[Moderator David@stives]

Unless you have permission from Mike Boxhall and he has notified me that you have had permission, Suppliers are not allowed to put direct links to there products or websites.

[Nathanael Jones]

If someone asks a question, are members who aren't suppliers allowed to put direct links in their replies if it is genuinely relevant?

[Moderator David@stives]

If you read it says "suppliers are not allowed"

so the answer is yes within reason.

 if it is blatant plugs, then the answer is no.

[Clive McDonald]

I'm not anti any of this, although to start i thought it heavy handed. Now I notice there are less nuisance posts such as i build websites, i canvass rounds....

But i don't expect you were really after my approval anyway, which is also okay, as you only have to provide a good forum.One of my interests is strategy, or put another way telling others how to run their businesses. I thought it about time that i gave Mike the benefit of some of my knowledge.

Firstly I would strongly consider a two tier forum membership, the upper tier being paid for and providing enhanced benefits of forum usage.Moderators could then receive some recompence.

The advertising thing is okay in so far as it goes.

A paid for online mag might be a goer.

The online directory has too many catergories for window cleaners and is too expensive, so cheaper and simpler.

A forum suggestion box

[mark dew]

Firstly I would strongly consider a two tier forum membership, the upper tier being paid for and providing enhanced benefits of forum usage.Moderators could then receive some recompence.

Information from forums have definitely increased my earning potential as a window cleaner. But charging to use an online forum would i think just get people to seek and share info elsewhere.

Have you been approached to be a moderator by any chance? 

[Clive McDonald]

Strangely Mark, and this is probably  merely an oversight, but no I haven't been approached to be a moderator.(apart from someone called Manny who keeps emailing me)

Free forum membership would still be available, but extra benefits would be available for say £15.

I think it unlikely that this will be pursued so no worries. It may surprise you  that there are bits and pieces we don't know sometimes because people are reluctant to put up a considered post only for it to be jeered at.£15 members aren't going to risk banishment, and possibly a discussion could still continue with a more restricted participation.

There are quite a few reasons why people might prefer to pay.(and of course i think i know what they are)

[AuRavelling79]

Unless you have permission from Mike Boxahall and he has notified me that you have had permission, Suppliers are not allowed to put direct links to there products or websites.

You mean "their" products or websites!

 

Now stop it; no spelling Nazis allowed. Or I might mention it's Mike Boxall, not Mike Boxahall!

[Paul Coleman]

Unless you have permission from Mike Boxahall and he has notified me that you have had permission, Suppliers are not allowed to put direct links to there products or websites.

You mean "their" products or websites!

 

Now stop it; no spelling Nazis allowed. Or I might mention it's Mike Boxall, not Mike Boxahall!

You changed that just before I was going to post the Boxall version.  I read your post and it said Boxhall.  By the time I clicked "QUOTE" it said Boxall.
Thought I was going nuts for a minute there.

[AuRavelling79]

Unless you have permission from Mike Boxhall and he has notified me that you have had permission, Suppliers are not allowed to put direct links to there products or websites.

Not quick enough Shiner! And note that DM@SI has changed it but is still wrong!

I reckon he'll delete the thread now.... 

[matt]

discount, paid 2 tier forums allways struggle in the end

the reason : you get the " i paid 15 quid, so i am a better member than you " type of posts, alot like the " i earn 500 quid a day so i must be better than you " posts

i know ive tried it TWICE on forums, once it was a success for a while ( made the admin / mods a few quid aswell  , though to be fair, most ploughed it back into the board to help with hosting, this was back in the day when hosting cost real money ) but then the resentment started to take over

the 2nd forum the members just didnt want it, so it was scrapped

the only way it works is if its a " donation " type of thing, you get a icon to say " forum sponsor " this has allso been used and you get a few benefits, larger PM box, ability to use private area's of the board etc etc

[Clive McDonald]

Thanks Matt- as you can see i don't know a lot about some things and i thought the two tier was an original idea. I see now it's been done before.
The benefits for me would being able to control my post count for one. Currently you have to delete and rejoin to be zeroed.Anyone with a high post count needs to get a life, so they could disguise this.

When a disscusion gets interesting sometimes people butt in with no real interest other than to tell you you are an idiot or to call you or someone else names. This curtails disscusion.Earnings threads could be hidden for instance.

And yes there would be an element of being better than everyone else, but people already brag about guild membership.

Maybe paid members could have a say in admin and on occasion out vote mike, or censure a mod.

As you belong to several forums and this is my only one, what really defines a forum? for example what are the interest groups of forums you've been associated with?

[WCE]

And yes there would be an element of being better than everyone else, but people already brag about guild membership.

We don't brag about it!!! We don't think that we are some elitist group - If we did we wouldn't be asking people to join in fact the more the merrier. I suppose that the only way you would find out is to join......

Maybe paid members could have a say in admin and on occasion out vote mike, or censure a mod.

TBH I cant see Mike going for that - Why would he want to lose control of HIS forum I know I wouldn't be happy doing that.

[Chris B]

The two tier membership (paid/unpaid) still thrives for some unknown reason in the states, it may be that there is more of a "us and them" thing , i don't know, i do know that most info in the paid for sections are widely available anyway via google..... :

[mike townsend]

well i wont be paying it!!
scsf, cleantalk etc etc dont charge

[jouk45]

and lets just say this 2 tier worked, where would this leave the members that dont want to particapate in this venture, i will tell you, out in the cold, and they would seek elswhere to go, so what are you really saying, is it that if you go private, you dont have to dish out anymore free advice, keep all the best info and experience for the ones that are well established, keep all the newbies out,   ::)to me that is running scared, or is it just the credit cruch turning everyone mad,

[weetot]

I drive a boxhall van!!

[Nathanael Jones]

well i wont be paying it!!
scsf, cleantalk etc etc dont charge

Don't cleantalk use the profanity censor to remove the names of their competitors?

They did when I was on there!

[Chris B]

Yes i think your right nat they still do, scsf dont .. :

[Nathanael Jones]

Cleantalk is actually the reason my forum started. It was before I found out about CIU of course,.. but I was just soooo disgusted by their attitude and censorship of suppliers names etc that I decided to start my own.
The guys on their are great, and tried to help me a lot,.. but even their PM's arrived with big blank spaces where vital info was supposed to be!! I'm still banned from Cleantalk cause I got quite annoyed about it and ranted rather too much,..