Your Feedback Needed: A Plan for Old Sales Threads

[Zpher]

Option 1 for me!

 

[Partepechos]

I choose another option. What if you can put something to tell all users that is an old thread and archive it or lock it?

 

[xReminisce]

Hey everyone,

As our Marketplace grows, we always look for ways to improve everyone's experience. Lately, we've been thinking about how best to handle very old/archived sales threads from months or even years ago—specifically, the contact/ Call To Action (CTA) bit of the opening posts of archived Sales Threads. This has been suggested before, and we listen to those suggestions and review what the impact may be of any changes.

Important: Before voting, please consider the problem we're trying to solve from every perspective—a seller's, a buyer's, and the community/visitors' perspectives. Put yourself in their shoes and decide what's best for the Marketplace, the community, and non-members, i.e., those who don't have an account yet but buy services from the marketplace.

The problem

We've noticed that old Sales Threads can sometimes be confusing or contain outdated/incorrect contact info. They also detail services that may be defunct or no longer working, which is unfair for those who actively maintain their service to keep their business and visibility going.

We have had the removal of contact details from expired/archived sales threads on our agenda for a while, and it has been suggested more than once. This includes any sort of Call To Action—website, telegram, teams, email, phone numbers, etc.

The goal

We aim to make the Marketplace safer, more transparent, and fairer for everyone by clearing up archived Sales Threads. To do that, we’ve come up with a few ideas, and we’d love your feedback before we move forward.

Note: We also have a plan for Calls To Action in bump posts, but we won't touch upon that here. Just keep in mind that we already have a plan for that.

The options we're considering

Option 1: Replace Old Sales threads Opening Posts' content

We would edit the first (opening) post of very old or expired sales threads. This means swapping the entire content of the opening post with a notice saying the sales thread is archived, and adding a link to the destination forum where the sales thread is located so that viewers can find similar active services.

PROS	CONS
Keeps the valuable discussion and history in the thread	The follow-up posts would still contain CTAs (i.e., contact details and website details).
Removes the risk of members/viewers contacting an inactive or unrelated seller	Members who don't read the first post, explaining the thread closure, may still contact the seller to receive an outdated service or one that isn't available from that seller anymore.
It also helps redirect everyone to our active and approved services and sellers who support the community.
Preserving the integrity and value of paid memberships
Improves the integrity of the Marketplace and the forum in general

Option 2: Delete all archived threads, including content & posts

The URL of the archived sales thread would still remain accessible (so, it won't be a 404 page), only the content would be replaced. We'd replace the opening post with the current stickies from the same destination forum (Note: this post would always be up-to-date with the current stickies). This way, the active sellers would get even more exposure for their services.

PROS	CONS
Ensures only current services and sellers receive visibility.	Losing the history of the sales thread entirely (opening post + conversation posts, reviews, etc.)
No contact details/CTA for potential confusion.	SEO Impact [deleting thousands of pages - something we'd look into]
No free advertising for members with old/defunct services.	If there's a dispute case against a seller, you cannot find contact details without contacting our Support.
Significant boost for stickies in all sections in the Marketplace.

NOTE: We'll maintain this going forward whether we choose option 1 or option 2.

Poll time - We Want to Hear From You!

Please take a moment to vote in our poll. It's a quick way to let us know your general preference.

If you choose "Other", do leave a comment with your thoughts. We'd really appreciate it.

The poll is just the start. What do you think of these options? Do you see any benefits or downsides we might have missed? Do you have a completely different idea that could work even better?

Your experience as a buyer, a seller, and simply a community member matters most here

We'll leave this thread open for feedback for the next 14 days from the date of the initial post.
The thread would remain reopened to collect more feedback from sellers and community members.

