Forum Feedback Changes during the downtime

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I guess this thread has turned into a bugs reporting thread. so just fyi to all the mods, TE is slow on my pc as well since the change.

Is there any visual difference between a regular and premium member?
 
drsingh said:
i joined the site because i came across the market section during a web search.i am a doc doing duty in icu so dont have much time to devote to posts.but from the market section i went on to other threads and topics of interest.and gave a comment or two when i could.i took benefit of the market section and also reffered friends to it.now i cant access is and i am very unhappy about it.i think the mods should expand the classifieds section to expand its reach and grow.atleast everybody should be allowed tobuy if not sell on the market.the premium members will obviously benefit from a wider market audience when making a sale.
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Seems a valid point. :) Mods pls consider it as it will expand audience in case one wants to sell his stuff.
 
drsingh said:
i joined the site because i came across the market section during a web search.i am a doc doing duty in icu so dont have much time to devote to posts.but from the market section i went on to other threads and topics of interest.and gave a comment or two when i could.i took benefit of the market section and also reffered friends to it.now i cant access is and i am very unhappy about it.i think the mods should expand the classifieds section to expand its reach and grow.atleast everybody should be allowed tobuy if not sell on the market.the premium members will obviously benefit from a wider market audience when making a sale.
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You do have a valid point. We shall look into it this weekend.

Weekend is the only time we get to discuss and do any changes on TE.
 
moshel said:
I guess this thread has turned into a bugs reporting thread. so just fyi to all the mods, TE is slow on my pc as well since the change.

Is there any visual difference between a regular and premium member?
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There is no difference, only the section access.

TE is indeed slow as the load has increased considerably. Seems like a malfunctioning script since we were managing fine earlier. This again will be investigated this weekend and a server upgrade if needed.
 
members market section blocked...WTF!

am a console gamer and i usually stick to gaming sites, and i come here for any good deals on second hand games(like i got from one member for COD MW2 on PS3) so i don't post that much around here, now it's blocked...SHEET!
 
drsingh said:
i think the mods should expand the classifieds section to expand its reach and grow.atleast everybody should be allowed tobuy if not sell on the market.the premium members will obviously benefit from a wider market audience when making a sale.
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This is exactly the issue I wanted feedback on when I started this thread : http://www.techenclave.com/feedback-corner/member-feedback-new-users-access-market-159981.html . The TE members (not just the mods) voted the other way. And with levels of trust dropping between traders, this was something that needed serious consideration.

Once again I must reiterate, the Market section is an add-on to the TE forum and not the other way round. IMHO if someone needed more reach when selling, they would try eBay.
 
I didn't go through the new rules, but offhand, all the premiumness smacks of snobbishness. I hope there is a strong reason to act all exclusive, premium only. Exclusivity just for that sake is something that I am not in favour of. In a country with a large population that is yet to get online, you are shooting yourself in the foot by making new members feel just like Gandhi did in that train in South Africa. And from a business standpoint, your are opening yourself to easy attack from any other site willing to be more liberal. Unless something seriously has changed about online business, more eyeballs = more money. So, I question the rationale behind this move.

I for one am not too comfortable feeling upper crusty here, and definitely not want to be questioned about my motivation to join a tech site. Subjecting new applicants to a "full body scan" to check their motivation seems too privacy infringing, and not everyone will be happy at this. But, I must intrigued, from a sociological and psychological point of view, what this "experiment" will reveal about Indian psyche. If membership applicants remain the same, it will show that we are a servile population willing to bend at any authority. That would be sad indeed.
 
htnakirs said:
I for one am not too comfortable feeling upper crusty here, and definitely not want to be questioned about my motivation to join a tech site. Subjecting new applicants to a "full body scan" to check their motivation seems too privacy infringing, and not everyone will be happy at this.
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One question : Have you actually had a look at the "changes" to the registration format? Give it a look and think about it for a bit, and you will find it isn't actually restricting at all while still cleverly serving a greater purpose (Think: reading the rules). JFYI none of the regns have been denied as yet either.

I also assume you do not travel by air planes :D

Premium membership has nothing to do with registration. Please don't mix the two terms.

Your analogy seems wrong, since no part of the forum (except the market) is restricted from new members. I agree the 'premium' term sounds wrong.. but to correct your analogy, it would be akin to someone being denied access to the engine coach - and not everyone rides a train to visit the engine coach.

Nonetheless most of this is on an experimental basis, and will be refined as time passes by.
 
Once again I must reiterate, the Market section is an add-on to the TE forum and not the other way round. IMHO if someone needed more reach when selling, they would try eBay.
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you have to understand that people coming to tech sites as this are high value and sophisticated tech buyers.they form a valuable and better target audience to sell or exchange tech products(specially used tech products).i feel more comfortable purchasing on this site from a guy who has a good no. of posts and feedback than any seller on ebay.this is more personal and more trust inspiring.having a community of people with relevant comments is also very helpful.i came across this site first when i was looking for something on sites such as quikr.craigslist,clickindia.olx.in,sulekha etc and i found this place the best due to its format of threads in market place.if i had no access to the market place i would not have come across this site and not joined it.and some of my friends too.another site which starts from E has just made changes to their classified section to make it more useful.i think that is a step in the right direction.i hope the post has not become a sulking story:-) .please share ur thoughts.
 
drsingh said:
i feel more comfortable purchasing on this site from a guy who has a good no. of posts and feedback than any seller on ebay.this is more personal and more trust inspiring.
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^ You yourself have answered the reasons behind the move ;)

While I agree that selling to someone with no rep is a lot safer than buying from the same person, trust is a two-way thing.

