Forum signatures need sorting - Your input please

Probably the easiest thing is to say 'no' to advertising in the main body of the forum, and to have a separate indexed area where people pay if they want to advertise.their wares/services.

Since very few of us actually know the person behind the avitar I think that if someone wants to advertise, there should also be an area where others are able to comment on the services received. 

Maybe I won't get many people agreeing with me, but I'm just putting my "pennies worth" in Justin!!

"I  Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat"

OKAY!

Back on topic..... (again!)

Keep the opinions/comments coming so Justin can then decide what we're going to do, as in the Development forums some of the sigs are a pain in da....

well, you know

Whoops!!  Didn't mean to be offensive but was offering an opinion - as requested.  I was using Fibby UK to illustrate the point that I was trying to make and wasn't meaning to attack her personally.   Havging said that, I don't accept that the views of someone who has posted 2,000,000 times are consequently superior to the views of someone posting for the first time.

I think I may have misunderstood what constitutes a "signature".  I positively like the avatars which I think are good fun.  My objection is to the standard footer that follows every post.  And I maintain the view that the self-advertising is annoying and assume that part at least of the motive in anyone posting over a loud advert is to get noticed by other users hoping they will put business their way.  If not, why do it? 

Every other forum I use has signatures and allows you to refer back to your own personal websites, but generally not business links unless a forum sponsor (Read into that shops, solicitors, estate agents, etc). Now, a lot of the signatures from some of these people are extremely important and I don't think they should now be told to pay up or remove them, it would also make threads difficult to read where the signatures have been referred to! One of the forums I use charges a small amount to businesses (about £12 per quarter) and they get a small banner advertising teir sponsorship and a sponsors board for questions related to their business. An idea worth pursuing?

My signature shows 1) my hobby page of fishkeeping, 2) our private apartment which we do rent occasionally (which has never had any revenue generated from EOS), 3) my Facebook page and 4) my reciprocal link website which generates no income at all and was originally okayed with Justin.

I am happy to limit my signature to two lines, but would then choose my two Spanish links over the fishkeeping one (which has had many visitors from EOS incidentally) and Facebook link. The links are reasonably valuable in terms of Google SEO, although with over 500 entries from EOS, they may think I am spamming their index .

I have to say I would be against paying, purely because the site is heavily filled with Google Adsense and other paid for advertising. Having valuable input into the forums is what makes people come to the site and potentially generate revenue from clicking links. I tend to agree with leswill that a number of posts may not solve the problem. Look at how many useless posts there are already to try and get around the 10 posts rule for pm's and links.

Perhaps there could be a section in the t&c's (that not many people read anyway), but if it is there, the forums moderated and abusive signatures removed, you at least have somewhere to refer the offender to see the error of their ways.

Mark

Hi EOS Team and All

I am really glad Justin has asked this question as one of the reasons I like EOS is that it operates in a relaxed way allowing its members more freedom than some other forums but with this freedom comes responsibility. The more relaxed approach gives a family feeling to the forum, allowing members discreet advertising can be helpful as when they post information it helps to know if they have a vested interest in the subject. I do most of my posts on one of the development forums but I also read the posts on the main forum and have sometimes contributed or asked questions of other members. Over the time I have been a member I have had replies from those I call the elders on EOS, which is those with posts in the thousands, this term is a compliment I hope. In the case of some of the responses, I have found it helpful to be able to look at their own web site to help judge the quality of the response, particularly if it has been a question that would benefit from a response from a professional in the field. However we all see those that only post in order to have their own signature (advert) displayed and often their post provides no real value to the subject or is clearly just there for self promotion. Another problem is those that join the forum just to give recommendations about others and disappear as fast as they came, and those that join and make lots of insignificant posts so they can start sending PM’s to people. I agree with a number of the suggestions that have been made, like not being able to add a signature until you have made 50+ posts and keeping the information in the signature proportionate. If people would like a proper advert they should pay and have it posted on EOS properly, that said it is becoming slightly frustrating with all the adverts in the side column having to re centre the text to be able to read it.

