Maybe there's a solution and the more I think about this the more I like it!
I like to scan through the 'today's post' to keep up to date but because of the amount of posts, peaks because of time differences, my reluctance to sit here permanently and the amount of spam, it is hard to catch the interesting stuff.
Contrary to the quote above that it's free advertising, it isn't, as the sponsoring suppliers pay to have a presence on the forum and expect something in return. Also, sponsoring suppliers like to contribute in other areas, which seems fair enough, so they would still be allowed to join discussions as they do now and with the same restrictions.
Here's the deal:
Sponsors may only promote their products via their own forum and all of those forums will be under the 'suppliers' forums' umbrella. The only way to read those posts would be to go to the suppliers' forum and they would not show up on the 'todays' posts' section.
I just checked the 'todays' posts' and of the top 25 posts 8 are from suppliers with one supplier running 3 threads, so I agree it's time for a change.
The sponsoring suppliers' could be limited to one thread per day which would be confined to the suppliers' forum, it could even have its own brand new title - Give Us This Day Our Daily Thread!
All the old threads could be left in the archive for members to search if they wanted.
This would trim down and contain the advertising posts at least and make it easy to spot spam in other areas.
One question is whether any product specific threads should be in the suppliers' forum rather the general forum and I'm not sure about that - that's where discretion comes in.
So, that's one part of a possible solution, but sponsors might not be too happy about being 'contained', so here goes.........
At the top of every page, place a reasonably sized graphic with link to the sponsoring suppliers' page to encourage/assist potential customers to visit. Currently there are 84 suppliers on that page, many with their banners visible but around 20 without. Firstly, all those without banners should be invited to submit one or even ask for help on here which always results in lots of offers and designs. If they cannot provide a banner then there should be a standard template available (I would be happy to provide one) to put their name in rather than the 'BANNER NOT YET AVAILABLE' which looks as cheap as the 'Under Construction' signs which really bug me. It would look more professional all round.
I can already hear those suppliers who are near the bottom of the page saying 'no-one's gonna find me at the bottom!', so here's the perfect solution.
The Banner page is programmed to move down 5 rows every 15 minutes, ie you click the page and first see True Vapor down to New Smoke at the top of the page, then 15 minutes later the page starts with Smoke Without Fire down to iVapour at the top, then Smokeless Delite to The Vapour Store at the top etc. All of the banners will be there but it would mean everyone gets a share of top spot, cool innit?
I think it's a fair deal for the suppliers who all pay their monthly dues to get the same exposure. It would not be difficult to implement but if any help is needed to set up the self-updating banner page then let me know.
I just checked the 'today's posts' again and 7/25 are supplier threads, so we could reduce the excess by about a third with the above plan.
There is also the possibility that the 'today's posts' section could be changed to show just new threads and news items with all the other posts in their individual sections?
It must be worth some consideration, especially the banner page.
John C.
Appendix i)
Final count before I post, 11/25 posts are supplier posts.
I also checked on a few suppliers counts and it is true that some are prolific posters. If business is booming and their forums are so busy that they need to reply to 11 different threads (9 of which were begun by them) in less than 3 hours, then that is adding more weight to the separation idea. Most people on here enjoy reading what interests them, whether it's tips & tricks, women's stuff, DIY, reviews etc Just like when reading a magazine, we don't want advertising right through every page. Let's keep all the commercials in their own section and free up the front page for the readers who make the forum by visiting here. As suppliers, we pay for our presence on here, but we need to operate in a manner that welcomes and encourages people to stay, browse and hopefully do a little shopping.
!
