[POLL] LEGO Sales & Deals Forum - Member Exclusive?

[Toys N Bricks]

Featured Poll: December 6-12

This week's question is releated to our LEGO Sales & Deals Forums. Should we continue to keep the LEGO Sales & Deals Forum exclusive to only forum members? Or should we open it up so that everyone including guests can view it? As usual, comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

Should we keep the LEGO Sales & Deals Forum exclusive to members?
You may select 1 of the following 5 options

• Yes
• No

Thanks for the vote!

*You must be a registered forum member in order to vote. Registration is free & fast.

[vynsane]

Yes, it should be only available to forum members - there's no better way to convert casual browsers/google search hits into potential contributors.

[ncbarrett]

Since it is free and easy to join, no reason to take away the members only exclusives.

[Mantisking]

Yes, it should be only available to forum members - there's no better way to convert casual browsers/google search hits into potential contributors.

Since it is free and easy to join, no reason to take away the members only exclusives.

I agree with both of you.

[hardtravelinghero]

If you're going to keep Sales and Deals a members thing, make the navigation of the boards easier.

One thing with most of the main news items is the links to us to the general forums, but never the exact thread (topic) that we want. There are way too many threads (topics) for me to always find the right sale or deal that was mentioned on the home page, and I think I've been a member of TnB since July and I've posted frequently, so it's not like I'm internet navigation illiterate.

I teach college online and if I organized the course discussion board in such a way, many of my students would get lost and drop the course.

Please, if a moderator/reporter posts something, have a link to the exact thread.

[legitimatealex]

Yes, it should be only available to forum members - there's no better way to convert casual browsers/google search hits into potential contributors.

This is correct. Most of the new people who post seem to have the same back story of 'I was just here for the sales and deals, but then I saw this thread and I really wanted to share my thoughts.'

I second hardtravelinghero's comment though to make the front page link to the exact thread, although I think that this might be hard to do considering if you need to see something in the members only sales and deals section you need to be logged in already.

[ImmortalShark]

I second hardtravelinghero's comment though to make the front page link to the exact thread, although I think that this might be hard to do considering if you need to see something in the members only sales and deals section you need to be logged in already.

That's not difficult. A lot of sites will send you to the login screen and then redirect you to the page you tried to visit after logging in. This is a php base site so it's as simple as declaring a variable to hold the last page visited and then go back to that page after a successful login.

[Mantisking]

If you're going to keep Sales and Deals a members thing, make the navigation of the boards easier.

One thing with most of the main news items is the links to us to the general forums, but never the exact thread (topic) that we want. There are way too many threads (topics) for me to always find the right sale or deal that was mentioned on the home page, and I think I've been a member of TnB since July and I've posted frequently, so it's not like I'm internet navigation illiterate.

I don't bother with the front page. I just read the forums.

[hardtravelinghero]

If you're going to keep Sales and Deals a members thing, make the navigation of the boards easier.

One thing with most of the main news items is the links to us to the general forums, but never the exact thread (topic) that we want. There are way too many threads (topics) for me to always find the right sale or deal that was mentioned on the home page, and I think I've been a member of TnB since July and I've posted frequently, so it's not like I'm internet navigation illiterate.

I don't bother with the front page. I just read the forums.

I use Google Reader to follow the site. I don't know how anyone can actually keep track of anything without a Reader or a MyHomePage thing that Google, Yahoo! and others offer. There's simply too much. Plus, I'm not interested in all of the forums. I could not care less what others buy if all they are doing is informing us of their purchases without and critical information or commentary, such is if it was on sale or clearance, and where, etc.

[hardtravelinghero]

I second hardtravelinghero's comment though to make the front page link to the exact thread, although I think that this might be hard to do considering if you need to see something in the members only sales and deals section you need to be logged in already.

That's not difficult. A lot of sites will send you to the login screen and then redirect you to the page you tried to visit after logging in. This is a php base site so it's as simple as declaring a variable to hold the last page visited and then go back to that page after a successful login.

To some degree, you're speaking in another language. php? Yeah. I mean, no.

My problem goes like this:

The main page says:

SALE AT AMAZON, BOGO 50% Off! Click HERE to join the discussion.

I click THERE, whether I'm already logged in or not, and I'm brought to...

HERE index.php

I'm not dumb, I know to then click on SALES and DEALS, but then I get lost.

So then I have to attempt to figure out if this is a new Topic or an update on a new Topic, by scrolling or CTR-F and "Amazon" in hopes of finding more information about this current sale or deal.

By the way, Brickset has an update on Amazon's current BOGO.

[vynsane]

That's not difficult. A lot of sites will send you to the login screen and then redirect you to the page you tried to visit after logging in. This is a php base site so it's as simple as declaring a variable to hold the last page visited and then go back to that page after a successful login.

The forum software already does this when you try to access a section that is login-protected.

[Ice]

My problem goes like this:

The main page says:

SALE AT AMAZON, BOGO 50% Off! Click HERE to join the discussion.

I click THERE, whether I'm already logged in or not, and I'm brought to...

HERE index.php

I'm not dumb, I know to then click on SALES and DEALS, but then I get lost.

So then I have to attempt to figure out if this is a new Topic or an update on a new Topic, by scrolling or CTR-F and "Amazon" in hopes of finding more information about this current sale or deal.

You are correct.

For all LEGO Sales & Deals ("Share your LEGO finds in our Forums") articles, it redirects to the main page for the forum. All other news articles ("Click here to join this discussion" or "Click here for the LEGO Review") will redirect to the topic.