Regards

Phil

Getting interesting and as i did mention in my response to Justins original question,

it is hard to "bracket" one way or another 50 posts 5,000 posts etc etc

I have viewed two replies both with valid points which are percieved by me as

a) because one has posted x amount of times does it mean they are better etc than someone who has posted once- could mean they are not very busy which could mean they are not very good at what they do etc etc!

b) if one has a top quality website then they must be excellent at what they do-could mean they have to rely on an expensive website for their business as they cant generate enough otherwise!

NO OFFENCE intended to those who posted this simply illustrates how hard it is to have a "one rule" suits all policy.

I still favour a "judgement" call me made based on numbers of postings that then allows that individual to have their own cv page attached? to the message?

Also would it be possible when one views the general forum to be able to place the cursor oin a thread and read the initial posting thus beng able to see if it is of interest prior to having to open it?

Hi advisor

Not sure if one of the posts you are referring to is me but if it is no offence taken. However I was not indicating having good website is relevant to the value of the contribution of a post, I was just making the point in some circumstances it can help to be able to look at someone’s website or for that matter what they put in their personal profile to help evaluate the quality of the information/advise given.

For example if someone asks a question about Fire Safety in the home and I responded, if they look at my profile they would see I am a retied Fire Officer which I would think would help them evaluate the quality of the information I have given, alternatively if people have no information in their profile it is harder to evaluate the advice given, that isn’t to say it would be any less valuable. As far as numbers of post go, this is to prevent people just joining the forum to start self-promotion without first being a contributing member and nothing to do with quality of the contributor.

I agree it’s difficult to have one size for all and most have recognised this and that’s probably the reason Justin has asked for our opinions, which is one of the other thing I like about EOS he involves the member wherever possible.

Phil

Personally, I still favour asking members to "donate" a sum of money to the site if they want to advertise in their signature and limiting those that do to one/two lines of text or whatever is appropriate. 

People who advertise in their signatures aren't generally all over the forum boards every day, so a one-off "donation" or payment is more appropriate than an advertising fee (although I can't comment on the problems EOS is having on the development forums because we haven't really experienced any such problems in ours).

If a member wants to place a link to a non-profitable organisation of any sort, they can contact EOS directly for approval.

But also still allowing those, who don't post just to advertise, to have little yellow birdies write their names!!!

In response to PGM -as i already stated perhaps allow some a cv "attachment" or the like as i agree it is important to know if one has an element of expertise, however to whom you allow this again opens a can of worms

Whereas I appreciate the need for advertising from a hosts viewpoint, it is my opinion that few regular posters post just to "seek gain".

As for yellow birds if anyone had the misfortune to see Britains got talent then a small yellow bird seems far less offensive on the senses than the ex dancer who stripped off!

It can be a bit annoying with people advertising all the time (by the way, did I tell you I now do garden paving?  www.IDOITFORCHEAPER.COM) but it generally seems many new posters who try to slide in the adverts hoping no-one will notice (I do on-line dating as well - www.idoitforcheaper.com) and hope they can get away with it.

Mind you, it's not half as annoying as the continuous thread drifts (that reminds me, saw a great website the other day www.idoitforcheaper.com) that pervade the boards.  That and the interminable Ryanair (think it must be up to over 100 different starter threads on this subject,......God but I hate that man,,,,,did I tell you about my site on www.idoitforcheaper.com where I can get you cheaper flights than Ryanair?) which popup up every other day.  A good search on the forum would avoid this and previous threads can be added to (I can show you how to do a search cheaply, just go to my website on www.idoitcheaper.com) rather than starting a new one all the time.

I think you're right, though.  Many of the "advertisers" choose the community forums to plug their services (see the services I offer your community on www.idoitforcheaper.com) whilst adding very little to the discussion.

By the way, love the panther, tweety, simpson, ape and many others (if I've forgotten any, you can see my apology on www.idoitforcheaper.com) and if you want to know how to add one just go to www.idoitforcheaper.com and I'll show you how.

By the way, site mods, if you think I may have over-egged this, just go to my site on www.idoitforcheaper.com and click the "the cheque's in the post" link.  And just in case you've forgotten.

www.idoitforcheaper.com

Great colour that, should'v'e gone to specsavers ..... whoops, sorry for advertising.

"Whereas I appreciate the need for advertising from a hosts viewpoint, it is my opinion that few regular posters post just to "seek gain"."

If posters don't do it to seek gain, then in logic they can't have an argument against discontinuing it.  And why is a newcomer who includes ads in his post a "leper" but those who have been doing it for a long time are the good guys? 

