new license - Instant Standard ?

[luissantos84]

admin edit.. fixed typo in subject

[stockmarketer]

Just noticed this myself.  If you can set prices, the range says [3-2].  Does that make sense?

[luissantos84]

Just noticed this myself.  If you can set prices, the range says [3-2].  Does that make sense?

no, how hard is to inform contributors?

we can't do anything anyway but that would be the minimum...

[Beppe Grillo]

In don't see this "instant Standard" on that page.

[luissantos84]

In don't see this "instant Standard" on that page.

vanished today

[luissantos84]

http://www.microstockgroup.com/profile/?area=ignoreboards

[cidepix]

I think the problem is... DARE I SAY IT... that Symbiostock topics are choking everything else out.  There are about a dozen Symbiostock topics pushing this thread way down the list.  A year ago, this thread would have gotten a lot of attention and sparked a lot of conversation.   But today, people aren't seeing it because "how do I do this or that" Symbiostock topics hog up virtually all the space "above the fold."

A year ago is, well, a year ago.. it's done and gone..

I have seen this thread and yes a year ago it would have sparked a lot of conversation, but that's not the case today.. it has nothing to do with symbio threads pushing this thread down..

it's more like: "WE DO NOT CARE" what fotolia does or does not..

I don't even upload my vectors there anymore since their price reduction on vectors.. why would I care about what they do.. symbio threads are all over the place because that's what stock artists care about "THESE DAYS"

symbiostock = in
fotolia = out

no matter how hard you want to push it up, times DO change and now we live in a time where we don't care about agencies as much as we used to..

they wanted this by cutting commissions and coming up with ridiculous ideas way too often..

and yes, they succeeded: WE DO NOT CARE 

[tickstock]

;

[Me]

I blocked symbiostock threads a long time ago, I forgot how many there were.  Maybe that has something to do with the declining quality of the forum?ETA:  Ha! I just un-ignored symbiostock and two thirds of the forum is symbiostock.  Back to ignore.

I'm curious, did the decline in quality start around the same time as your increase in snobbery and reduction in tolerance?

[tickstock]

;

[Me]

I blocked symbiostock threads a long time ago, I forgot how many there were.  Maybe that has something to do with the declining quality of the forum?ETA:  Ha! I just un-ignored symbiostock and two thirds of the forum is symbiostock.  Back to ignore.

I'm curious, did the decline in quality start around the same time as your increase in snobbery and reduction in tolerance?

No snobbery or intolerance here, unless it's intolerant to want to see something else other than symbiostock threads here.  I have nothing against symbiostock, just the massive amounts of threads that clog up the forum.  I planned on unignoring them at some point in the future, I thought they would calm down a bit but I guess not.

TIC 

[XPTO]

How can I ignore the Symbiostock topics?

I agree that all those threads simply kill all the visibility from discussions of the other agencies. The ones that for better or worse still pay us the bills.

I would like to see a limit on the number of discussions about any agency displayed in the Recent Discussion page. Let's say 5 topics per agency.

[stockmarketer]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

[tickstock]

;

[luissantos84]

How can I ignore the Symbiostock topics?

I agree that all those threads simply kill all the visibility from discussions of the other agencies. The ones that for better or worse still pay us the bills.

I would like to see a limit on the number of discussions about any agency displayed in the Recent Discussion page. Let's say 5 topics per agency.

have you read this topic? 7th post

[loop]

I'm shocked that people aren't weighing in on this.  When a major agency makes a significant change that impacts us, we should all take serious note.

I think the problem is... DARE I SAY IT... that Symbiostock topics are choking everything else out.  There are about a dozen Symbiostock topics pushing this thread way down the list.  A year ago, this thread would have gotten a lot of attention and sparked a lot of conversation.  But today, people aren't seeing it because "how do I do this or that" Symbiostock topics hog up virtually all the space "above the fold."

I'm not a Symbiostock hater ... I consider myself in the "wait and see" camp ... but it really has taken over this forum and made it less useful for those of us on the fence or disinterested in Symbiostock.  Not sure what the solution is, but I can see myself checking this site less and less if this continues.  Just not interested in having to scroll and scroll and scroll to find items that are actually relevant to me.

I agree. Symbiostock is eating up the whole forum. Every little bit of information seems to need a new thread, an there are a score of little bits every day. It shouldn't be too hard to concentrate all in two or three threads.

