Now that This one is going… it got me thinking that maybe I should add one or two more.
Maybe one where all those people looking for the quick script written for them could go to ask someone to do it for a fee.
I was also thinking maybe a “Swap/sell” forum where you could advertise trades or sale of equipment (or whatever) you have and want to get rid of. (I know… there is always ebay, but that’s such a pain in the a$$ any more, imho)
What’s the thought?
I think that these are good ideas.
One question I would have for the free scripts place is are you going to allow people to say - I will pay you x amount of dollars if someone develops this script for me? If so, just might have to be careful as you may get over run with businesses trying to advertise the services they provide.
I own my business of web/software development and I could see someone being a small business owner trying to get on a board such as that and advertising services.
Swap/Sell would be kind of cool. Just make sure there is something that keeps you free of any kind of litigation that may come out of a bad deal. Be that a post saying you are not liable for any… blah blah blah…
Just somethings consider before making it live. I think they both could be good ideas and may use them from time to time myself.
I think the general rules of the board should apply at all times, which include no advertising. Swap/sell could work, but you would still have to refer to a legal escrow/payment website since we cannot take the burden of handling sensitive transactions like money deposits by ourselves. Besides that, this is a public forum, anyone signing up could simply browse to the threads and find someone else’s paid-for script ready to be copy-pasted (unless of course, scripts are exchanged through email or PM or something, but that would pretty much defeat the purpose of PHPHelp I’m afraid). Just a few thoughts running through my head.
I agree with the no advertising (as far as companies coming in and posting direct advertising).
And my thoughts are just a “Friendly” Post that states something like. “I have an XYZ Computer with A, B, and C in/on it. I would like $500.00 for it. If interested let me know.”
From there you could deal with it in PM, email or even in the forum. When it’s done… Lock the thread.
This forum would NOT be responsible for anything other than being a meeting point. The arrangements would be made between both the parties. I guess I just kind of see it as a “Classifieds” for our community.
As far as payment goes, I would certainly recommend Paypal, escrow, or something similar, but again that would be up to the parties.
Were we to proceed with this idea, I would certainly have a disclaimer that would need to be acknowledged prior to being allowed to access the area.
Maybe instead of something like that in a forum, however, It could be done in a different area and just referred to from the site. I don’t know… I guess it’s just my ramblings of things to do.
Yeah, I guess like peg110 was thinking I was thinking it would more like a classified area. Here is my item and you can reach me this way if you are interested.
Alright … but how far would you like that to go?
“I have a doll house with 4 dolls in it, make your bids here”?
“Used Suburban for sale, low milage, call 555-1234 for info”?
“Get all your pills at the lowest prices, PM me for details”?
I’m not against the idea, but I can see this running out of proportions quite quickly. There will have to be well-thought-of rules for such a section.
I think we just need to watch for the 3rd option and delete it. That sounds more like a business ad than a classified ad.
I think if you can keep them to keep it as a classified ad, you should be alright.
"I have a computer for sale.
Specs:
1 gig
200 HDD
17" blah blah blah
$900 bucks.
Contact me via PM or call me at 555-555-5555 for more information or if you are interested."
If you keep them in the classified format I think it could be alright.
If nothing else you can always just set it up and run it for a few weeks/months. If doesn’t work delete it. I don’t know just my thoughts.
It could work, if we applied a strong moderation on it.
i think a section for those who need help wether paid or not could post what it is they need to sort out.
i would glady offer to pay said persons to help out with small problems and a section to offer this would be a great help.
so rather than let the people offering the paid work to advertise why not allow the customer to post what they need doing and leave the rest to prospective paid helpers to contact the person needing help.
I don’t know if you’re thinking in terms of fullblown projects, quick hotfixes or general PHP help like the type we’re giving out for free, but might I bring to your attention that there is a PHPHelp donation button at the bottom of each page? I’m not opposed to the idea of ‘services for a fee’ at all, but as with the eBay-idea of advertising and swapping (computer) products, there’d have to be some sort of moderation applied to keep things from overgrowing.