JackOlsen

Am I missing something? It seems that a really well-organized system has taken a big step backwards. I now have to sift through ads for models I'm not interested in, and jump to more than one area to see ads. Is this a temporary change?

MichaelW

I agree with Jack. The new Classifieds section IS lousy. With 2 mouse strokes I could check all the used Porsche rims available. So, far I have yet to figure a quick way to find Porsche specific rims. Please change the format back to the way it used to be.

Thanks for letting me vent.
Michael
87 Targa

Mark Fig.

I agree...the system is not as "user friendly" as it use to be.

Thom Fitzpatrick

While I support the concept of '(rennlist) membership has it's priveleges' it's a bit of a PITA to add an item to the new classifieds; a simple review and tweakage of the posting mechanism would help that, and I've already made this suggestion to JD.

Since the ratio of non-members to members is so astronomical, it will be difficult to get the critical mass needed to get a good amount of listings in the members-only section. In addition, the members are posting to both the private and public spaces, which makes the private listings simply a subset of the pubic ones.

The only leverage to the private listings is being able to upload pix. The difference between then would have to be more substantial to achieve the goal of enticing rennlist subscriptions.

Reg

My screen is set at 800 x 600 as I have a small monitor and I DID NOT SEE the bottom part of the new page.

I just took the top six options as the only options. I know it was stupid of me not to scroll down but I'd bet there are alot more stupid people out there!!

Keeping things simple, clear, and easy to navigate is always a good idea!

tyler

I majored in Information Technology and no where in my classes did I learn to change something that was working fine, or add more confusing stuff to that web page. Simplicity is great and easy especially when you can navigate a lot of territory in a quick amount of time. I have sold my car parts from a car i stripped through rennlist and it was easy. I tried to buy better t-bars for the race car at the same time the change was made, I can not find the same ads as before the change So I called EBS and bought all new stuff, it was much easier. I hope that changing the board doesn't lose too much business, as I have given up on the classifieds. If I paid to be a member I would be upset that I wasn't getting as much traffic. I don't pay rennlist anything so I am not complaining to them, just my thoughts on something that I felt was the best Porsche resource out there.

Tyler

Dan Rufer

Before the Rennlist change, I would check the Classified section more than once a day; it was the very best Porsche classified site I had every found. I really looked forward to seeing what new 911s were posted each day. And now with the change, I have very little interest checking the Member Section and then the general come-one, come-all section. It's sad!

John D.

Hi All...

I'm listening - and appreciate the comments back. Before I change anything else (again ) though - please pop over to the other major Classifieds site on the Internet and browse the ads - and let me know how you think the Rennlist classified sections (both old and new) compare....

The PCA Classifieds.....

Thanks!

Kevin

I tend to agree with most of the posts on this subject. I would intially check the classifieds before jumping to the forums, my excitement is less since the change. John we understand what you have done, in no way are we, well myself taking for granted this board, and the service that you are providing. It is top notch.

Thom Fitzpatrick

Hey John, I have an idea to put more 'value ad' (pun intended) into the classifieds for members vs non-members - an auction! Make a simple ebay-type auction w/o fees or low fees. That way people get the benefit of an auction without whoring themselves out. You've already got the user-auth part done, you just need the auction part of it! Auctions work great for items that you're not sure what the value of.

993chaz

I agree with the majority of the posts, I would religiously look throught the classifieds daily. Now its a hassle! Marking items to look at? Im not sure I understand the concept.

Bill H. Sarasota Fl

What is there about the new classifieds section that makes it so non user friendly? The change was done for several reasons one of which was to allow John to merge the Thalist Dealer to Dealer Network's Classifieds with those of Rennlist. There are even more quality ads being posted to the new site because of the addition of the 170+ Highline and Classics dealers to the mix.

Yes they are not as large as the old Rennlist classifieds but then it has been on line only 2 weeks and is growing steadily in content. Something that should benefit those that used to enjoy looking through the Classifieds.

As for Member only posting to this section, well membership should and does have it's rewards if you are wanting to post a vehicle or part to the new Classifieds.

Thalist advertises for retail buyers to visit their site and on that site is a link directly to the new classifieds section for them to search through. The 170+ Dealers of Thalist also look through these posts and may find something they want as well.

All John did was set up a new section that members can benefit from additional outside exposer for their ads. What is wrong with him requiring a person be a Rennlist member to post to it. Anyone may visit it looking for something so the exposure has not decreased but actually increased for the new classifieds if you factor the Thalist.com contribution.

For those not familiar with Thalist.com you may be interested in knowing that John D is a partner in that web business which has become very successful working with dealers across North America. Yet he has worked very hard to build Rennlist for the Porsche enthusiast and it has never paid it's own way, and probably never will, but that has not stopped him from busting his rear to make it the very best it could be.

How about more support and less complaints, John deserves every bit of the support Rennlist participants can give him and not one bit of the compalints I keep reading. IMHO

Thom Fitzpatrick

I think you missed the point of the previous complaints. There are additional hoops to jump thru to get to the members-only section, but there's no pot of gold when ye' get there - the same ads are on the public site as well as the private. The additional exposure becomes irrelevant, as everyone will just post to the public and can skip the private, without much, if any, hit on exposure. The hoops can be programmatically reduced - the setting of cookies is a good start.

I understand the intention of the private section to be to entice people who were previously non-members to sign on so as to get to the 'good stuff'. But in reality, it's pretty much the same 'stuff' on either side. For the retailer/dealer stuff, I don't think there's a lot of leverage there to entice people to subscribe just to get to that. The unwashed masses (non-members) can't see what's there, so they don't know what, if anything, they're missing.

In short, I don't think the private classifieds are a compelling reason to join in and of themselves. Analogy: If I can read the major newspaper stories on the 'net for free, why would I pay for a hard-copy subscription? For the coupons? For the money I'd make recyling said papers?

John D.

Hi Thom,

Now I don't understand what you are saying.?? Are you saying that only Members can even see the Member ads?? In fact, as you know - anyone can see either/both sets of ads, but only Members/Sponsors can put NEW ads into the Featured Section...??

As an FYI - there are approximately 120 new ads each day to both sets - up from an average of 60-70 ads when we had only the Public Ads. Also, daily page hits to the ads has risen from approximately 15,000 visits a day to now about 19,000 (depends on the day, though - these are weekday averages..).

richard glickel.

Bill H.,

Sorry, but this isn't about complaining. I really enjoy this web site and I think J.D. & Bill Gregory have done a superb job with it. I would help these guys out in a heartbeat.

I'm sure also, that a lot of work went into the switch; still, I must agree with the other posters on this thread, I too miss the old Rennlist classifieds format. This isn't simply an expression of one's natural resistance to change. On average, I would check the old classifieds once a day; now, I hardly care to look. I am familiar with most of the other Porsche or luxury classifieds, and always felt that the former Rennlist adds were superior than ALL of the others.

I, for one, would welcome a return to the previous format.

Richard
'87 Carrera 3.6L