Interview with Lynne Sands, Admin at vBulletin.org

Check out the latest Interview by Lynne Sands

Read the full resource here
http://admin-talk.com/resources/5/

 

Some great and interesting questions asked here. Good read.

 

That was nice getting to know Lynne! She was always helpful to me.

 

LOL @ you busting out with the Xenforo questions in the beginning. smh

and LOL @ Jira. You know Jira sucks when it's almost two years now and they still have to defend it.

 

Lynne is quite possibly the most helpful staff member vBulletin has, and is most definitely an asset.

 

Thanks for the kind words. It was fun to do.

As for the "Jira sucks" comment - I actually really like Jira. I don't see what I said to defend it though. I said that I knew that customers were frustrated by it and I understand that. I use it all the time, so I know it, but I understand that it can look pretty complicated if you aren't familiar with it.

 

vBulletin.org is a breading ground for scammers, that has and will remain my stance forever until they implement some simple systems to combat it.
EDIT(insert): not to say other sites aren`t, but vborg is owned by IB and do little to nothing to protect their paying customers. The lack of ownership of the problem goes well beyond Lynne.

Why vBorg has not implemented a feedback system is beyond me. You could implement a feedback system I imagine in less time than it took you to create a reply to the questionnaire from Brandon and team.

If anything this speaks volumes of how much Lynne and her seniors care about their customers.

Thanks for the interview Lynne.

 

FWIW.. I've never had any issues with being "scammed" on vb.org.
But then again, I'm usually the one looking for work, not looking for work to be done.

 

Yea, almost every for hire has been awful from there which is why I turned to Odesk and eLance. Nothing like feeling helpless when vBorg staff are harboring and protecting the thieves. Really, its what prompted me to write this:
advice-on-hiring-a-developer-for-vbulletin

That said, I know Lynne likely has little to no say on the matters and with the paid request section likely dying off as vB numbers start declining (assuming) its most likely not a priority. With the acquirement of XF perhaps XF will be revived with better systems in place to protect their userbase, but not likely since the mandate ultimately comes from IB. I would think that her reply to the feedback system ``We’ve talked about it but never really decided what to do about that forum.`` is essentially how most things are handled :p

I think the vB3 line is awesome but at all costs I would avoid putting money into their new line of products not only because I dont care for how the software works (more of a personal issue than a functionality one) but also because of how people are treated by vB (ib).

In keeping with the spirit of the thread. I used to trade a lot of bootleg cassette tapes back in the day. Tons of smashing pumpkins, nirvana etc. A few years back I dug out a box with tons of them. Now with technology, mp3 etc they seemed worthless. But something about getting a cassette tape in the mail was awesome!


How much work are you putting into tradersden?
Are you the sole owner?
Any legal issues jump up with the torrenting?

 

I probably spend about less than 5 hours a week on my site. Like I said, I've got awesome mods. The site is pretty much set up to require minimal effort from the mods. I wrote a modification that allows the mods to check off that they read an offering (torrent) and it was OK, or to check certain boxes to tell the user what is wrong. It's also easy for the mods to delete a thread/torrent with the click of a button. It really is easy to run if you know what you are doing (which the moderators do). There are very few things that need to be done to run the site. I do have to take care of backups, but I have that automated and just delete a bunch every so ofter. I also take care of all server stuff, but the amount of time I have to put into that varies, but certainly not more that a few hours a month.

And yes, I'm the sole owner. Although, what that means, I don't know. It's not a for profit site, so I don't make money on it. Being the sole owner just means I am responsible for all the bills. And, I suppose it we ended up in legal trouble, I would be the only person to blame also, That is also why it is important to have good mods!

And no, I've never had any legal issues. Like I said, if I get contacted, I pull the torrents first and then ask questions. This was frustrating when Led Zeppelin went on tour for the first time in forever in 2007 and we got contacted to take down the torrents. None of the other live torrent sites were contacted to do so. So, I pulled them all immediately, told them that Led Zeppelin was allowing this sharing as long as it wasn't for profit, and a few days later I was told they were mistaken and I could put the shows back up. Frustrating, but life goes on.

I'm not sure you really wanted answers to those questions, but you got them anyway.

 

Teeheeheehee..

A logical mind? A woman and logical? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

Just kidding.

Lynne, you are a light in the darkness "over there" and they should be very very happy they still have you.

Scott

 

Thanks, Scott.

 

This was a really good and interesting interview. Thank you @Lynn for answering all the questions that everyone had for you.

 

Hi Lynne
what are your thoughts on something like this:
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2414456

Is this simply an issue with users not searching through that rats nest or a case of InternetBrands and staff protecting one of their own.

Also curious, why did you perform a name change for the scammer?
http://www.cueblip-scammedme.com/lynne-vbulletin-org-in-cahoots-with-chris-candler/

 

^ Referencing the above post by WEfail, I'm a little curious as to the specifics regarding the username change policy.

Lynne could you clarify a little regarding the username change policy over at vBorg?

Started reading WEfail's post which lead to the blog posts at http://cueblip-scammedme.com and I do see that this person (Chris Candler / divisionbyzero) seems to have scammed quite a few members on vBorg over the past 5 or 6 years.

Is anyone allowed to change a username at vBorg for any reason?

 

I don't believe Lynne is going to follow up. Looks like she has her hands full today on vBorg with getting called out for playing an active roll in stealing $$$ from customers.



Sticking with the interview thread... some questions.

Never easy to be an admin. Lynne, in situations like this, do you feel 1 persons crimes / identity supersedes the greater community or those complaining?

What about the people who have had money stolen from them under your watch and your harboring the thieves? Does it not make sense to put better controls in place and distance yourself from the thief rather than those who are customers?

Again, thanks for all the great work you do!

 

The policy is here - User name changes now allowed
Basically, any Licensed member may change their name once every three months.

 

Thanks Lynne and thanks to the team from IB at vBorg for your official response on scammers.

Its much appreciated.