[XPTO]

Profile - Modify Profile - Ignore Boards Options

Thanks a LOT!!! I've looked but couldn't find it for myself.

I don't doubt the value or the usefulness of the symbiostock project but I do believe it's causing serious damages to the usability of this forum.

[tickstock]

;

[gostwyck]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

You surprise me with this one. I've noted how intelligently you have approached microstock, always analysing how to make the biggest buck with your time ... yet you seem unable or unwilling to undertake the couple of clicks it requires to make best use of your time on MSG?

I ignored Symbiostock threads months ago, as soon as they started to take over the front page. Until you started complaining about them I had no idea that they were still going strong.

[ShadySue]

I just un-ignored Symbiostock again to look a bit closer at the threads that were there and this forum seemed very different than the one I'm seeing, it doesn't look like the same place at all.  Symbiostock threads make this place look very technical like this forum is about something altogether different than photography (vectors, video, etc..), "VPS or Server", Widgets, Backup Vaultpress, MySQL database, Symbiostock_XML_cache. 

Oh, I've got them on ignore too [1]; and I agree, if I saw that I'd immediately think 'this isn't for me'.
[1] I do think symbiostock is a good idea and wish it well, but clearly I'm 1000 leagues under the techie specs required.

[cuppacoffee]

...you seem unable or unwilling to undertake the couple of clicks it requires...

It's not about those who come here often and know the ins and outs of how to ignore certain areas, it's about those who stop by to see if there is anything they might be interested in or have expertise in to add to other conversations - microstock in general. I agree, I've ignored that area since the beginning (after I found out how to do it).

[stockmarketer]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

You surprise me with this one. I've noted how intelligently you have approached microstock, always analysing how to make the biggest buck with your time ... yet you seem unable or unwilling to undertake the couple of clicks it requires to make best use of your time on MSG?

I ignored Symbiostock threads months ago, as soon as they started to take over the front page. Until you started complaining about them I had no idea that they were still going strong.

Hi Gostwyck,

I think you and I are a mutual admiration society.  You seem to be the one with whom I agree the most in the forum.  I think I would have a similar reaction to seeing someone post a complaint like mine.  The only reason I haven't ignored Symbiostock threads is that if it ever starts paying off for people, I'd like to see those threads and then reevaluate my decision to sit out on Sy.  Of course, with each passing week that seems less likely to happen, so I might hit that Ignore button sooner than later.

But I'm most concerned about the casual visitor who doesn't know that ignoring is an option.  These people may have really useful insights that could benefit you and me.   I really do think the overall usefulness of the forum is threatened when an important new thread is immediately buried (at least for the 95% of the audience who is not ignoring Sy threads). 

Someone with valuable microstock experience but an infrequent visitor here might stop in, see dozens of Sy threads, and decide,  "nothing for me here" and never come back.  They lose by not seeing the relevant stuff, and you and I lose by not reading their thoughts on things that really matter to us.  A lot of those folks won't bother with investigating how to hide certain topics.  They just won't come back.

[XPTO]

I'm a visitor and user of this forum for years now and never knew about the ignore function until today, and considering the steps needed to use the "Ignore" I may say it's not the most intuitive thing to discover.

Especially because I don't recall other forums to have this option, so it wasn't the first thing that occurred to me when when I've started to feel overwhelmed by the symbiostock threads. I believe many are in the same boat as me, and many left after a brief contact with the MSG.

Besides, I really do not want to completely ignore symbiostock as something may come up that interests me. I just can't stand to have ALL the other agencies discussions buried under the tenths of symbiostock discussions that almost monopolize the Recent Discussions page.

Speaking for myself I can say I've reduced dramatically my attention to MSG because of this issue. To me it's not different if MSG was overrun with spam topics about appliances and dating sites.

Hope this filter helps me regain my attention to this forum, but I'm afraid many people has given up, making MSG poorer in terms of different and debating ideas.

[Ron]

Oh, I've got them on ignore too [1]; and I agree, if I saw that I'd immediately think 'this isn't for me'.
[1] I do think symbiostock is a good idea and wish it well, but clearly I'm 1000 leagues under the techie specs required.

You dont have to be techie specs at all. Not at all. Only if you want to heavily customise and add all kinds of features. I didnt do any of that and it was a breeze. And I am no techie either

[Ron]

I dont get this reasoning about no one being able to find anything. If you are looking for stuff on, for example, Shutterstock, you click on the Shutterstock forum area. In the Shutterstock forum there is nothing about Symbiostock. Etc. You only see the list of all open topics on the home page, as on any forum. Any forum visitor knows you need to go to the forum area you are interested in.

