Mary to add forum!

[FitBoop]

I would prefer to see consumer ratings on her site, rather than a forum.

[marya]

Originally Posted by sweatie

I don't know if this is good or not. Forums attract spammers and other "trolls." Is she going to be able to moderate that forum? I hope she's given some thought to that.

I've been so impressed by the lack of spammers on VF--how does Wendy manage it?! The Collage Forum was hit almost every week, it seemed.

Does anyone remember those tongue-in-cheek "magic" votive candles that trendy stores carried in the early 1990s? There was one labeled something like "Potent Spell to Banish Telemarketers". We now need super-potent spells to banish spammers and hackers.

I think having a forum (if that can be managed) will further enhance Mary's business. She doesn't run it all by herself, does she? (I'm a newbie to Mary's site--still exploring. Haven't found the clips yet.)

[Eibhinn]

Originally Posted by marya

I've been so impressed by the lack of spammers on VF--how does Wendy manage it?! The Collage Forum was hit almost every week, it seemed.

I think having a forum (if that can be managed) will further enhance Mary's business. She doesn't run it all by herself, does she? (I'm a newbie to Mary's site--still exploring. Haven't found the clips yet.)

I think Wendy explained on another thread that the accounts are all approved manually, including checking the IP address against lists of known spammers. There are also set-ups like limiting how quickly you can search (only once per 30 seconds) and making it slightly more difficult to post reviews than it used to be, all in place to discourage spambots. I've been a member of VF for 9 years, and lurked for several years before that and have never seen a single spam post in all of that time. I have seen some people posting under false pretenses trying to do "guerilla marketing" but VFers are generally pretty good at spotting a shill (admittedly too good sometimes and we scare away new people who actually are just REALLY into a particular workout system).

I think Mary at least sometimes has someone else working for her, and I know one time there was a small mistake with my order because she went away for the weekend and her son took over, but for the most part I think it's a one-woman operation. I'm not really sure about that, but it's a pretty small operation. I'm pretty sure Mary is some sort of superhero.

[twinkletoes]

Originally Posted by Eibhinn

I think Wendy explained on another thread that the accounts are all approved manually, including checking the IP address against lists of known spammers. I've been a member of VF for 9 years, and lurked for several years before that and have never seen a single spam post in all of that time.

I was just gonna post that - in the "welcome" thread Wendy said, "I approve all new accounts manually, and I check them in several ways against spam databases, so there is often a delay. This is a measure to prevent those spambot accounts from being able to post, and it has generally worked well for us to keep spam off the board, even if it does take some time."

That's awesome. And must be time consuming for her. Thank you Wendy!

[Taramisu]

Originally Posted by Eibhinn

What with her constant availability through online chat and lightning speed packaging and shipping or orders, I can't imagine she'll have the time to moderate a forum as well. Hopefully the community will be able to step up with some volunteer moderators or something.

This was exactly my thought. I guess time will tell.

[deesharee]

Awesome!

[marya]

Originally Posted by Eibhinn

I think Wendy explained on another thread that the accounts are all approved manually, including checking the IP address against lists of known spammers. There are also set-ups like limiting how quickly you can search (only once per 30 seconds) and making it slightly more difficult to post reviews than it used to be, all in place to discourage spambots.

I think Mary at least sometimes has someone else working for her, and I know one time there was a small mistake with my order because she went away for the weekend and her son took over, but for the most part I think it's a one-woman operation. I'm not really sure about that, but it's a pretty small operation. I'm pretty sure Mary is some sort of superhero.

Wendy and Mary are both too awesome for words!

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by marya

wendy and mary are both too awesome for words!

+1!

[susan p]

Mary is a brave soul.

[FirmDancer]

Kudos to Mary. But I don't see the value of another fitness forum. (I realize others have commented on the wish/need for a smaller, more intimate forum - but my brain can't figure out what that means.) I'll stick with VF and I hope the new forum doesn't pull people away from here.