Advertising Rules

Does this include posting photos when a Bride asks for information even if you don't mention your website or business name as I notice one of my posts has been taken off?

Hi Ice Queen

I'm waiting for an email back from Georgia as I can't renew my listing without being charged the surcharge as there is no option to link back. Any ideas how I can do this?

We get loads of businesses on here starting threads solely to advertise their business. These threads are never removed - are they going to be now that we have new rules and mods keeping an eye on things?

Lisa

Actually, I have tried several times to alter my user name since I came out of the directory but the system wont let me. Does this mean that I'm not allowed to post anymore?

If so, fair enough - just let me know.

Who's going to tell this poster?

Maybe we just need to use the report abuse button (if it works?!) for any posts like that one Mel, so we actually become our own moderators and rely on the guys behind the scenes to remove them and contact the OP to explain why?

I'm not sure the button does work. I've reported loads of these things, and to my knowledge not one has been removed.

I am also wanting to renew my listing but was going to be charged £57!! ?

From the previous £17 for a listing £57 is a massive increase and I'd like to know what the £25 surcharge they are adding on is. I'm assuming it is to do with linking back to Hitched which I already do but there isn't anywhere in the renewal section to say this.

I'd like a response to my email asap.

Also does this mean that we can't recommend other companies to brides if they aren't registered?

Lynsey

Hi!

Sorry for crashing in on this thread. I'm advertised in the supplier directory on the basic listing, does this mean I am able to reply to people's threads and if so I am allowed to have a different user to do this or should I use this one?

Sorry if I sound confused, just want to make sure I am allowed to reply before doing so,

Many thanks,

x

The rules regarding advertising are very clear :-

If you are not in the Hitched directory you should not post links to your website

You must not start a post advertising your goods / services

You can of course recommend someone that you have used as many Hitchers are looking for a recommendation

There are too many posts for each and every one to be checked individually, so please use the Report Abuse function is you feel that a post breaches the rules as it then flags them for our attention and makes it easier to get these posts removed quickly.

Sorry regarding the problems with the Hitched supplier directory - this is currently being looked into and should be dealt with very shortly

Still didn't really answer my question? So fair enough.

Not sure whats gone on with the directory ... when I renewed it was £25 for a basic listing - if it had been £57 I'd not have even considered it, unless that was for a really fancy advert - not a brief one liner in a directory which (in my humble opinion) isn't the best lay out. For many wedding suppliers it doesn't matter what 'county' or 'country' we are in - OK there are things you need to source locally but many other things - jewellery, stationery etc - can pretty much 'can be sourced from anywhere'. I know cos I have clients from the South coast of England to Wales to Aberdeen...... and it doesn't make a jot of difference to the service I provide.

Is there anything that can be done to improve the directory to make it worth the £25 (minimum) that is charged? If you look at a lot of the wedding mags that have good sites (wedding ideas for example) their supplier directory really works .... its appealing, easy to nagivate and clear (without having to be at the end of a list just cos you're in Scotland)

If you're called Zebra Cards - you're likely to always be at the end of the list, and if you're Zebra Cards in Warwickshire you might as well not bother with Hitched, but most folk will consider their company name for things like alpha listings when naming their company ... I know I did.

Sorry missed your post - you're right it's hard to change user names, so this is OK

It's also OK to post pictures, it's just not OK to put links to your website

I emailed on Thursday about the problem (is it actually a problem though or is Hitched now charging £57???) and didn't even get a courtesy email to say they were aware of my email. It's unfair because my listing runs out soon and I want to be able to renew but only if it is £25.

Hitched can go emailing people about not being a registered supplier and delete their posts but can't reply to an email asking a simple question!

I know you have said that it is being dealt with but I'd like to at least know what the current listing charge is?

Agreed.

In the past few weeks ive had a barrage of abuse hurled at me for advertising even though I pay £300 + a year to advertise on here, but i have noticed another poster who does not advertise on hitched who has posted this morning and last week but no one has said anything to them?????

Morning everyone,

Thanks for all your comments - I'll try and answer as many as I can.

Surcharge:

I think we need to explain this better in the sign up and renewal emails. You are only asked to pay the surcharge if you dont provide a link back to hitched from somewhere on you site. If you do have this link back in place and you are being asked to pay the surcharge then apologies we have missed it when we review sites to check for the link back. Just give us a call and we will get that removed.

Georgia who looks after the supplier directory works part time Monday - Thursday, we can of course deal with any urgent problems outside of these times if you give us a call. Feedback for us is that Georgia will add an out of office message so other suppliers are aware of her hours and what to do if its an urgent request

Suppliers directory layout:

We are working on improving the suppliers layout by adding the ability for visitors to search for supplier categories and the presentation of your company details. This will be live in the next 8 weeks

These changes will give us some new functionality to also allow us to promote suppliers better across the site.

Not a big point but the order of suppliers within a county is ordered by how long the supplier has been advertising with us, not alphabetical.

Advertising in the forums:

I think the forum rules are clear on when you can and can't advertise your services (tell me if this is a wrong assumption) and the issue is consistent application of these rules.

The report abuse link was broken at the start of the year but its fixed now and this is the best way to make us aware of inappropriate posts. Between Wendy and the rest of the team here we will review these as quickly as we can. Persistent offenders will be politely asked not to use the forums anymore.

