Glimpse at the new Classifieds Feature

[TGO David]

Hey guys.  It's been a busy January for me, but I have managed to get the new Classifieds system installed behind the scenes and am on the verge of unveiling it to the public.  I wanted you guys to see it first to give me some feedback.  Unfortunately there's no way to give you actual access to it without everyone else seeing classifieds items popping up in their newsfeed, so here are some screen shots to give you an idea of how it will work.

To view these pictures larger, you can right click on them and open them in a new tab.

 

Pic #1:  This shows where the menu item for the Classifieds section would show up on screen.  One thing to note about the menu bar at the top of the page is that it will consolidate the last few links to the right if your screen resolution is not sufficient to show them all.  When it consolidates them, it rolls the remaining links up into a menu item called "More".

 

 

Pic #2:  This is the landing page of the Classifieds system.  At the top of the page are blocks for What's New  (which would show recently added items) and Expiring Soon (which would show ads that are near the end of their campaign length).  Below that is the list of categories similar to what you'd see on the home page of the forum where it lists all of the sub-forums.

 

 

Pic #3:  This is what pops up when you start to create a new advertisement.  It provides a list of the Categories and asks you which one you're going to place the ad into.

 

Pic #4:  This is a view of all of the options that you get to choose from when you are crafting your ad.  In this example you can see that I was creating a fictional ad for an M&P M2.0 9mm handgun and was setting the price for it at $495.  You can add (or omit) information about where the item is located, choosing whether or not to just list the city and state, or also include a street address.  The street address info would be helpful for a Vendor who has a storefront, obviously.

You can also indicate whether you want to Allow Offers on the price, and you can allow the software to Notify you when questions are made about the ad.  The latter is like subscribing to a thread in the normal forums where you get a notification sent if someone responds.

You can also add images directly to your ad, and an ad can have a maximum of 10 images.

The ad also has questions about the item you are selling.  Some of them are required (as indicated) and others are optional.  Obviously if you're selling a backpack or a tree stand, you won't be listing the caliber.

You also get an option of Packages Available when posting your ad.  This is a new thing!  You can either go with the standard ad that runs for 45 days at no additional charge beyond what you paid as a Benefactor, or you can "Feature" your ad for 10-days for a very small cost.  Featured ads stay pinned to the top of the Classifieds section and are among the first things people see.

 

 

 

[TGO David]

Pic #5:  This last view shows you how the Classifieds posts show up inside of the new activity search.  Not only do you see forum posts but you also see items that have been added to the Classifieds.

Also, anything posted to the Classifieds system will automatically create a new thread in one of the existing Trading Post forums!  This way people using Tapatalk will be sure to see the new items as well.

 

 

 

So that's how the thing works.  What do you all think?  Good?  Bad?

 

[Sam1]

Think it's pretty cool and will get more eyes on members' classifieds

[FUJIMO]

I agree with Sam1, I like it

[broox]

It's different, I don't like change, why can't it be like it used to?

Ok, got that out of my system.  Looks great! 

[GlockSpock]

Excited for this. Lets turn it on, I've got some stuff to sell!

[KahrMan]

Will have to post a few things to feel it out but it looks like it will be a real nice addition to the way it is currently done.

[Wingshooter]

I think it's great! 

[RED333]

Run it up the flag pole and let it fly!!!

[usuviri]

Thumbs up.

[gregintenn]

3 hours ago, broox said:

It's different, I don't like change, why can't it be like it used to?

Ok, got that out of my system.  Looks great! 

I'm with this guy!

[Sam1]

4 hours ago, CZ9MM said:

Excited for this. Lets turn it on, I've got some stuff to sell!

I'll be here to pay you 50% market value if you're in a pinch! 

[KahrMan]

I'll go 51%...

[TN_Jim]

Big YES, from me. I have used similar formats on other sites. Very functional...

 

 

[TGO David]

LOL.  Keep the feedback coming folks.

 

[Sam1]

3 minutes ago, TGO David said:

LOL.  Keep the feedback coming folks.

 

You need to use a validated survey instrument allowing for the collection of ordinal data so we can apply a Spearman's Ro to determine the correlation of variables to get reliable feedback.

A simple suggestion requesting more feedback will not suffice for the benefactor room.  Keep that pleb stuff in general chat

[Sam1]

1 hour ago, KahrMan said:

I'll go 51%...

That's pretty good odds coming from a programmer.

[peejman]

What happens after 45 days?  Can you renew an add at that point and not have to repost from scratch?

[TGO David]

10 minutes ago, peejman said:

What happens after 45 days?  Can you renew an add at that point and not have to repost from scratch?

You can renew it.

[Grand Torino]

So does a vendor add look any different than a benefactor ad?

[TGO David]

On 1/24/2017 at 3:40 PM, Grand Torino said:

So does a vendor add look any different than a benefactor ad?

Good question.  I don't think so, out of the box, but I will see i there's some way I can differentiate them.

 

[bubbadavis]

On 1/24/2017 at 3:40 PM, Grand Torino said:

So does a vendor add look any different than a benefactor ad?

Your ads should automatically switch to 'sold' in 15 minutes or less...

[JoeCorrado]

I like it!! I'm going to have to list a gun or 2 on here shortly myself. Picked up a really expensive rifle since I missed out on the SP1 that was listed a few weeks ago. That hurt to miss out on.

[TGO David]

On 1/24/2017 at 3:40 PM, Grand Torino said:

So does a vendor add look any different than a benefactor ad?

 

On 1/25/2017 at 7:10 PM, TGO David said:

Good question.  I don't think so, out of the box, but I will see i there's some way I can differentiate them.

 

 

It occurred to me that I can, and already did, set up "Tags" so that a vendor's posts would be tagged as a Vendor item for sale.

We'll probably go live with this feature this weekend!
 

[TGO David]

Ok, last bit of an update.  I figure I will throw the switch and make this active later today, but...

When I do this, I will most likely deactivate the ability to start new threads from within the Trading Posts forum and instead route people to the new Classifieds feature to post new items for sale.

The Tapatalk crowd may not like it, but it's the only way this is really going to work effectively for everyone and frankly once again I am very fed up with the limitations that Tapatalk brings us.  From now on my stance is going to be, "If you use Tapatalk on TGO, you will be limited by that platform.  If you want all of the features that TGO offers, you won't use Tapatalk."

Kind of a hard-lined approach but it has to be that way for us to continue to evolve and offer more services.