & Aero
--Type 65
---Engine & Drivetrain
---Suspension & Brakes
---Wheels & Tires
---Interior, Body & Aero
--GTM
...etc


Does it add a lot of subforums? Yes, of course it does. Will people get confused? Probably not since you 'refining your search' with every level. I don't know why anyone would visit every possible area/thread instead of just what they care about.

The groupings at each level are for what makes sense for the community based on its history. If in the past the GTM has a very large number both of engine and transaxle parts for sale, then split it out into two categories. If the 33 has only ever had a couple dozen items for sale, remove all its categories and just group everything under the '33' subforum. If only 5% of the posts are from vendors, combine the "Members parts for sale" and "Vendors parts for sale" into a single category but keep some subdivisions underneath.

Its easy to take an example to the extreme and make fun of it, but what most of us are describing is just modifying the organizational structure to match how its currently being used. I completely agree that with the number of new threads in a few of the 818 subforums, combining/regouping makes a lot of sense. It also makes sense to isolate items that can be bought since we are getting feedback from people saying they cant easily find whats available.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

A little off topic.
To see the latest active 818 discussions, I usually go to the "818 - Recent Threads" page.
None of the post of the "818R Discussions" show up on this list.
Why is this one sub forum special?
Is there any other sub forums that I might be missing?

Let me take this opportunity to thank any of the Moderators/Managers of this forum for the job they do. Without this forum, there would be very many frustrated builders out there. I am a person that has a thrust for knowledge. I get a daily dose of it here.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Bob
.

[TahoeTim]

It's getting blown way out of proportion. Let's get this thread back on track.

One vendor is posting and bumping in the BUILD DISCUSSION section. He is violating multiple forum rules. Give him his banner money back and throw him off the site. Simple. If this forum needs the money that bad I will make a donation. I, too, appreciate the moderators for providing me a place to learn about Subarus.

[apexanimal]

^ that's not the only reason why i started this

[TahoeTim]

Yep, you did ask for a vendor thread. I see one called "parts for sale". Since builders rarely sell parts, that's where the vendors should be posting now, IMHO.

I do think a "vendor parts" sub forum under 818 would be helpful.

[David Hodgkins]

apex, (and others)

I've been paying close attention, although not posting much, so folks could add their thoughts. I really appreciate your input on thiss topic and will be acting on it soon.

Please all, keep the input coming.

[gwarden]

I have gotten frustrated trying to search thru threads to find vendors offerings that I read about that was my motivation for joining in on this idea

[K3LAG]

I'll throw in my $.02

I'll give my perspective from two points of view:

As an individual building a car it would be nice to have all the vendors in one place. I can't count the times I've known something was out there from one of our vendors but I had a hard time finding it because it was buried deep in a sub-forum somewhere. Searching helps, but even then you get a lot of threads from other builders that may have asked a question or made a comment about a product. Sometimes you have to go to the 2nd page of search results to find the vendors thread. For those of us that have been on here since the 818 started shipping, or before, we have seen a lot of the posts from the various vendors so we are likely aware of the products and vendors that are available. For the new builder that has just joined the forum it would be difficult to discover some of the things that are available unless they dig through a lot of old threads.

As a small vendor with essentially only one inexpensive product I think I would be OK either way if it was clear what people considered reasonable thread bumping. I rarely bump the thread for my product. I have bumped it a couple times and it has moved to the top a couple of times on it's own through the normal course of discussion on the thread. I do notice that when my thread drops out of the first half dozen or so on the list, in the electrical sub-forum where it is posted, that I get fewer contacts. Although sales started out with a flurry as I expected, they have slowed to only a handful each month and those handful tend to happen when the thread ends up back at the top either via bump or on it's own. The electrical sub-forum seems like the place that most would go when looking to reset their odometers so having the thread there makes sense. However, if someone is just browsing for available products, a vendor forum would make sense. All of this leads me to the answer that I'm not positive which is the better choice. Perhaps both make sense. In my case a thread in electrical and a second in a vendor forum with guidelines for what people consider to be reasonable bumping. Daily is clearly too often as we have seen, that just gets annoying. Maybe every couple of weeks makes sense so you can get the attention of new folks to the forum. I can say that if the sales of my EEPROMs drops to the point where it is not worth paying the vendor fees, probably 2-3 per month, then I will probably stop selling them.

Sorry that was kind of long winded, but wanted to provide my thoughts.

Larry

[nkw8181]

Ok so here is my input. I have been on here for about a year and currently building an 818S. I go through spurts with my activity on here (life has its distractions). I know there are alot of cool specialty parts, that members have created, that I know nothing of. I would just like to see a place where I can see custom made parts specific for the 818. To me a vendor sub forum under 818 could be as simple as one thread per vendor? this allows them to have a place that people can find with a list of what they have to offer. this is just my thoughts so take them with a grain of salt. Just want to know whats out there.

K3LAG this is the first time I've heard of your service. I had mine done prior to you offering the service but would have gone with you. Plus you are cheaper then what I payed!!