did cmfadmin get hacked

[the-royal-mail]

Not true. 40% do not care, which means their vote doesn't count because they said they didn't care. They are not intended to be used as a swing vote by one side or other. The remaining votes care one way or another and among those, the majority prefer it the old way. It became a democracy when the mod started that thread. "We will implement whatever policy members feel is appropriate."

[MoneyGal]

Hmmm. Well, I'm going to see if I can change my vote, then. I voted "don't care." What I intended that to mean was that the mods and site owners can do what they want with ads, including sponsored links.

[Spudd]

I also voted "don't care", meaning that as far as I'm concerned, the mods can do what they like with sponsored links. I would hate for this to become a pay forum, so if sponsored links help pay the bills, I'm all for them.

[CanadianCapitalist]

Not true. 40% do not care, which means their vote doesn't count because they said they didn't care. They are not intended to be used as a swing vote by one side or other. The remaining votes care one way or another and among those, the majority prefer it the old way. It became a democracy when the mod started that thread. "We will implement whatever policy members feel is appropriate."

You must be a lawyer TRM because that was not my intention nor the intention of most who picked the first choice based on the comments in that thread. "Do not care" means members are okay with sponsored ads with no restrictions. The next two choices become progressively more restrictive.

And I stand by what I said, we will abide by the results of the vote. But we may be having a Florida situation in our hands.

[FrugalTrader]

I'm willing to bet that most people want a free forum, I know I do, so sponsors are a way of life on the net for free services (ie. google, facebook, blogs etc). We have gone through extensive measures to ensure that signed in users see very few ads while reading thread content, I think that we are at a happy medium.

[the-royal-mail]

Well, there's a heck of a difference between "do not care" and "okay with sponsored ads with no restrictions". The former suggests apathy while the latter is much clearer. For this type of poll it would seem there should only be two choices, for the clearest results. Right now we have a slice and dice situation where "do not care" is treated as a swing vote. In that case, 81% are saying they only want ad threads in the general section.

Ads are one thing, but the way things are going at CMF right now, makes it look like commercial interests are infiltrating and influencing the forum, either by way of direct ads or subtle spam "plug" posts. This doesn't create an objective discussion environment.

[FrugalTrader]

Ads are one thing, but the way things are going at CMF right now, makes it look like commercial interests are infiltrating and influencing the forum, either by way of direct ads or subtle spam "plug" posts. This doesn't create an objective discussion environment.

I don't agree, if anything is sponsored, we have taken measure to clearly indicate them as "Sponsored" so that there is no confusion.

[humble_pie]

there is confusion with sponsored links that obviously come from moderators whom we know as individual persons, just like neighbours or family.

there is no confusion with ads so imho the forum should be paid for with real ads, not hybrid infomercials where the moderators are clearly accepting money to guide forum members towards certain products while indirectly discouraging them from identical other products that have failed to pop the shekels.

there are journos who are forced to promo their advertisers in their editorial content. Without exception, they loathe & detest this practice. It goes against everything in their professional guts. Editorial & advertising are not to be mixed, goes the mantra.

when izzy aspler took over the montreal gazette, a huge exodus of ethical journos quit because it would turn their stomach to have to follow the dictates of can west publishing.

when sports & other celebrities promo products, my respect wavers only slightly. But when journos corrupt their work to promo products, my respect does drop.

the moderators here are not faceless mega-billion google or facebook corporations that have penetrated inextricably into the lives of hundreds of millions of people. They are 2 clearly-identifiable professionals, husbands & fathers who live here in a very close community. I'd like to continue to trust their integrity. Ideally, i want to see editors & publishers with pristine standards. I want to see them selling real ads to advertisers, not hybrid personal promos that look unprofessional, homely & awkward.

look uptop. Nobody is reading the questrade sponsored link. That's why so many have voted Don't Care. The poll questions are skewed & the poll is not going to offer good guidance imho.

(aside to the moderators) i am wondering why you do not have smaller, less expensive ads than the big boxes, when smaller ads would look so nice & would provide much-needed visual diversity. Questrade could have bought space in such an ad for its freebie message, for example, just as bmo investorline has done for at least 2 years now.

the adbar on the home page could easily support 2 smaller ads below the single box ad that appears there now. Forum desperately needs some smaller ads for visual diversity imho. All those identically-sized big square boxes are somewhat monotonous to the eye. Could you not get your network advertisers to create some smaller ads. The present one-size-only format is far too rigid imho.

from the point of view of graphic design, the existing ads are totally beautiful. There's no reason for anyone to ever close their adbar. I keep mine open because i like the visual variety on the screen. Ok maybe i'm starting to get the tiniest bit weary of the lady who keeps her perky azz in trim by climbing stairs all the time.

(signed)
pie w advertising & editorial experience

[Four Pillars]

This doesn't create an objective discussion environment.

TRM, in all seriousness, you could start your own forums.

Can I suggest ThreeTiersNoQuoting.com?

[MoneyGal]

I'd also like to suggest OnlyBuffettQuotesPlease.com