Styleforum Moving to New System! - Page 5  

J and I spent a goo part of the day on the phone hammering out last minute details. We are going to let a few more people on tomorrow, and then there there will be a general rollout on the 13th. After that, Pete and I will be in NYC, along with some new writers you've seen only on the better blogs, so far.

So excited to hear this!

WDYT WAYWRN is/was/will always be for?

That's great.

Fantastic improvement. This site is so much faster than it used to be.

Super

5 more days... wow.

PM if you have time for drinks.

C'mon, Reeve! Post a fit so we can see how it stacks up to Mike. This is taking forever and you keep promising and promising...

Are you insinuating that Reev is waiting for the new system to christen the first post with his pics?

Can we have multiple items in one classified, if the items are similar? Say, like 20 pairs of different cufflinks all priced the same.

+1; this is great news for SF.

Right now, no. But I'd like to make an exception to the one listing/one item rule for accessories like scarves, bracelets, and of course, ties. I'm discussing this with the development team (so, the "number available") would be a field, just for accessories. This would alleviate the issue of having to post 100 ties all at $30, for example, and I understand that.

This partly addresses my concern with the (new, exciting) software. I too sometimes list many items of the same category (like ties), or many items of the same brand, or the same item in multiple sizes. All these have been aspects of forum sales I've done over the years, like those of APC, Truzzi, Incotex, J Press and other labels, and now many are aspects of my Flusser sale now in progress. I understand (I think) the searchability virtue of the basic one-item-per-listing version of the new systems, but I hope y'all can engineer it to accommodate the way I and others sell here. One other question: What will happen to the current B&S listings when the forum switches over? Will they be grandfathered? Or will they go offline?

Thank you.
That would be great.

We want to make the forum searchable and browsable by item, rather than by thread. I know that this is a novel concept, and one that will require some getting used to. However, item-by-item listings are a lot cleaner and easier to look through threads, though that is what we are used to. Forum software was never designed with B&S of any sort in place, and so, understandably, it is cumbersome, though we've all gotten used to it. Nearly all commercial sites list by item, and for good reason. That said, I think that dutch auctions are acceptable (i.e. identical items, same price), and I think that for some categories, I'd be willing to stretch the definition to include similar items selling for the same (relatively low) price. Why ties and bracelets but not belts, you ask? Well, it's a judgement call, but one that is pretty easy to understand. If you are selling 2 Patek Phillips, unless they are identical, you're going to have to use 2 slots for that. I've put in a question to our developers about that. That said, it would be breaking the rules to keep on updating that tie thread with new ties, adding pictures, etc... We'd be relying on the community to police itself and to inform us of people trying to game the system. As you've all seen, we've had to clamp down on things because of some bad apples. If the community wants us to give a little leeway about things here and there, it will also have to be responsible for reporting posters who are doing things that could ruin things for everyone. We will be tinkering with the system for a while to get to working smoothly, both technically and in terms of what will be allowed, and what not. We still do like the idea of a "bazaar", which consolidated threads essentially are - something akin to an Ebay store. I've sent our development team a question about this, and I'm thinking of a short term solution (such as allowing links within listings to a poster's other B&S listings). I should note that nearly all of the system gaming is on the MC side of B&S. SW&D people tend to behave much better. So, it's on you guys to tell your sellers to smarten up, and to report any deliberate machinations immediately. We will make examples of them. Right now, the penalties written up are: penalties for infractions will range from fines of no less than $500 to a permanent ban with no possibility of return.