Too many wanteds: Difference between revisions

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WANTEDs can be just as good as offers at keeping stuff out of landfill. See [[Best Practice Notes#'Wanted' posts are a good thing]]. If people complain a good thing to do is to look at your community's stats on your Dashboard in Modtools.  That shows you a pie chart of types of messages posted on your community over the past 30 days. You could always copy and paste that chart or quote the figures to anyone who is complaining.
WANTEDs can be just as good as offers at keeping stuff out of landfill - see [[Best Practice Notes#'Wanted' posts are a good thing]]. If members complain, it's worth looking at your community's stats on your Dashboard in ModTools, which shows a pie chart of the types of messages posted on your community over the past 30 days. You could copy and paste that chart, or quote the figures, to anyone who complains.


How about pointing out the advantages of WANTEDs?:
==Advantages of WANTEDs==
*They can jog people's memory about things they hadn't thought of offering, including used jars, broken iPods, rags needed for a hobby, and so on.
*The item requested is genuinely needed, so you know it'll be appreciated.
*Members who initially post a lot of WANTEDs and receive items usually start offering later - that's the magic of generosity, it breeds more!


*They can jog your memory about stuff that you hadn't thought of offering, including things like used jars, broken i-pods, rags etc needed for a hobby.
If someone's still unhappy, suggest they [[Filtering Emails|filter out emails]] from your community with WANTED in the title.
*The item requested is really needed, so you know it is going to be appreciated.
*People who initially post a lot of WANTEDs and get stuff usually start offering later. That's the magic of generosity - it breeds more!


If someone's still unhappy, suggest they [[Filtering Emails|filter out emails]] from your community with WANTED in the title.  
Explain that if someone is being too greedy, other members will notice and not respond - so the community can become self-policing without the need for additional rules.


Explain that if someone is being too greedy, other members will notice it, and not respond – so the community can become self-policing without the need for additional rules.  
==Disadvantages of limiting WANTED posts==
*You'll need to remember the limits and monitor all posts more closely.
*Some members who don't like to post offers on the list frequently respond off-list to WANTEDs - these members may also post WANTEDs themselves.
*Members might just start posting WANTEDs on neighbouring communities instead, causing people to travel further and use more fuel to collect stuff.
*If your community is all OFFERS, you may end up only attracting people who want to get stuff.


There can be disadvantages to limiting WANTED posts:
Only consider imposing strict rules on WANTEDs if they're seriously upsetting the community, rather than just one or two individuals - and preferably don't bow to pressure from a vocal minority.
*You will need to remember the limits and monitor all posts more closely.
*There are members that don't like to post offers on the list who frequently respond off list to WANTEDS - these members may also post WANTEDS.
*Members might just start posting WANTEDs on neighbouring communities, causing people to travel further and use more fuel to collect stuff.
*If your community is all OFFERS you may end up only attracting people who want to get stuff.


Only consider imposing strict rules on WANTEDs if they are seriously upsetting the community rather than just one or two individuals, but preferably don't bow under the pressure from a vocal minority.
==Limiting WANTED messages==
 
*Set your community's limits for Wanted messages at https://modtools.org/modtools/settings - Community - Features for members - "WANTED repost time" (days; controls when a member can manually repost, and when auto-repost kicks in).
'''Limiting WANTED messages'''
*Set your community's limits for Wanted messages in https://modtools.org/modtools/settings – Community – Features for members – 'WANTED repost time' (days; controls when the member can manually repost, and when auto-repost kicks in)
*For sending to a member: [[Sample message: Too many wanteds]]
*For sending to a member: [[Sample message: Too many wanteds]]
*For sending to your community: [[Sample Admin: Too many wanteds]]  
*For sending to your community: [[Sample Admin: Too many wanteds]]
 


Back to [[Specific Problems]] or [[How To Deal With]]  
Back to [[Specific Problems]] or [[How To Deal With]]


[[Category:Specific Problems]]
[[Category:Difficult Situations & Problems]]

Latest revision as of 12:00, 17 July 2026

WANTEDs can be just as good as offers at keeping stuff out of landfill - see Best Practice Notes#'Wanted' posts are a good thing. If members complain, it's worth looking at your community's stats on your Dashboard in ModTools, which shows a pie chart of the types of messages posted on your community over the past 30 days. You could copy and paste that chart, or quote the figures, to anyone who complains.

Advantages of WANTEDs

  • They can jog people's memory about things they hadn't thought of offering, including used jars, broken iPods, rags needed for a hobby, and so on.
  • The item requested is genuinely needed, so you know it'll be appreciated.
  • Members who initially post a lot of WANTEDs and receive items usually start offering later - that's the magic of generosity, it breeds more!

If someone's still unhappy, suggest they filter out emails from your community with WANTED in the title.

Explain that if someone is being too greedy, other members will notice and not respond - so the community can become self-policing without the need for additional rules.

Disadvantages of limiting WANTED posts

  • You'll need to remember the limits and monitor all posts more closely.
  • Some members who don't like to post offers on the list frequently respond off-list to WANTEDs - these members may also post WANTEDs themselves.
  • Members might just start posting WANTEDs on neighbouring communities instead, causing people to travel further and use more fuel to collect stuff.
  • If your community is all OFFERS, you may end up only attracting people who want to get stuff.

Only consider imposing strict rules on WANTEDs if they're seriously upsetting the community, rather than just one or two individuals - and preferably don't bow to pressure from a vocal minority.

Limiting WANTED messages

Back to Specific Problems or How To Deal With

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