Nonetheless as I have said, we are still reviewing the whole process.

Edit: I notice you are a premium member already. Are you having access issues?
 
I had found the market forum to be very useful for me. For buying used tech-materials, I could ask, clarify and understand a product that I was buying [ which was not possible with other online sites]

On the other side, It was great fun to be part of market as it was the most active forum. Novelty products that was never seen before, thread crapping/no crapping, learning from the experience members and so on. I miss it as I am not premium member now.

I must agree that I was not very vocal, but a silent reader. I hope there could be an addtional method of providing premium membership such as number of login per day or iTrust ?

Anyway, All the best with the new initiatives. I am sure that this site will do well as it has already provided a lot for technical community in India.

Saidu
 
htnakirs and drsingh, some of us members (especially me :P) think that we are a tech community first, and a market site second. I dont think we are an e commerce site ( while that may happen), and that the admins of this forum are not running it to get rich off it ( while the thought might cross their minds - think of all the pizzas :P). Its not money that we want. We want Knowledge :) Contribute to our community, that is all I'm asking, and you'll find your current problems non-issues.
 
saidu said:
I miss it as I am not premium member now.

I must agree that I was not very vocal, but a silent reader. I hope there could be an addtional method of providing premium membership such as number of login per day or iTrust ?
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No of (quality) posts is not the only criteria for judging, of course it is the easiest. Anyone who has been a silent reader has enough ammunition to make good posts. And that is all we ask from members in return for the access to the market section.

Why dont you apply for the privilege group membership and see if it gets approved.
 
I know it has already been reported, but would like to do it again, site is working quite slow and I know there is no network issue as I have sites at same DC.
 
crazy eddy and greenhorn. i am basically trying to make the following points:-
1. premium members or in fact any member posting in market thread will benefit from maximum people viewing their threads
2. market thread on any site commercial or non commercial has the goal of selling products.
3. i think the site should use all methods to draw eyeballs to the site.
4. monetising a site is not a bad idea.
5. most popular threads on a site are popular for a reason.
6. head-fi which is one of the most popular audiophile sites in the world gives me ull access.even the market section ,i spent a lot of time reading{weeks} before i could actually contribute anything worthwhile,
7, just expressing my 2 cents no hard feelings,comments welcome
 
one of the reasons that you see some great prices here are because when you sell something here, you are pretty secure knowing that what you are selling is going to someone you know. Pretty much all the trades here are not done with the pure intention of making money, but rather to hand over stuff you dont want or dont need to folks you know. There are many folks who sell stuff here for less than you would get otherwise. In fact, a sale to someone you know well reduces tensions on both the buyer and seller end, and the main reason why it was such a great idea and everyone loved it.

But then folks started coming over here just to buy and sell stuff, and that confidence was lost. Any number of sites will let you sell your stuff, just like ebay. While outsiders are welcome, they are welcome to deal as friends and fellow members who share our goals. not as someone who wants to make a quick buck and disappear.

However, I do not speak for everyone. This is just my POV.

As for your points

1. I don't think we are gunning for max pageviews or eyeballs here. If I'm selling something at a reasonable price here, I'm confident it will get sold. Has been that way so far, even when we had much lesser members.

2. agree

3. I don't think we are that desperate. See #1

4. Upto the admins. I dont know how high it is on their list

5. I'm not sure which threads you have in mind.

6. I dont see any valuable knowledge in the market forums, apart from maybe resale values of hardware. The rest of the sections are open :)

drsingh, I know you have good intentions. I wish everyone was like you. then we would not have had so many rules. Its because there are a few others with not so good intentions, and a lot of them with no intentions at all, and the law of unintended consequences, that we as a forum has reached where we are.
 
I also supporting of the view that market section should be open to all members. Though, administrators concern for avoiding ....elements from spoiling the section could be genuine, but there are much better ways of moderating it. Abruptly closing the section, and trying to over-control on the basis of statistics/posts and few questions and answers, is really unproductive task where people are concerned. Moderators are people with particular personality, and despite their best intention, they are susceptiptible to natural bias toward deciding who deserves to be member. Rather, they should create system (like ratings) in place where, and let the flow of information, channelised through system-checks, guide the threads. Of course there is no perfect system, so tweaking would be needed. Beside, I do not recollect cases where any trading has gone really bad. So, as they say.. if it aint broke, dont fix it.
 
cray said:
Beside, I do not recollect cases where any trading has gone really bad. So, as they say.. if it aint broke, dont fix it.
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You mean you missed the sticky thread on top of the market that says "List of Fradulent Members"? Its right next to the sticky thread that says "TE Market Rules" - someone who read the market rules would know that ;)
 
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