What's so wrong with those who want to advertise their services paying to do so in the advertising section leaving the rest of us to enjoy the general chat forums without these intrusions?

cant seem to log onto idoitcheaper.com for a paving quote! der

Maybe all: certain number of posts, good proffessional qualification and experience and a small fee before having the signature. This will leave just the serious proffessionals keeping up the work.

It would be no restriction but quality for the benefit of all

Best,

Maria

Its a tough one. I think the idea of a minimum number of posts would suffice, no one would seriously sit there and post 50 times unless they were genuinely interested in the forum. That shows some commitment and the signature does show a professionals interest - if people arent interested then they can just not click on! I dont get tons of enquiries just because my sites are on the base, and having links helps the website stay higher too of course!

I think having a limit before beng able to use the PM facility has stopped the spammers - I havent had a spam email for ages, so a limit on the posts Im sure will do it.

If a fee were taken, it would contradict the major advertisers on the forum and put people off from posting which is the main body of the idea.

You could dis-allow it for the development forum though!!!!

Keeping it small and not so in your face I do agree with, I personally find the flashing or moving avatars distracting, but then Ive never liked them on any website. I dont have a problem with anyone having them - free country and all that - Im just expressing an opinion

Love the post bobaol sort of sums up the problem in a way!

Thanks for all the feedback, I really didn't think there'd be so much, although I'm still not sure what to do about it now!

It looks like the 50 posts limit could be a goer and we limit the amount of text and highlighting that seems very popular (especially on the Condado de Alhama forum).

I agree that charging for it is not an option but maybe we start a charity donation option where we pick a charity and people can donate a small amount to it if they want to advertise their business in the signature.  Just a thought.

We'll have a good read through all the comments and make a decision soon.

Thanks for everyones input.

Justin

Hi all

I use to enjoy logging on to EOS, I found it useful source of information, but know detest trawling through the endless crap posted.

If businesses wish to advertise, their is a dedicated space on the site for them to use, which is reasonalby priced, wish I could get cheap advertizing in UK for same cost.

If you go down the road of letting people promote their businesses on the strength of the amount postings, this to me would only increase the mess the site is in!

If I require any services I am quite happy to go to the relevent page and see what is available, without it being pushed continually down ones throat.

Please EOS return to being usefull site of information.

Hi

If you visit forums where there's no facility to include a link to the poster's site the content is usually very limited. There's much to be gained from professionals who are prepared to give up their time to answer specific questions posted in threads, even if the poster does gain some exposure for their business.

The web has changed a great deal in the last 10 years. Nowadays an individual's web search is much more likely to concentrate on groups....in fact I'm usually more successful in finding the information I seek if I limit my searches to groups rather than using a general Google search (which will throw up sponsored links - pay per click - and businesses). Google make's a lot of money out of this, but there's a quality control risk for the user if they go with a sponsored link rather than one which answers their specific search question in detail and with authority. Searching via groups is especially successful when you're looking for niche information, such as much of what is to be found on EoS.

In summary, I believe that if you forbid links in the EoS forums the forums may ultimately suffer for a lack of content, but I am a firm believer that you should limit the font size of signatures. Providing the poster is writing good copy there's simply no need for them to use an oversized font or lurid graphics in their signature......in practice everybody knows that such a signature is really an advert

Hope that everybody that's read my posts on tax useful, and my signature inoffensive.

Thanks

Neil

'Persistant forum lepers who only go on forums to advertise!' & 'loads of newbies, just come on EOS to post drivel to get their business "seen" '

Loved your post, Bobaol. 
 

I wonder whether allowing signatures on postings only if they are relevant to the topic could be a way forward?  For example if a post is made requesting info on property in a particular area, then people offering services in that area are permitted to include their promotional signature in their responses, or questions relating to tax or financial issues can be replied to by people offering relevant services and include their promotional signature.  However if a more general chit chat type question is posted then really there is no need to include promotional signatures in the reply.  It would appear many forum members are fed up with the signatures and feel they get in the way sometimes.  If members are genuinely asking for help and advice though and other forum members are able to help as part of the business they are in, then surely the promotional signatures can be of help.

I wonder if this would be difficult for the website team to monitor though?