Advertising rules

[Merlin]

One of the rules of my forum is that you must have 25 posts before you can advertise in the advertising section. But lately, I've had a problem with members posting ads (often in the wrong forum) before they have the required amount. Each time I lock the topic and remove the link. I've also tried several measures to make the rules more noticeable. I've added "READ BEFORE POSTING AN AD" to the title of the ad rules topic, and added "NOT FOR ADVERTISEMENTS" to the description of the User-Owned Forums Forum, where people usually end up advertising.

Any other tips? Also, I'm going to start cracking down harder on people to do it in the future. What should I do there?

 

[Murder he Wrote]

Well firstly I'd try to avoid using all-capitals. Because forums are completely text-based there's absolutely no way of telling what tone you're saying something in. All-capitals gives your guests / members the impression you're shouting at them which alone would make them reluctant to join.

Secondly, 25 posts is an awfully high post requirement to advertise on your site. Not saying anything is wrong with your site, the point is they could come to a promotion forum where the post count is requirement is typically 1-5 and probably get more exposure with the various services.

My advice would be to open it up to everyone with no post count requirements, or a very low such as 2-3 posts. Sure you'll get people who "hit and run" but at the end of the day who cares? At least you still get a member and an extra post. ~wink~

 

[CyberFreak]

When you say they are advertising in the wrong sections, what are they advertising?

It might be that they are spam bots or humans/bots which are becoming a quite big problem now.

 

[Merlin]

They're just advertising forums. And yeah, I guess I will move it down. How does 10 or 15 sound?

 

[CyberFreak]

If i was you i would go with 10. There is nothing you can really do to prevent people posting links where they shouldn't. However annoying it is you just have to accept it.

 

[socrboy24]

Yeah 25 posts is awfully high. Go with 10-15 and you should be good. Maybe lower if no one is posting or anything.

 

[CyberFreak]

Yeah as the forum isn't a dedicated advertising forum and activity is good i wouldn't set it too low.

 

[Rich Edmonds]

Yeah agree with what is said here, need to really bring that baby down especially as more and more forums are offering it as post requirement free.

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

Locking the topics and removing the links is a great thing to do as well. This makes an example of them.

Anywhere from 5-10 posts should be fine, no more though.

 

[Zenith]

For my site you only have to have 5.

 

[AnAccount]

If i was you i would go with 10. There is nothing you can really do to prevent people posting links where they shouldn't. However annoying it is you just have to accept it.

10-15 posts would be almost perfect. Then you know that they aren't just going to try to get the post count up just so they can advertise their forum. And I also agree about not using all capitals all the time.