[eoc_Jason]

Okay, last night I couldn't sleep so I pondered on the part of making verified deals, and conceptually here's what I have come up with:

1. In your forum's FS/WTB section, whenever a user makes a new thread, the first post has an additional buton somewhere. Not sure of the name yet, maybe "Deal" or "Buy/Sell" or whatever...

2. Anyhow, people can reply to the thread as usual, however when someone agrees to purchase/sell said item, they click on the button in the first post. This does two things. First - it closes the thread and prepends the thread title with "SOLD -". Second - It creates a relationship between the user who clicked the button, and the person who posted the thread.

(Maybe have an intermediary page that confirms that they do indend to purchase/sell said item and must check a box before confirming.)

3. It will send a PM to both people, just as notification of the transaction. Also in each member's trader ratings page it will have a "pending transactions" link.

4. Under the pending transactions page it lists people who they have done the steps above. If neither person has rated each other, there will be a "cancel" button, however both parties much cancel for it to actually take place, then the original thread will automatically be reopend and title changed back. If one person rates the other, then neither can cancel the deal. They will also have a preset amount of time to rate the other person before the opportunity is lost.

5. The old rating still will still be in place, however they will be considered "unverified" deals. With the steps mentioned above, they will be considered "verified" deals, since there is a link back, they clicked the link with the knowledge of engaging in the transaction, etc...



Overall this shouldn't be too difficult to implement, and I think will enhance this hack a lot. Please give your feedback & suggestions as it's easier to make changes before I start writing/changing any code...