| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Changes to Blue Board access for non-members Thread poster: Jared Tabor
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Dear ProZians,
The Blue Board, the searchable database of language job outsourcers with feedback from service providers, reached over 17,000 outsourcer records this year, and more than 92,000 Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) feedback entries have been made to date.
Until now, non-members (that is, those who use ProZ.com but do not have a paid membership) have had some access to Blue Board records, with ... See more Dear ProZians,
The Blue Board, the searchable database of language job outsourcers with feedback from service providers, reached over 17,000 outsourcer records this year, and more than 92,000 Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) feedback entries have been made to date.
Until now, non-members (that is, those who use ProZ.com but do not have a paid membership) have had some access to Blue Board records, with the option to pay for full access on a record-by-record basis using either browniz points or cash. ProZ.com members of course enjoy full access to the entire Blue Board database.
With full access one may see who made each LWA entry, whether their identity has been verified, their membership status, as well as options to contact the feedback provider, along with the LWA comment provided.
A new access policy will be implemented in the future, where non-members will no longer be able to see the name of the service providers who have made feedback entries on a record unless they have acquired full access to that record.
Further changes of this kind may be made in the future. If you have questions or need help with using the Blue Board as a risk management tool or to provide feedback, please feel free to contact site staff via the online support system.
Regards,
Jared ▲ Collapse
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Sounds perfectly fine to me! Thanks for this excellent "protection tool".
| | | | Teplocteur 
Local time: 17:02
English to Chinese
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| MariusV
Lithuania
Local time: 12:02
English to Lithuanian
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BB on Proz.com was one (today actually remained the only) thing to still "attract" me back to Proz with free membership. Because BB "database" was quite rich, there were posts of other service providers visible (contacted many of them directly to ask for their personal opinion and experiences about one or another outsource). However, to pay 120 USD per year for Proz.com membership (as it intended to be after the changes mentioned) just for actually being able to check the BB a couple of times pe... See more BB on Proz.com was one (today actually remained the only) thing to still "attract" me back to Proz with free membership. Because BB "database" was quite rich, there were posts of other service providers visible (contacted many of them directly to ask for their personal opinion and experiences about one or another outsource). However, to pay 120 USD per year for Proz.com membership (as it intended to be after the changes mentioned) just for actually being able to check the BB a couple of times per month (I already forgot the date when I received a job via Proz.com, without counting peanut rate jobs, "requests for potential cooperation", and other semi-spam), is far far too much. Esp. having in mind that there are many competing similar databases (and they are growing, not even worse than BB today) for the cost several times less than BB. Like Paymentpracticesnet where the annual fee is 15-20 USD (I do not even remember the exact amount as it is so insignificantly small, that I do not even bother).
Jared, are you really sure it is the best decision? In my opinion, it can be just the opposite... ▲ Collapse
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| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Empty post | Claudio LR
Local time: 11:02
English to Italian
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| Fair decision | Nov 28, 2011 |
One of the main reasons why I pay the full membership is to check the blueboard. I don't use the Job board (but I consider positive the fact of being able to see who is posting some jobs) nor the Kudoz section. The main reason why I pay is to be able to check the rating of those who contact me via my profile. So in my opinion the decision is fair.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| I don't understand what's different... | Nov 28, 2011 |
Let me see if I understand your post correctly.
Jared wrote (emphasis/redaction mine):
1. Until now, [non-paying ProZians] have had some access to Blue Board records, with the option to pay for full access... [to see] who made each LWA entry [etc].
2. [The] new access policy [is that] [non-paying ProZians] will no longer be able to see [who made each LWA entry], unless they have acquired full access to that record.
So... what is different? Until now, non-paying ProZians could not see who made LWA entries, unless they pay. Under the new system, they won't be able to see who made LWA entries either, unless they "aquire full access" to that record (which I assume means: unless they pay).
Or does "acquire full access" mean that they must become paying members?
I haven't been a non-paying ProZian for so long that I can't remember what kind of access non-paying ProZians have to the Blue Board.
| | | | | Yes, you can | Nov 28, 2011 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Let me see if I understand your post correctly. Jared wrote (emphasis/redaction mine):
1. Until now, [non-paying ProZians] have had some access to Blue Board records, with the option to pay for full access... [to see] who made each LWA entry [etc].
2. [The] new access policy [is that] [non-paying ProZians] will no longer be able to see [who made each LWA entry], unless they have acquired full access to that record. So... what is different? Until now, non-paying ProZians could not see who made LWA entries, unless they pay.
You get the date, name, kudoz/browniz (presumably as an indication of their activity level om proz generally) and rating. You don't get to see the comments.
Like you, I wasn't 100% sure about the meaning of "acquired full access to that record" for a while, but after re-reading the OP about 15 times, I decided it means:
a) paying for full membership, i.e. acquiring full access to all records, in fact (therefore by default including "that record")
or
b) paying just for "that record" with browniz.