Thanks for helping us make this community better and safer for everyone. We're looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Option 3
Blend of Option 1 & 2
So

Option's 1's Cons

PROS	CONS
Keeps the valuable discussion and history in the thread	The follow-up posts would still contain CTAs (i.e., contact details and website details).
Removes the risk of members/viewers contacting an inactive or unrelated seller	Members who don't read the first post, explaining the thread closure, may still contact the seller to receive an outdated service or one that isn't available from that seller anymore.
It also helps redirect everyone to our active and approved services and sellers who support the community.
Preserving the integrity and value of paid memberships
Improves the integrity of the Marketplace and the forum in general

Remove the CTAs (i.e., contact details and website details) in the BST.
Which will also eliminate the second Con.

 

[LOLO AGENCY]

Option 1: Replace Old Sales threads Opening Posts' content

Vote this option.

 

[SearchEngineWays]

Option 1 is good update​

 

[phucxuanvinh]

I vote for Option 1, it’s the best balance!
It keeps the thread history and feedback visible while removing outdated contact info. No need to erase valuable proof from the community.

 

[Echo]

I choose another option. What if you can put something to tell all users that is an old thread and archive it or lock it?

What you have in mind here is a prefix, e.g., "Active" vs "Closed".

Remove the CTAs (i.e., contact details and website details) in the BST.
Which will also eliminate the second Con.

Remove the CTA from the entire BST, including the follow-up posts? Is that what you meant?

If so, that's going to be highly time-consuming. And I cannot stress the word "highly" enough in that sentence

 

[SEO GOAT]

i think also option 1

 

[xReminisce]

What you have in mind here is a prefix, e.g., "Active" vs "Closed".


Remove the CTA from the entire BST, including the follow-up posts? Is that what you meant?

If so, that's going to be highly time-consuming. And I cannot stress the word "highly" enough in that sentence

I am now available for hire.

But yes, ideally,
How I see it is
option 1 is to ignore the issue
option 2 is to eradicate the existence of the issue
it's the extreme end of both spectrums.

Wouldn't that be a possible solution
if you set up a script that checks xf_thread/xf_post or whatever the thread/post is called in BHW
and the thread_id so it will only target that specific thread and then condition it to find all the keywords needed (such as the emails addresses etc) and change to REDACTED.
Whether you go more aggressive and do partials or not, i guess you can always verify via sql first what you are targeting before running the php script.

Then whether you want to automate it via a cron or not, guess that would also be a possibility later.

---
as for backlogging (all the closed ones now) surely there is a flag in the database, that specify it is closed.
I guess, it still will time consuming to find out all 21931290312312 million CTA from every old closed BST.
but once that is sorted, it should be smooth sailing? Maybe...

 

[Steptoe]

Sometimes extremes need to be used

 

[thesyndicate]

Option 1 always!

 

[Doris 77]

option 1 feels cleaner.

 

[GeniusProxy]

option 1 :
As a customer, seeing that a seller has been doing this for a long time makes me more likely to buy.
As a sellers, I want that people see that I'm doing that for a long times and that I have experiences.

 

[Robert Padilla]

I think the opening posts should be kept for SEO/record purposes, but the contact details should be removed from both the opening posts and the bump posts.

 

[BotKingpin]

Interesting idea — keeping old sales threads relevant could really help maintain continuity and trust in the community. At the same time, it’s important to make sure outdated offers or inactive sellers don’t clutter the marketplace. A balanced approach, maybe with periodic review or re-verification, sounds like the best move.

 

[reallyniceguy2025]

option 1.

 

[Linksinventor]

Option 1 seems like a good choice, as it maintains value for the buyer while also removing the outdated content to keep things more relevant and fresh.

 

[shettman]

Keeping old and relevant threads will help maintain continuity in the community

 

[PMAX Agency]

It's a bit late, but I still have some comments: Leave quality topics, but don't completely delete old topics, but give suggested quality topics, because most customers only care about quality topics. Thank you team for listening

 

[alexhost1]

This means all links to our website will be deleted? I don't agree. If the thread have more than 1 year, you should receive a notification to check the thread links if is working or not, then request the owner to update, if he refuses or doesn't reply then you can edit and remove safely the links.

This is a bad idea by removing links or comments or reviews in the threads of sellers...