Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section!?

[Nathan Carter]

I noticed a quite recent trend here on this forum, one which I totally don't agree with. Admins are moving all topics related to 3rd party apps to a separate forum section named Classifieds(viewforum.php?f=9)

Topics like:
"UNOFFICIAL Vision App for Android (Distance, Speed, etc) v11"
and
"FPV Booster App DOUBLE Vision+ FPV Range"

The rationale behind such action is apparently because authors of those topics are selling and/or asking for donations. And admins here (now all of the sudden) decided to follow that rule so extremely strictly and blindly that with all due respect I must call it stupid!

If you follow the same rationale, then why not move all topics to Classifieds after all DJI is selling a drone to us and we are discussing it, but some money definitely exchanged hands it obviously must be in Classifieds!

Those two topics that have been moved had the highest view counts of all the topics existing here:
"FPV Booster App DOUBLE Vision+ FPV Range" had 89278 views
and
"UNOFFICIAL Vision App for Android (Distance, Speed, etc) v11" had 40006 views

the closest topic on this forum section to those two is:
"How to fix a vibrating / shaking / crazy P2V+ camera gimbal" with only 15211 views

This just shows how extremely popular those topics were. NOBODY here had a problem with those two topics. I'm willing to bet that really no one experienced them as SPAM. Quite on the contrary, it was the most popular subject for discussion here. Yes, one is about a paid app, and on the other one the author placed a PayPal donation link after numerous people practically begged him for it. But that is so irrelevant! Both of these topics contain such vast amount of precious information, discussions and experiences from different people using those apps. And now the admins decided to practically shut down and make all that wealth of data disappear.

Because lets face it, compared to this forum section, almost nobody checks the Classifieds section. That's the section where I would expect to find someone selling a Phantom... and not in depth discussions about great apps that exist for this platform...
For God's sake, I really don't understand this. It's not like 100 topics come up every day from numerous developers. It's so extremely rare and in my opinion is very welcome here, because it adds tremendous value to our products! Who cares if those guys earn few bucks. In fact I hope they do. They deserved it.

Tell me admins, what have you gained with this action?
- You demotivated the developers and therefor you are indirectly also hurting the progress of potentially great stuff for all owners and members here
- Someone visiting this site will never ever be able to find those two topics. Because no one would think to look in Classifieds
- You will create new work for yourself, because now every second day some new guy is going to come here and post a new topic asking "Did you see this app?" and then you will have to get in and refer to the dumped topic in the Classifieds section and lock that new one here.

Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm stupid. So please if there is one person here on this forum that hated to see those two topics here I would love to hear one reasonable explanation, WHY.

 

[IrishSights]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I dont really see the problem here to be honest. The number of views has absolutely nothing to do with the criteria for moving to classifieds.

If the OP is selling something then. Classifieds is the the place for the thread no matter how popular. However if the post is purely about a product, say a review or bringing it to the notice of the community then classifieds is not the place for the thread.

If the topic has been moved to the Classifieds by a mod then I don't see why a thread in the relevant forum shouldn't be created to point folk (or searches) to the Classified thread. Best of both worlds.

 

[PhilAnderson]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I'm with Nathan, here, and he explained it very well and in great detail. These are TOPICS not sales ads. I don't see any point at all in moving them to classifieds. I now visit here, less. Please, Mods, rethink this position and restore these threads to this group.

 

[tritontr21]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Agree with OP. Let them stay where we read, post and browse.

 

[PVFlyer]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Can't agree more with the OP. If they want to ruin their forum and lower the traffic, no one can stop them. I rarely post to the forum for months.

 

[flyNfrank]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

A lot can be said on this subject but one thing is for sure. ilovecoffee's thread should have not been moved. Nor should any other thread that does not have listed prices or mention you must pay a price for something. So what if someone has a donation link to buy someone coffee. No reason to penalize the thread and move it.

 

[flyNfrank]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Can't agree more with the OP. If they want to ruin their forum and lower the traffic, no one can stop them. I rarely post to the forum for months.

Sorry, but I totally disagree with your responding to this subject. Even though this is still considered a free website, you used this site to run your own business. You required the members here to pay for your apps. You ONLY ever talked about your own stuff. You never once contributed anything to anyone associated with this website. And to think you used the members of this site to R&D your apps that you made them pay for. I wont mention how many members were pissed at you about their quads. Bottom line is, you should open your apps up to everyone on this site and refer to your apps here as beta. If you don't want to do something like that, then you should reach into your pockets and get yourself a sponsor forum like others have.

 

[cougar]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I'm with Nathan, here, and he explained it very well and in great detail. These are TOPICS not sales ads. I don't see any point at all in moving them to classifieds. I now visit here, less. Please, Mods, rethink this position and restore these threads to this group.

Must say I completely agree with Nathan & Phil, These threads should NOT be in classified section since discussions are regarding usage and not focused on selling.
Classified section should only be for items for sale/purchase, not discussions.

 

[MapMaker53]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Totally agree. Those threads should be put back where they had been due to that fact that the apps are constantly being discussed, not sold. Definitely not a "selling" thread.

 

[erikgraham]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

How about a compromise.