When I visit www.boards.ie I see a bunch of threads I dont need. But I do know if I want to know something about a good doctor in my area I go to that part of the forum.

And I also dont get the reasoning its all a hidden marketing trick. Leo asked Leaf if Leaf wanted to host the Symbiostock forum for a while and Leaf was nice to help out. I am sure when all the upgrades and updates are sorted, it will calm down. There is also talk of moving the Symbiostock forum to its own website.

[thesentinel]

Oh the irony that a thread about Fotolia is dominated by discussing Symbiostock

[gostwyck]

Oh the irony that a thread about Fotolia is dominated by discussing Symbiostock

Oh the irony that an Istock exclusive clicked on a thread about Fotolia. Getting itchy feet are we?

[gostwyck]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

You surprise me with this one. I've noted how intelligently you have approached microstock, always analysing how to make the biggest buck with your time ... yet you seem unable or unwilling to undertake the couple of clicks it requires to make best use of your time on MSG?

I ignored Symbiostock threads months ago, as soon as they started to take over the front page. Until you started complaining about them I had no idea that they were still going strong.

Hi Gostwyck,

I think you and I are a mutual admiration society.  You seem to be the one with whom I agree the most in the forum.  I think I would have a similar reaction to seeing someone post a complaint like mine.  The only reason I haven't ignored Symbiostock threads is that if it ever starts paying off for people, I'd like to see those threads and then reevaluate my decision to sit out on Sy.  Of course, with each passing week that seems less likely to happen, so I might hit that Ignore button sooner than later.

But I'm most concerned about the casual visitor who doesn't know that ignoring is an option.  These people may have really useful insights that could benefit you and me.   I really do think the overall usefulness of the forum is threatened when an important new thread is immediately buried (at least for the 95% of the audience who is not ignoring Sy threads). 

Someone with valuable microstock experience but an infrequent visitor here might stop in, see dozens of Sy threads, and decide,  "nothing for me here" and never come back.  They lose by not seeing the relevant stuff, and you and I lose by not reading their thoughts on things that really matter to us.  A lot of those folks won't bother with investigating how to hide certain topics.  They just won't come back.

Ouch __ I see what you mean! I've just Unignored the Sybiostock forum and found that 32 of the 50 front page posts were all about SY. That is indeed ridiculous and undoubtedly means all other topics suffer as a result. Something needs to be done!!

[dirkr]

Guess what, I never ever looked at the home page of MSG. I only ever look at the "Forum home page" or whatever you call it - when you click on the button labeled "Forum" in the top row. So I see on one glance where new (unread) posts are and go directly to the sub-forums I'm interested in.

On topic: Anybody knows anything more? (because I agree, sounds like a topic that needs more information and most likely discussion).

[leaf]

I'll try and figure out a solution soon....  Perhaps I'll push all the symbiostock threads to a lower part of the front page.

[leaf]

I'll try and figure out a solution soon....  Perhaps I'll push all the symbiostock threads to a lower part of the front page.

... done.  We can try that for a bit and see how it works/feels.  You can also minimize the symbiostock thread area if you want.

[Ron]

I'll try and figure out a solution soon....  Perhaps I'll push all the symbiostock threads to a lower part of the front page.

... done.  We can try that for a bit and see how it works/feels.  You can also minimize the symbiostock thread area if you want.

Brilliant. Perfect solution. Thank you Leaf.

[cidepix]

Very good solution.. Now it's even easier to follow symbiostock threads

[XPTO]

I dont get this reasoning about no one being able to find anything. If you are looking for stuff on, for example, Shutterstock, you click on the Shutterstock forum area. In the Shutterstock forum there is nothing about Symbiostock. Etc. You only see the list of all open topics on the home page, as on any forum. Any forum visitor knows you need to go to the forum area you are interested in.

When I visit www.boards.ie I see a bunch of threads I dont need. But I do know if I want to know something about a good doctor in my area I go to that part of the forum.

And I also dont get the reasoning its all a hidden marketing trick. Leo asked Leaf if Leaf wanted to host the Symbiostock forum for a while and Leaf was nice to help out. I am sure when all the upgrades and updates are sorted, it will calm down. There is also talk of moving the Symbiostock forum to its own website.