In the next month we will be introducing a new feature that will allow you to link your forum registration to your supplier listing. This will add a logo under your name (similar to the one I have showing 'I work for hitched') and this will make it easy for everyone to identify posts that are being made by companies not listed.

We understand that part of the value of being listed in the suppliers directory is the ability to reply to requests for help in the forum and I know that couples value your experience and expertise so I'm keen to make sure that this works for everyone.

Dean

I think the advertising rules need a bit of a rethink. At times they can seem a little unfair. Or at least they need moderating.

There have always been members of this forum who are in business but do not advertise (normally because of the costs involved) some of these members participate fully in this community and are not always posting links but are sincerely offering advice where they can. And then we have members who do advertsie here and some spend quite a bit. who do not participate at all, but rather just post links all over the place. I think the community of Hitched has to decide who are more valuable to the whole.

We could have a situation on these boards where advertisers simply choose to pay for the cheapest listing and then fill the pages with ADs.

Just some food for thought.

Marc

(I advertise in the directory and the Groomswear section. Spending several hundreds every year)

Thank you for clarifying Dean. I did advertise on here - however I also wouldn't pay the new increased price tag - however now explained that this is an error, I will be renewing. Until I have I will not be posting on here anymore though, as I'd not want to offend anyone.

Also I have now sent over 3 different emails since the beginning of the year, each to different people at Hitched asking how I can change my username as my profile doesn't allow me to do so, & I no longer want it as it is, as I know some people find this offensive. I'd rather just have my first name, but as of yet no one has actually got back to me. Surely if you are that intent on correcting what is wrong, you should also contact those that are trying to contact you for advice?

Anyway as said - until my username is changed, and/or I have renewd my listing I won't post on here anymore - so TTFN.

K.

Thanks for your response Darren, its good to see this has actually turned into a useful debate for us Hibs.

Suppliers directory layout:

We are working on improving the suppliers layout by adding the ability for visitors to search for supplier categories and the presentation of your company details. This will be live in the next 8 weeks

This would have been good to know! An email to all your HIBs to advise them of this would have been good customer service from Hitched? ... after all we are paying you to provide us with a service... Ok, not all of us are paying hundreds of pounds like some suppliers on here, but ultimately we are all paying customers of yours!

Not a big point but the order of suppliers within a county is ordered by how long the supplier has been advertising with us, not alphabetical.

OK - fair enough (all I see is a long and messy list of suppliers tbh!) BUT why is the first category 'Suppliers By English County' and then Scotland (for example) is under other countries at the bottom of the page along with NZ and Rest of the World!!? Now it ain't fair for non-English supplier to get less exposure than our English counterparts, so I hope that is going to be done away with when the new directory is live. I look foward to a new improved supplier directory for both HIBs and Hitchers alike!

ETS - I think its important for Hitched 'HO' appreciate the amount of time us HIBs spend on WP, making it work for your brides and grooms. Yes, some might say 'thats your choice' BUT if we all sat back and just waited for someone to eventually find us in the supplier directory and email us directly, and we didn't bother to respond to any of the posts offering advice (and not just on our specific area of expertise!!!) then it would be a very different forum...

Katie if you go into edit at the top of the page and under profile change your actual name to what you want it to display as it will change. Not the right way to do it I'm sure but it fixes the problem

Carol

I do have to say that when I renewed last year I paid the full amount emailed my link page and got a prompt refund. I think the supplier tag is a good idea as it can be difficult to know who is in the directory as it can be difficult to check. Hope it is easy to do I use another forum where I was given a peice of html to put in my signature but I couldn't do it and they had to do it for me.

That doesn't work. I've tried it three times since Hitched randomly changed my username from 'Melancholie' to just 'Mel' and it hasn't changed the name that's displayed when I post. I don't know why Hitched changed people's usernames. I know I'm not the only one affected by this.

It worked for me as it was showing my actual name but once I removed my actual name it changed so guess I was lucky.

I cant change my user name either,. I have tried loads of times and it is damm annoying having my full name up on show

Bernie,

Try reducing the amount of text in your signature and then removing your real name. The max size for a signature is 256 chars but I think we've got a bug that allows people to add more than that to start with and then if they try to edit anything else after it fails.

Dean

Bernie & Mel

I've increased the max signature length to 500 chars now so you should be ok to just remove your real name and it will revert back to username

Dean

Thank you so much Dean, it works

It hadn't worked for me - I'd tried everything. But as you can see Dean has fixed the problem at his end, so I am now Katie V & therefore am happy again!

K.

Thanks for trying Dean, but it doesn't work. I removed my real name, like you said, and my name at the top of my profile page changed to Melancholie, but when I came back to the forum it was still posting as Mel. When I went back to my profile page again, it had reverted back to Mel there too and the changes I had made and saved were gone.

Hello everyone - I am posting here for the first time as a listed supplier.

Thought it would a sensible fist step to post to this thread in case I was doing anything wrong. From the encouragement I have received outside the forum to list and join up I can say it seems like a very nice forum to chat in.

Lovely to meet you all.

ian.

So, in the olden days, if a HIB wanted to reply to a specific request by promoting themselves they could. Is it now the case that the request is irrelevant because there is constant advertising in signatures? And are only HIBS allowed to have this info in the sigs?

L
xx