Perhaps the owners of this site could create a sub forum within Vision+ for "Third Party Apps" or more generically, "V+ Classifieds". Obviously it should only have apps related to Vision plus. If other phantom models or products have enough justification, they too could get there own sub forum.

It will be a bit of a hassle for the makers of those apps because they will have to check around in multiple sub forums, but that's just the price they have to pay if they want to be active here. Meantime, for the rest of us it will be more convenient.

One last thought. There are certain apps that a huge percentage of us use. We know which ones (which one) that is. How about giving apps like that top billing on the top level of this site? Why should it only be DJI products that get to be on the top level of the site? They charge for their products too and their customer service isn't that great. Meantime, a lot of us are obviously using an app that is really great where the maker actively posts here.

EDIT: Are we even sure this is a new policy by the admins? Is the whole premise of the OP mistaken? There is at least one post by an app developer in the main thread that has not been moved to classifieds.

 

[dbfletcher]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Maybe we should all just add paypal links in our signature... that way all threads will get moved to classified and after a short while they can just rename "classifieds" as "Phantom 2 Vision + (Plus)"

 

[PhilAnderson]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Maybe we should all just add paypal links in our signature... that way all threads will get moved to classified and after a short while they can just rename "classifieds" as "Phantom 2 Vision + (Plus)"

I LIKE it! Lookin' for the Like button...

 

[Mori55]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I agree with original op. I would never look in the classifieds..put them back where they where they where.

 

[dbfletcher]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

And if you look at the current thread, ilovecoffee has removed the paypal links and made it very very very clear that it was not or will ever be a "for sale" item. Now it definitely makes no sense to be in the classified section as there is nothing about the thread that resembles anything to do with classified anymore.

 

[Mori55]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

This is the first RC forum where these types of threads have been moved to the classified section. Go to RCGROUPS there all in the multi rotor talk section.
I don't understand this type of thinking. Why can't it be discussed , but if you want to buy it go to the classified section. But I think this ridicules. I've learned and enjoyed a lot of those threads.
I think this forum is going down hill. I guess they just want newbies on here.

 

[sbarton]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

This is ridiculous. No way that thread should have been moved to classifieds. What is going on with the moderation of the forums? Its ruining a good forum. The intention of moderation should be to keep people here not push them to other forums. I'd hate to see that continue here.
Posts like those with such high posts count keep bringing people back to these forums on a daily basis. The more users the more advertising they get. Moderation like this not only hurts the author and users, but the forum owners as well.

 

[sbarton]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I dont really see the problem here to be honest. The number of views has absolutely nothing to do with the criteria for moving to classifieds.

If the OP is selling something then. Classifieds is the the place for the thread no matter how popular. However if the post is purely about a product, say a review or bringing it to the notice of the community then classifieds is not the place for the thread.

If the topic has been moved to the Classifieds by a mod then I don't see why a thread in the relevant forum shouldn't be created to point folk (or searches) to the Classified thread. Best of both worlds.

How is s providing an app for FREE ,"selling" something? ILovecofee made an app for himself, was kind enough to to share it with us, and even made changes/upgrades based on our requests. He never asked for money. After people started using it and really liked it, I and MANY others asked him over and over and over to provide a PayPal address so we could PayPal a voluntary donation. About a month after every one asking for a PayPal address he provided it. He has since removed his PayPal.

That is clearly not selling something.

 

[sbarton]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Maybe we should all just add paypal links in our signature... that way all threads will get moved to classified and after a short while they can just rename "classifieds" as "Phantom 2 Vision + (Plus)"

Or put a link to this thread in our signatures.

 

[IrishSights]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

I must admit I rarely visit the Classifieds forum. So I thought I'd take a look, learn and modify my thinking if necessary. I was quite surprised at how many threads there were where the OP was not 'I am selling/buying'. Some were just 'here is a good deal on ebay' type. Whoever is moving them, I think is just a bit over zealous.

If it is an poster with a buy/sell this is the place for it. Subsequent posts would demonstrate and confirm that thats what the purpose was.

Discussion about a product is something entirely different and should be in the main stream forums where more of us live. So in this case it should be in both, with the Classified entry having the 'sales' info and a post link to the discussion thread in the main stream forums. Sure you can have a super duper new SDK based app in the classifieds but user discussion should be elsewhere even though the orginiator interacts there too. This is all about engagement and betterment of the community not about getting a free ad.

I have seen many threads for example about various peoples choices of backpacks complete with buying links. They did not get moved to the classifieds and should never be. The opening post should determine if it should be moved and indeed some should be moved.

I suggest those who are really concerned about a mis-move should lobby ALL the mods of the forum. So I modified my thinking!

 

[Mori55]

Re: Topics about 3rd party apps moved to Classifieds section

Of course we will be getting the private message that we should be sending private message to the moderators instead of discussing here. Then this thread will be locked.
I wonder how many forum members even know about this thread ? I wouldn't I never visit the classifieds.
This really needs to change. This forum has some of the most over zealous moderators I have seen.
I have frequented RC groups since they began and I really don't evenn remember a moderator coming on. The members pretty much self moderated.