Well I return the reasoning to you: why can't the people involved in the symbiostock project click on the corresponding forum area and leave the Recent Discussions page free for all the other agencies which are the ones the vast majority of the contributors use at the moment?

Why should I have to open 10 different forum areas to look at what interests me because a small part of the community is involved in this project?

Isn't it easier for the symbiostock members to access one forum than all the other users to have to open ten or more?

Especially, as others have mentioned, most of the topics are technical stuff that only interest to symbiostock users since they are the ones involved in the project.

I'd love to stop ignoring the symbiostock forum so I could easily follow the developments that may interest to the people not yet involved in it. I couldn't care less about programming and the techy stuff, and if I was to be involved I could easily go to that forum part.

[Ron]

There is no control over the  Recent Discussions page. Its a filter set up by Leaf.

And that  Recent Discussions page is split up now, everyone can now relax and enjoy the forum again. 

[cthoman]

Oh the irony that a thread about Fotolia is dominated by discussing Symbiostock

I was actually thinking the same thing. So, what was the deal with the Fotolia thing? I don't have an account there anymore, but I still like to keep up with what is going on.

[XPTO]

I'll try and figure out a solution soon....  Perhaps I'll push all the symbiostock threads to a lower part of the front page.

... done.  We can try that for a bit and see how it works/feels.  You can also minimize the symbiostock thread area if you want.

Leaf, thanks for the change.

Still, my question is why in 50 available discussion slots all the agencies only end up with 18 and Symbiostock has 32.

Personally I think that the Symbiostock - General forum could be available among all the other discussions because are of general interest.

And all the other technical sub-forums about the network, hosting, seo and others could be hidden from the recent discussions since they only interest to the people actively involved in the project. And for them it's easy to go directly to those sub-forums.

This way in the 50 slots of the page we could have 10 or 15 discussions about general questions about Symbisotock that could interest and attract new people to it, and all the other slots to all other agencies.

The present solution helps by separating the topics of all the agencies from the avalanche of Symbiostock threads, yet this project still occupies a large part of the discussions list.

[tickstock]

;

[luissantos84]

I believe half (25 each section) would be more than enough, looking at it now there are 8 topics from yesterday (symbio section) and 1st section only 3

[cidepix]

or just click on (-) ??

that's easier than going to settings and ignore a forum..

[Ed]

http://www.microstockgroup.com/profile/?area=ignoreboards

Thank you Luis - I've been looking for this for about a month and wasn't able to figure it out.

[klsbear]

So what about getting this thread back on topic. Does Anyone have info on the new license at Fotolia?

[Ron]

Maybe there isnt any other discussion going on and therefor there are not more threads outside symbiostock. Are you now seriously discussing who has more slots? All your threads are now on top, Symbiostock is at the bottom. Just open more threads and you will get more slots filled.

[Ron]

Wrong thread

[cidepix]

Maybe there isnt any other discussion going on and therefor there are not more threads outside symbiostock. Are you now seriously discussing who has more slots? All your threads are now on top, Symbiostock is at the bottom. Just open more threads and you will get more slots filled.

I will agree on this one.. some people sound like they got symbio-phobia 

[m@m]

...and some symbio-obsession 

[leaf]

Maybe there isnt any other discussion going on and therefor there are not more threads outside symbiostock. Are you now seriously discussing who has more slots? All your threads are now on top, Symbiostock is at the bottom. Just open more threads and you will get more slots filled.

yep, you are right.  I'll reduce the number of max symbio threads on the front page a little but the reason the regular threads are so few is because there is only that many that have recent discussion in them (the last 2 days).  That list will grow large again as people discuss more topics.  Reducing the symbio thread count isn't a super easy process as I have how the panel works hard coded into the site.

Or perhaps better stated, the number of reg. threads on the new front page not independant of the number of symbio threads.  The formula now simply states all the recent threads in the last 2 days (max 40) for regular topics and the same again (last 2 days, max 40) for symbio

[XPTO]

Maybe there isnt any other discussion going on and therefor there are not more threads outside symbiostock. Are you now seriously discussing who has more slots? All your threads are now on top, Symbiostock is at the bottom. Just open more threads and you will get more slots filled.

I will agree on this one.. some people sound like they got symbio-phobia 

This has nothing to do with symbio-phobia. I'm very interested in that project despite all seems so confusing that I wouldn't know where to begin (at least the last time I've checked). That's why I've mentioned that it could be of interest to have displayed the "General" sub-forum in the Recent Discussions list. I don't want to have to ignore Symbiostock. I want to have instant access to new discussions that could interest people outside the project.

