Is there a For Sale section here?

[Strumelia]

I can't find a place where someone could post minstrel banjo related items for sale here- is there a location I'm missing?  Thanks!

[Nicholas A Bechtel]

Good Question Strumelia!

[John Masciale]

There is a "classified category".  When you create a forum discussion, specify that it is a classified discussion category, and people will be able to sort / look for these types of disussions.  I was actually thinking of adding more categories, so that we can sort out the different discussions that we are having, and allow people to sort through different types of discussions.  What would be some good ones?  Certainly Strings, Resources, and Playing come to mind. Right now, virtually everything is uncategorized.  To see the different categories, you can go to the Forum tab, and select to view categories in stead of discussions.

[Strumelia]

John, I'm genuinely confused, so sorry....  what should I do right now if for example I wanted to go see what people here are currently selling?  What should i do to look for a used minstrel banjo or a used minstrel method book, and wanted to check to see if any of these items were currently for sale here by other members?  I've searched around before and I just can't figure out how/where to look here.  Might it be something to consider, to create an actual For Sale forum?

[John Masciale]

Ning provides a method of categorizing discussions that we are not using.  My suggestion is that we start using the categories.  Once we do, then it will be easy to go to forum, view by Category, and then look at the discussions underneath.  This won't work if people won't actually use the categories, and I don't have time to police every conversation and put in in the right category.  If people are willing to help out with this, then it will be easy.  Quite frankly, if you are trying to sell something, it makes sense when announcing that something is for sale to simply put that item in the classified category.  For instance, if you go to Forum, change View discussions to view categories, and then view the classifieds, you will see my book, and Joel's thimbles.  I would suggest that everyone trying to sell something should simply specify the category for their discussion be a classifed.

[Strumelia]

John Masciale said:  "To see the different categories, you can go to the Forum tab, and select to view categories in stead of discussions."

Oh, I see now.  John, I have to say I would never have figured that out in a million years if you had not given me specific instructions on how to find it.  Judging from the lack of recent activity on it, I suspect nobody else can find it either.

May I respectfully and humbly propose that an actual For Sale forum be created?   People would see it immediately.  They could post a new thread when they want to sell something or are looking to buy something minstrel-banjo related.  I would think it'd be a benefit to all members?   Better than us all depending on searching through BanjoHangout to look for used minstrel stuff.

[John Masciale]

There isn't a way to add additional forums that I can find.  I could create a tab under Forum that would show something, but that would be a management nightmare, only administrators can add/remove content.  It worked well for the resources tab, but I don't see how we can make that work for sale.

[Strumelia]

I see, yes.  I'm not quite explaining it correctly John- what i mean is- you can go to the site Manage section, go to Features, then to the 'Forum' tab, where you can set the forums to display by category, site-wide, by default.  This has worked very well for my mountain dulcimer site, and our For Sale forum is very active and working well- we even have a Hartel used Boucher for sale right now there.  There are rules about how it can be used, of course. I can send you a link to the forum section there if you like, so you can consider if you'd like to adopt or consider any changes ...or not!  It's just a thought.    :) 

[John Masciale]

Let's give it a shot, and see what feedback we get.  If people are unhappy I'll switch it back.