Hello, New/Old Lurker here. Trying to get access to the classifieds!

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People just getting their posts in so they can access the classifieds, then they’ll drop off again once their access is restored. Check the number of threads that are mysteriously back from the dead by members who haven’t posted in a while.
 
Ben7 said:
People just getting their posts in so they can access the classifieds, then they’ll drop off again once their access is restored. Check the number of threads that are mysteriously back from the dead by members who haven’t posted in a while.
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They will be severely disappointed. I've already said it a million times; access is NOT based on number of posts. It is NOT based on registered time on the forums. It's not me or any person going in and giving people access. It's an algorithm that runs a process nightly that automatically grants access by taking into account several factors, among them:

  • Number of posts
  • Time registered on the forum
  • Frequency of site visits
  • Topics created
  • Replies to existing topics
  • Posting frequency
  • ...and a few others

It also ignores several things (or even counts them as negatives for gaining access if someone is trying to 'game' the system) and can auto-add a delay to being able to access the classified forums even if you meet all the thresholds if the system detects behavior that's trying to game the system:

  • Low quality replies (think, replies like "Ok", or "Cool", "bump", "I agree", etc...)
  • "Necroposting" replying to a very old topic to bump it
  • Multiple 'shorter' replies to one or more topics in a very short amount of time
  • Posts in certain forums
  • ...and a few others

Further, access isn't permanent. It's not a threshold that once you reach it, you permanently have access. If you fall below a certain activity level, you can lose access to the Classified Ads as well. It does take into account that people will sometimes take a hiatus from online life or visiting the site on occasion. But understand that the way the auto-access works is that you can lose access for not continuing to participate and contribute.

That means that you can go from having access one day and then losing it the next, or vice versa. Note that this isn't a hair-trigger - it has to be obvious that a user is trying to 'game' the system in some way (yeah, it is obvious when a user tries - I can see several who have already tried) and if so, it will significantly increase the time it takes for that user to gain access to the Classified Ads. It also has to be fairly extreme to lose access.

Here's an example illustrating that point using only ONE of the metrics it takes into account: if a user finally gets access to the classifieds and has been posting about a dozen times a week and then drops down to averaging one post a week despite visiting the site at a similar frequency when the user was posting much more often, they will eventually lose access to the classifieds if the trend continues for a certain period of time and have to start over to gain access.

Again, this site is not a Classified Ad board. It's intended to be a community of like-minded firearm enthusiasts who want to discuss firearm-related things online. The Classified Ads and other forums are provided as an additional benefit to those individuals. I am not interested in users trying to use AZS as "Backpage Lite" or solely as a mechanism to buy, sell or flip firearms or related items. If that's what you are seeking, there are many other places you can use.
 
Thanks for the clarification, that does help to understand the method. I hate to bother asking but what would happen if a user had a ad listed but lost access? Is that post still visible to allow questions to be answered when others posts are not? Just wondering if it’s going to impede a possible transaction if one was to loose access unexpectedly. Granted most should be using the pm function but general questions may not make It to a pm first.
 
Outside this initial 'implementation' timeframe, users would rarely lose access between posting an ad and it selling in a reasonable timeframe.

But if you're asking about users who used to have access but just now lost access, provided that they have not changed the default of being notified via email of replies, they will still get the email about a reply that has the username of the account who replied - but generally, users will send PM's which has no bearing on any of this.
 
knockonit said:
deadshot556 said:
So what is the actual criteria to gain access? Where is it written? This new version is trash compared to the old site. Strange that we all lost all our credentials from the previous site
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if you read the threads you'd get it, has nothing to do with old site, just happens to have a similar name, the old site died, done gone, no recovery,

reading is fundamental to not asking stupid freaken questions.
join in the fray and find out
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I have always been a reader/lurker. I never post much because I feel that I don't know enough to speak proficiently about most topics. I enjoy reading the topics and learning but life gets in the way and I never have enough time to shoot let alone post questions that often have been asked before. I tend to search through the forums and find a lot of my answers so I don't feel the need to bother the members with repeated questions.

I will try to be more active on this forum and hopefully I can be active enough.
 
mtuck said:
knockonit said:
deadshot556 said:
So what is the actual criteria to gain access? Where is it written? This new version is trash compared to the old site. Strange that we all lost all our credentials from the previous site
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if you read the threads you'd get it, has nothing to do with old site, just happens to have a similar name, the old site died, done gone, no recovery,

reading is fundamental to not asking stupid freaken questions.
join in the fray and find out
Click to expand...

I have always been a reader/lurker. I never post much because I feel that I don't know enough to speak proficiently about most topics. I enjoy reading the topics and learning but life gets in the way and I never have enough time to shoot let alone post questions that often have been asked before. I tend to search through the forums and find a lot of my answers so I don't feel the need to bother the members with repeated questions.

I will try to be more active on this forum and hopefully I can be active enough.
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That was basically the same for me> Dont like arguing with internet geniuses. I will try more now and what not. lol
 
tjc444 said:
deadshot556 said:
So what is the actual criteria to gain access? Where is it written? This new version is trash compared to the old site. Strange that we all lost all our credentials from the previous site
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Hey deadshot556, I think I remember that screen name from the old site. I'm pretty sure I bought some POF stuff from you way back in the day. I could be mistaken though.
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LOL, possibly. That was quite a few years ago.
 
I got the notification and instantly said WTF so I came researching to see what the deal was. I do get the change but it does kinda suck when I already had been trusted with access then removed. I always like buying from members here and previously on the other forum but I have never posted much. Even on the old AZS forum I did not post much. I like to have a meaningful post if I do and alot of times I will simply follow along and read instead of posting just for the sake of posting. I registered a while back and pop in from time to time to see whats new since the traffic has been slower on this site I didnt check daily like I used to. Hopefully traffic and participation goes up in the future. This really is a great gun forum and one of the very few Im members of.

Thanks for keeping up with the work of a forum Admin, I have done it and its a pain in the ass and you can never please everyone. I do like that the classifieds are somewhat restricted since it weeds out the nonsense and builds trust in who your buying or selling too. This was one of the best things about AZS back in the day. So keep up the good work man
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I too feel your pain being a member from day one and now having the rug yanked out from under me.
But I see the other side as well.
I admin in a car forum and we battle the same issues with hit n run for sale posts. You can't please everyone all the time. I guess I'll have to do the needful as well.
 
I'm not happy to lose privileges, and I haven't even logged in here in over 2 weeks (just busy with new job & life), but I hope this results in more conversation in the forum. I used to be more active on the old forum but this one felt like it never quite got off the ground. So I admit that I mostly come here to check classifieds for a good deal.

I'm not much of a gun seller though, just a gun buyer. I can count the guns I've sold on one hand, and the guns I've bought on... wait a minute, who is monitoring this forum? I don't own any guns.
 
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