As such I interpreted the only difference for non-members as being that, if you don't "buy" the record with browniz, then when you first access it, you won't see the names of the people who have made ratings, but you will still see the LWA ratings themselves. As most of the names are usually fairly meaningless to me and don't make a difference to my diecision to spend browniz on the full record, I didn't see the change as anything to get all excited about, but I appreciate others may feel differently.
Still, since we're having the discussion, it might be worth seeking clarification, since in truth, the OP does seem poorly worded.
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3ADE shadab
Local time: 14:32
Member (2008)
Hindi to English
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| Thanks jared | Nov 28, 2011 |
Jared wrote: Dear ProZians, The Blue Board, the searchable database of language job outsourcers with feedback from service providers, reached over 17,000 outsourcer records this year, and more than 92,000 Likelihood of Working Again (LWA) feedback entries have been made to date. Until now, non-members (that is, those who use ProZ.com but do not have a paid membership) have had some access to Blue Board records, with the option to pay for full access on a record-by-record basis using either browniz points or cash. ProZ.com members of course enjoy full access to the entire Blue Board database. With full access one may see who made each LWA entry, whether their identity has been verified, their membership status, as well as options to contact the feedback provider, along with the LWA comment provided. A new access policy will be implemented in the future, where non-members will no longer be able to see the name of the service providers who have made feedback entries on a record unless they have acquired full access to that record. Further changes of this kind may be made in the future. If you have questions or need help with using the Blue Board as a risk management tool or to provide feedback, please feel free to contact site staff via the online support system. Regards, Jared
Thanks jared for providing detail information.. Its clear now.
| | | | | Do I understand it correctly? | Nov 28, 2011 |
You encourage all members (paying and not-paying) to give their feed-back.
When people, knowing they can access single records when necessary, gave their feedback for free, now you are going to restrict their access. And you plan to restrict their access still more.
I was just wondering what might be the paying/non-paying members feedback ratio?
Well , that looks like a perfect business model for me. You get something for free and then you sell it.
... See more You encourage all members (paying and not-paying) to give their feed-back.
When people, knowing they can access single records when necessary, gave their feedback for free, now you are going to restrict their access. And you plan to restrict their access still more.
I was just wondering what might be the paying/non-paying members feedback ratio?
Well , that looks like a perfect business model for me. You get something for free and then you sell it.
Good luck. ▲ Collapse
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Jared, so what can I do with my browniz now? Which I've earned answering kudoz questions, and thus contributing to the proz site?
regards, Ewa
[Edited at 2011-11-28 14:06 GMT]
| | | | | Options to access will not change; what you see before you have access will | Nov 28, 2011 |
Hello all,
Methods for gaining access to a Blue Board record will not change. You will still have two options as a non-member, as before: use browniz points, or cash from your ProZ.com wallet. What will change is what you see prior to gaining that access (i.e. until now you could see the names of entry-makers before getting access to a given record, and now you will not).
Jared
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 02:02
English to German
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In memoriam | It is absolutely fair, and I welcome this change | Nov 28, 2011 |
Jared wrote:
Hello all,
Methods for gaining access to a Blue Board record will not change. You will still have two options as a non-member, as before: use browniz points, or cash from your ProZ.com wallet. What will change is what you see prior to gaining that access (i.e. until now you could see the names of entry-makers before getting access to a given record, and now you will not).
Jared
I consider such information - the poster's identity and with what companies he/she conducts business - as sensible business data that should be visible to verified members only.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 02:02
English to German
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In memoriam | Reply to MariusV | Nov 28, 2011 |
MariusV wrote:
BB on Proz.com was one (today actually remained the only) thing to still "attract" me back to Proz with free membership. Because BB "database" was quite rich, there were posts of other service providers visible (contacted many of them directly to ask for their personal opinion and experiences about one or another outsource). However, to pay 120 USD per year for Proz.com membership (as it intended to be after the changes mentioned) just for actually being able to check the BB a couple of times per month (I already forgot the date when I received a job via Proz.com, without counting peanut rate jobs, "requests for potential cooperation", and other semi-spam), is far far too much. Esp. having in mind that there are many competing similar databases (and they are growing, not even worse than BB today) for the cost several times less than BB. Like Paymentpracticesnet where the annual fee is 15-20 USD (I do not even remember the exact amount as it is so insignificantly small, that I do not even bother).
Marius, who, according to your opinion is making all those services possible in the first place? It's the paying members, right? I pay USD 300 every year for my membership at ProZ.com, not USD 120. The access to all databases is priceless. There is no reason to complain about any shortcomings in services if you don't want to spend a cent for the aforementioned. Also, please do not complain about the peanut jobs. Get some decent and paid membership, and you will receive the good stuff. We can not keep complaining about outsourcers who want top-notch services for nothing or a cent, as long as we don't acknowledge that services require some funding.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 11:02
French to German
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| BB information | Nov 28, 2011 |
Basically the core information which can be gained through the BB is "free", as one can even view it even without being logged in.
And if someone wants to know the rating of a potential agency client, the names of the posters are IMHO of secondary importance.
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