I was told that I had offended by posting an Inappropriate / Disallowed Post and that I had received a warning for the same. I visited my profile page and found that there were in fact TWO warnings listed there. Apparently my actions had resulted in great offense in some way yesterday, at 3:55 PM and then not satisfied with just one offense, it seems that I offended yet again a minute later at 3:56 PM as you can see below : Inappropriate / Disallowed Post Today at 3:55 PM 1 Dec 16, 2013 at 2:55 PM Inappropriate / Disallowed Post Today at 3:56 PM 1 Dec 16, 2013 at 2:56 PM Horrified at these dastardly acts committed by me, I clicked on the links for the two offenses to see what I had actually done. I was taken to an Error page for both of the said offenses as you can see here: Digital Point - Error You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action. So can you guys please let me know as to what, if any thing that I had done in order to receive the above mentioned warnings? Thank you for your time.
It would have been something deleted. The email you get when you get a warning will include the original message content.
I see that there was some of the text from a post made by me including "Please respond via PM." listed in the email. Is it an offense to request a response via a PM? If so, please can you tell me as to why that is so. Thank you for your time.
Back in the early days we'd get threads with page after page of people saying "PM me" and stuck in the middle would be feedback on the deal, often saying the guy was a scammer - and people wouldn't see it because all they saw when they scanned the page were people saying "PM me". Now we have a pretty simple rule. If you ask something in the thread you should expect an answer in the thread but if you know the answer will come via conversation/pm/email/skype then you should ask the question by the same means. The thread is then left clear for public updates, public Q&A and public feedback. Case Study https://forums.digitalpoint.com/thr...new-unique-report-never-shared.446025/page-93 104 pages Most posts are people making requests and the OP saying he'd sent copies (which they'd know anyway) In this case there are reviews and feedback on most pages but this thread would be lots, lots shorter if people had been obliged to request via PM (as they were called back in '07)
".......If you ask something in the thread you should expect an answer in the thread but if you know the answer will come via conversation/pm/email/skype then you should ask the question by the same means. I see your point. However, in the new and improved DP, it is not always easy to be able to find any details about a member, let alone PM a member. Do you agree?
I find it pretty simple to start a conversation. I click on your name, then click "Start a Conversation" As with any new system, the first time might be tricky but once you've done it once surely it's pretty quick and easy?
"As with any new system, the first time might be tricky but once you've done it once surely it's pretty quick and easy?" Yes that is true Sarahk, though my experiences in delving in to the secrets of the new and improved DP has almost never been quick or easy ! But surely the point is that since the current "PM me RULE" was a result of bad things long ago "Back in the early days we'd get threads with page after page of people saying "PM me" , in order to make it easier for the members TODAY, bad or unnecessary rules from long time ago can be deleted! Do you not agree?
Can you explain to me why you think we won't end up with exactly the same situation ie: pages and pages of posts that add nothing of value to anyone?
No I can not I am afraid, but that is because I question the very premiss here. "pages and pages of posts .... and stuck in the middle would be feedback on the deal, often saying the guy was a scammer - and people wouldn't see it because all they saw when they scanned the page were people saying "PM me".... " So may be the thing to be upset about here is the " feedback on the deal, often saying the guy was a scammer ....." and take to task such feedbacks without the details of the conversation! I am a buyer trying to contact sellers on DP. I believe that the problem here is that almost all of the the rules are based on the seller's and not the buyer's point of view. The system does work, if you spend a lot of time looking for the "secret" features which are aparently "obvious", but hand on your heart, you can not in any way call it truly user friendly.
Well I'm no usability expert but I sure the folks at Xenforo are always looking for ways to make their software better. There was never any issue with the quality of the feedback, it was just that it was drowned out by posts that served no purpose to anyone but the seller. If a post has such a limited audience surely it belongs in a conversation?
"If a post has such a limited audience surely it belongs in a conversation?" Not always so. Some times, it is important to be able to offer and counter offer terms which are only for the actual buyer and the seller. Just tried to contact the seller of PHPMDb - Movie Database Script 1.1 , an offer listed in the scripts section. There was no way to respond to the fellow on the thread! Why? I do not know. The chap had no doubt committed some heinous crime and as a just and proper punishment, was not able to get response to his offer on the thread, from any potential buyers here on the DP! So had to go and find his profile link and then to start a conversation by sending him a PM regarding the offer on his thread on the DP. All together according to the calculator on the laptop, it took 9 times longer than a quick request for him to send me a PM. What do you think that a usability expert would say to that about any business that regularly deals like this with the buyers visiting the site ?
It's two clicks to initiate a conversation from *anywhere*... click on anyone's username (for example in this thread)... That popup membercard has an option to "Start a Conversation". As far as why you couldn't respond to his "thread", it's because there IS no thread. Only a sales page where he offers something you can pay for what he's selling. Which is actually how most buying/selling works in the eCommerce world. Say for example you wanted to buy some bedding on Macy's (random sales page here). How would you expect to "respond to their thread", and even if it was a thread, do you really think they are going to write you back if you just posted, "PM me info"? Probably better to actually start a conversation with them so you can ask them what you want info about.
As it happens I do agree with you "digitalpoint", in case of a regular user of DP. But that is not the case if you have just joined and even if you have read the RULES! It took me a while to understand some (at least the one that I do know) of the secrets of the new and improved DP, because each time I questioned a new feature, all of the regular DP minions (along with some new volunteers!) were more interested in having a go at me and trying to insult me rather than accepting that I was trying to protect the interest of my clients, by asking questions which may have been "obvious" to every one but because I had not visited DP for a long while, were not obvious to me. Imagine then that a new member who arrives on the site, joins and then finds that there are lots of posts with offers and NO way to respond to them! Some of them may stay and spend the time and effort to find out as to why that was the case but in today's digital world, most would not spend the time. The profile link in case of those who are not able to get a response to their posts in their threads, is hidden up on the top right of the page, counter intuitive and against almost every study related to the eye movement on a page, which tells us that the eye goes from top left to the right bottom. Again I ask you, do you really feel that it is a user friendly thing to do?
I think you are confused about what the digital goods marketplace is. It's not a listing of offers that require going back and forth. It's products for sale for a specific price. If someone wants to buy it, they can. If someone wants to ask a question to the seller, they of course can do that as well, but stuff is not up as an "offer" as if it's some sort of negotiating system. As far as the more important stuff being on the left vs. the right, I completely agree... which is why it's set up like it is. It's more important to know WHAT'S being sold vs. WHO'S selling. The "who" is still available, but it's less important than "what", which is why it's on the right. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a marketplace that thinks the seller is more important info than what's actually being sold. If you do a mockup and move stuff around based on the author being more important than what's being sold, you end up with something like this: vs. how it is now... It just doesn't make a lot of sense... because WHAT is being sold is the most important bit of information on a sales page.
That is a very comprehensive response! I do have LOTS of reservations about the new and improved DP, but I have to give you kudos for the mega response