As a suggestion;
I want a new category + rooms in your forum > Commercial section
aka something like;
COMMERCIAL SECTION (<Category)
Buying; (<room)
themes (<room)
modifications (<room)
Selling; (<room)
themes (<room)
modifications (<room)
--------------------------------------------------
Yes, I know you have your "Help Wanted (not for support)" section, but hear me out ...
I own 3 companies (not internet related) and code on a hobby level. Just now I realized I buy more and more from http://themeforest.net and http://codecanyon.net (<delete/X URL's if I break any rules). Reason is for that I know I will get the support if needed and I have "someone" to contact. What irritates me is that I have a lot of ideas that is SMF2 based that I could use, the problem is that I cannot code PHP.
Extra frustrating is that it is HARD to get in contact with good people/companies that now SMF2 well. I know they are out there, but they are hard to find. Now ... I can get vbulletin or ipboards, but even those are rather static concerning "out side the box" needs. I also can use like bbpress or simillar, because I can commercial pluggins/extensions/themes "all over the place".
So ...
Wouldn't a commercial section on your forum be a (good) idea?
For me to apply/search for registered companies that I then could pay and use the recities in my book-keeping?
And for people/companies to sell their work/services for companies/people like me?
If I understood you correctly...
The boards you request are already available::
Other Paid Services/Items for sale (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=157.0) <-- this covers selling/buying items in general, mods, themes, etc
Help Wanted (not for support) (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=50.0) <-- this covers general paid/free code
Help Available (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=51.0) <-- this one is for hiring people.
It would be nice if those sections were more structured but other than that, it works just fine.
Do note that a lot of people have a predefined mindset of "if SMF is free, all themes and mods should be free too", so there isn't a big market place for SMF as it should/could be.
A lot of theme authors own their own websites where you can get support, one example that comes to mind is Crip's site:
http://www.jpr62.com/theme/index.php?action=forum
Another being http://www.dzinerstudio.com/
Over there, you can get exclusive support for their own themes. Support for free themes found on the SMF theme site can be found in each theme's respected topic:
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=106.0
There is also a board for modification support:
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=59.0
I'm sure Simple Machines doesn't want to be held accountable for if a user gets ripped off for buying a theme or modification and then having a problem. That is probably the biggest issue.
Thanks for the tips/heads up. ;)
Allthough paeid services is a sub to > Hosts, Hosting and Commercial Services ยป aka in my book, hosters. A lingo thing, but still.
Help wanted could mean anything.
Help avalibale, better, but still "sound" a tad unproffesional.
I am a member of dzniners and I am aware of others to.
I just don't see the harm in a company/commercial section. A serious company req. another serious company and it would make a lot of things a l ot of hassle easier for companyowners like me.
I don't want to "argue", this is just my suggestion based on something that I would appriciate as a company owner that likes SMF.
There is allways way "around it".
I just think my idea/suggestion would simply for people/companies like myself.
[EDIT]
Sorry for the misspelling. I am Swedish
You want this board: Other Paid Services/Items for sale (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=157.0)
A company doesn't automatically mean "professional" in the Help Available (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=51.0) board there are lots of users who take their jobs very seriously.
If your definition of "serious" and "professional" equals "companies" then there isn't nothing more to say. This is a community where people offer their services and items and it works well that way.
Until you have the very mercenary types that look all respectable and don't deliver what their promotional stuff says it will...
You get that everywhere else anyway. Do note I said "a lot" and not "all" ;)
You are looking for "professionals" to do coding work for you, and you'd like Simple Machines (the organization that provides SMF) to provide a professional exchange/marketplace for SMF-related services? Is that the idea? Are you looking for Simple Machines to vet the providers and assure their quality? That takes a fair amount of time and money (think liability insurance) that I don't think this organization is interested in getting involved with.
Why don't you start up a site for the paid (professional) exchange of SMF-related services? You could use SMF for the forum and accept paid advertising from anyone who calls themselves a pro. Maybe you could have some sort of rating service or feedback (I think there's a mod for that). Is this what you're asking Simple Machines to do?