That's not difficult. A lot of sites will send you to the login screen and then redirect you to the page you tried to visit after logging in. This is a php base site so it's as simple as declaring a variable to hold the last page visited and then go back to that page after a successful login.

The forum software already does this when you try to access a section that is login-protected.

You guys are also correct.

The purpose why I made the Sales & Deals link to the main page for the forum is to make visitors have a look at our forum and to find out about the Sales & Deals forum themselves. (rather than direct them to a "log in" screen rightaway) I do understand the inconvenience for our members though.

But if you guys find this inconvenient and very hard to find the topics, then by all means, let me know and I'll change it in the future.

[hardtravelinghero]

My problem goes like this:

The main page says:

SALE AT AMAZON, BOGO 50% Off! Click HERE to join the discussion.

I click THERE, whether I'm already logged in or not, and I'm brought to...

HERE index.php

I'm not dumb, I know to then click on SALES and DEALS, but then I get lost.

So then I have to attempt to figure out if this is a new Topic or an update on a new Topic, by scrolling or CTR-F and "Amazon" in hopes of finding more information about this current sale or deal.

You are correct.

For all LEGO Sales & Deals ("Share your LEGO finds in our Forums") articles, it redirects to the main page for the forum. All other news articles ("Click here to join this discussion" or "Click here for the LEGO Review") will redirect to the topic.

That's not difficult. A lot of sites will send you to the login screen and then redirect you to the page you tried to visit after logging in. This is a php base site so it's as simple as declaring a variable to hold the last page visited and then go back to that page after a successful login.

The forum software already does this when you try to access a section that is login-protected.

You guys are also correct.

The purpose why I made the Sales & Deals link to the main page for the forum is to make visitors have a look at our forum and to find out about the Sales & Deals forum themselves. (rather than direct them to a "log in" screen rightaway) I do understand the inconvenience for our members though.

But if you guys find this inconvenient and very hard to find the topics, then by all means, let me know and I'll change it in the future.

I see your point about wanting to get new people to explore the site. The Sales and Deals is what brought me here. I don't even remember which if the other Lego sites made me aware of your existence, but I'm glad they did.

But what can be done to make it easier for oldies (and newbies) to find exactly what they're looking for? Can we, if not link directly to the specific Topic to which the news post refers, at least mention it by its specific name, word-for-word?

[anakinisvader]

Do you need to be a member to vote? Is there a poll about letting only members vote on whether or not only members are allowed to vote in the polls? ;)

[possum]

HTH, are you familiar with the unread post icon? While in a specific forum the icons to the left of the topic title are the key. There's a legend at the bottom of each forum page explaining what each means. What I do is make this site one that I visit maybe 2-3 times a week at minimum. When I log in (which is done automatically when I navigate to TnB), the colored icons next to the forums as well as the threads tell me what's new since my last visit. I've yet to see the new posts list exceed one page of threads. Combine that with the way they want us to title the thread with country, store, deal, etc and it's really pretty simple to find what you're looking for. The only way they could make it easier is if they emailed each pertinent deal to the appropriate person (which is ridiculous).

[hardtravelinghero]

HTH, are you familiar with the unread post icon? While in a specific forum the icons to the left of the topic title are the key. There's a legend at the bottom of each forum page explaining what each means. What I do is make this site one that I visit maybe 2-3 times a week at minimum. When I log in (which is done automatically when I navigate to TnB), the colored icons next to the forums as well as the threads tell me what's new since my last visit. I've yet to see the new posts list exceed one page of threads. Combine that with the way they want us to title the thread with country, store, deal, etc and it's really pretty simple to find what you're looking for. The only way they could make it easier is if they emailed each pertinent deal to the appropriate person (which is ridiculous).

I am, Possum, but again, there are plenty of Topics I am not interested in and the issue is finding the specific Topic in whatever forum there is some news item about. Sometimes the Forum Search is useful, sometimes it's too broad.

Right now I'm in the Sales and Deals Forum, is there some way to set it to view what's new here since I last logged in? I've searched and I'm not seeing such a thing.

What would be great, is if it's an online deal that there be a link directly to it (yes, I know TnB wants people to wander the forums), like for the Lego Atlantis Portal on Amazon for $69.99. While this one was easy to search for on Amazon as I've looked at it a dozen times fighting the urge not to spend money I don't have, I don't know if other reported deals come and go within minutes or hours, since when I check Amazon, I rarely see these discounts that get posted on the news pages.

I see, after about 36 hours up there, the Atlantis Portal is now $84.99.

[GuaranteedUnity]

Right now I'm in the Sales and Deals Forum, is there some way to set it to view what's new here since I last logged in? I've searched and I'm not seeing such a thing.

You can use the below link to search for unread posts in Sales & Deals.
Perhaps it's worth bookmarking? :D

search.php?search_id=unreadposts&fid%5B%5D=6

[Ice]

All new sales articles will now have a direct link to the actual topic. You can find the direct link next to "Share your LEGO Finds in our Forums" at the bottom of each sales article. Hopefully, this will make it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for.

[legitimatealex]

All new sales articles will now have a direct link to the actual topic. You can find the direct link next to "Share your LEGO Finds in our Forums" at the bottom of each sales article. Hopefully, this will make it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for.

It's already helping :D

[hardtravelinghero]

All new sales articles will now have a direct link to the actual topic. You can find the direct link next to "Share your LEGO Finds in our Forums" at the bottom of each sales article. Hopefully, this will make it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for.

It's already helping :D

I concur. Thanks for making the change to better TnB.