Quoted from ForceFlow:Additionally, I noticed that a fee is required for starting a forum topic as well. Personally, I think this is a bad idea, especially when there is a new poster with a questionable (or possibly scammy) ad. It's helpful for others if someone brings up the fact that it doesn't pass the sniff test. Charging a fee is a barrier to entry there. I think creating a forum thread should be free and by default. Yes, it helps the seller advertise. But--it also helps potential buyers quite a bit. For example, in one FS thread, I recall someone stating that a game was complete, but someone else pointed out that a part was missing--not everyone would have caught that, and the seller probably wasn't even aware that the part was missing.
This fee is only required for non-supporting Pinsiders. The idea is that this will actually give spammers much less visibility as they won't be able to use the forum. Note that before the update having your ad placed on the forum was also optional.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Now that you're charging a fee, the expectations for a "perfect" bug-free experience will probably increase. Whereas before, a certain about of bugs/errors/missing features were tolerated. For example, I see that images with a vertical aspect ratio are still squashed when you click on the thumbnails. Additionally, you still appear to have no control over what order that images appear in an ad. To me, those are fairly significant bugs and not acceptable if you're forcing a fee to be charged.
Good points and we will certainly look into this, but I think that the most important aspect for sellers is if their item sells for a good price, right? And we're only charging if the item sells, there is no fee for listing an ad. So there is no reason not to list your item.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I always liked seeing who liked certain posts. It gave idea on what tips/ideas held more water than others. For example, if there was a post about a particular repair technique, it was helpful to see that repair guys or electronics experts liked it--or didn't.
You can still see who likes your posts (left bottom of the post). As for the post quality rating, the reason we made this anonymous is that people can participate without having to worry about what other Pinsiders might think about that opinion.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I always thought downvoting had its uses. For example, if someone was providing bad advice (intentional or otherwise), folks could see that there was something wrong with that post if it had a thumbs down. For example, if someone suggested a repair that would actually cause damage, it is useful to know that immediately on that post that there is an issue with it. Or, if someone was expressing a rumor or unpopular opinion, it was helpful to see downvotes on those as well.
True, but this can now be done using the post quality rating tool. Actually, your example is a perfect user case for it. Note that the like tool (left bottom of the post) should be used to agree with a poster (subjective), while the post quality rating tool should be used to rate a post (objective).
Quoted from ForceFlow:Good idea. However, it might be a better idea to have a one-line disclaimer, rather than multiple lines so it doesn't take up as much space. In a few posts, I've seen this disclaimer take up more space than the actual content of the moderator's post.
It *is* a one-line disclaimer, right? On mobile it can be a bit big, we will look into tweaking this.