But apart from that I find excessive the amount of very technical topics that only interest, not even all symbiostock members, but only a fraction of those. Yet, they occupy the Recent Discussion slots which take care of dozens of other agencies.

Ron also mentions that if we want more topics of other agencies on the Recent Discussion to create them. First of all, if I have to open 10 tabs to look at all the other agencies discussions to find something new and recent it's MUCH MORE time consuming and so less practical that I believe many people, like me, end up giving up. So, a topic that in the past would be visible in the Recent page time enough to capture others interest now disappears instantly because of Symbiostock technical issues that only interest their members clogging up the page.

Now it's partially solved with the separation of the threads (thanks Leaf), but until today it was hard to spot non-symbiostock threads  in the Recent page. In the last weeks or months I took a look and closed the MSG page almost instantly because this site seems to be no longer about Microstock but about Symbiostock.

And what I'm defending it's even in the interest of Symbiostock members because I believe almost 100% of you also contribute to other agencies and need to keep up with their news. Despite your legitimate interest in Symbiostock at the present moment you're having information "denied" about agencies that for the moment earn you the real money.

So, this is not Symbio-phobia, it's about balance.

And I can't understand why the people defending the current situation about Symbiostock think it's easy for ALL the community to have to check for tenths of different agency forums, but miraculously it becomes hard for them to have to check the five sub-forums of the Symbiostock Forum, and that justifies the almost monopoly of the Recent page...

[XPTO]

Just one more detail. If I ignore all or part of the Symbiostock discussions in my options, as suggested, I don't have the slots the Symbiostock occupy replaced by discussions about other agencies. They are simply hidden.

What happens is if I have a Recent Discussions page without "Ignores" activated I have 50 available slots occupied by the recent discussions of the various agencies.

If I activate the "Ignore" on the Symbiostock forums my Recent Discussions page only shows about 19 discussions. As I said those slots are not occupied by discussions about other agencies.

The "Ignore" option doesn't work perfectly in this sense. In fact, regarding Symbiostock and considering the recent change made by Leaf it does not present any advantage about this agency.

[Ron]

I am not seeing this new License, it was probably the same mistake as IS with their new RC. Testing the waters, creating new license and accidently went live. I cant find anything on their site about a new license. I will ask support.

[luissantos84]

Mat Hayward replied at FT forum

Fotolia engineers are always beta testing new products and services. Further information will be released at an upcoming date.

[Ron]

Mat Hayward replied at FT forum

Fotolia engineers are always beta testing new products and services. Further information will be released at an upcoming date.

  So it is what I thought it is.

I have to say, it seems like a good thing, I think.

[luissantos84]

Mat Hayward replied at FT forum

Fotolia engineers are always beta testing new products and services. Further information will be released at an upcoming date.

  So it is what I thought it is.

I have to say, it seems like a good thing, I think.

how can you know? we don't know much, just that is selling for 3 credits and its called Instant Standard, which size will it be?

[Ron]

I dont know, hence I used the words seem and think

[luissantos84]

I dont know, hence I used the words seem and think

ok just a hunch, anyway I don't remember a good announcement from FT

[MarcvsTvllivs]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

This. I am very interested in Symbiostock and will eventually make a site of my own. But it has become a problem here, and having the thoretical option to ignore it is no solution.

[luissantos84]

The simple fact is that most people will not take the extra steps to investigate how to ignore topics and take the action to do so. 

That means people who might have real insights to offer will come to this forum, see dozens of Symbiostock threads that mean nothing to them, and leave.

I have seen the thread about people complaining about Symbiostock overtaking the forum, and the replies of the Sy-embracers saying we just have to hide it if we don't like it, and I myself didn't take the time to follow those steps.  Call me lazy, but the fact is, most people will not jump through those hoops, and they will end up thinking there's little discussion of value here.

Them's the facts.  It's not about snobbery.  To the average visitor, this forum is now nothing but instructions on setting up a Symbiostock site and how to try to make it actually sell. 

Leaf, there needs to be a better answer than making people hide topics if you want this forum to continue to thrive.  Maybe Symbiostock will be a dead issue a year from now and this won't be a problem, but at that point, you may have already lost us for good.

This. I am very interested in Symbiostock and will eventually make a site of my own. But it has become a problem here, and having the thoretical option to ignore it is no solution.

in case you haven't noticed it is solved