Thats one thing i didnt understand, i had to go to another site- register and make a few post just to see a deal.......should be no reason at all to have two forums when you can use one.
I was going to vote for "I want BLF to be like CPF, please randomly delete posts and lock threads at your discretion ;-)" but I kinda like things the way they are. 
But anything that will make BLF better is always a good thing.
* I want BLF to be like CPF, please randomly delete posts and lock threads at your discretion ;-) 
This issue is very difficult to treat. In our forum does not allow any type of advertising by dealers.
Not because we bother. We tried, but rare are the dealers who abide by a measure.
Not having to sign up to see offers from them, is commendable, but will convert the forum in a free camp for spam.
Usually,the desire to make money is over the education for them.(At least it is our experience)
Sooner or later we will open again at that section again, although the rules will be restrictive. (To keep our sanity)
Logically, having no sponsors, everyone will have the same opportunities.
Wish you luck with this. The going to need.
Thanks XRAYBoY for your insight, very interesting comments!
IMO, having one post per light in the appropriate battery size section seems very logical and well targeted towards the appropriate flashaholic. Having an entire dealer section invites a copy/paste mass posting of all the dealers sku's, which doesn’t particularly encourage budget deals. Keeping each sku separate will tend to command specific posts alerting us to deals that are truly price worthy. If they aren't, we all seem vocal enough to voice our opinions. In all honesty, I far more enjoy this forum over CPF for the lack of the offensive Nazi mods (which often deserve a good bonk upside their hostile arrogant heads with a 6D maglite). We have a great group here, and I was delighted to actually be asked for my opinion in how the dealers section should be implemented. Thank you for including us. It is much appreciated!
As an aside, I participate in at least a dozen forums, and no where have I ever seen such a dictatorial hostile attitude towards its users as I have repeatedly witnessed at CPF. It is for that reason that I limit my purchases from their paying vendors and buy from others.
If the dealer section gets out of hand here, then I'm sure another vote among members might be considered.
Thank you again for keeping such a great forum where the masses can enjoy this hobby without paying money unnecessarily for several great products. Its great that we have people from many countries to share their experiences and expertise.
I hope this didnt sound like an editorial! 
LOL!
LOL!
This is a little off-topic, but I think it might be fun/rewarding to have some sort of Price wars forum, where dealers can try to beat other dealers prices on popular lights. Might even encourage them to post more discount coupons too. :)
Nautic (in another thread) wrote:
We have been informed of fine new dealers lately, but it was becomming more and more difficult to see
if it was genuine praise for the product or a employe helping his own workplace.
The above copy from my post ended with this, which I myself meant to be the most important part:
"Last but not least: Let us not do as they do at CPF!!!"
That would be very nice!
I second that motion...lol, would be fun for it to be like that.
How about a sub-forum within each battery size category ? Once the online stores realize they can get 'free ads' here, BLF will get swamped. We might find it difficult to locate the non-promotion threads.
Well guys, we're almost split down the middle on this decision it appears. I'm still not sure yet what to do. Anyone want to try to convince me one way or the other?
Another question that is sort of related to this discussion... What about ads? I currently have Google Adsense ads on this site to help out a bit with the hosting costs. How much do you guys hate the ads? I have no control over what ads appear in the Google Adsense blocks on this site, as Google serves up the content. Often they are very relevant, occasionally even helpful. Google Adsense also has an option to serve up image ads instead of the text link ads that I am currently using. If I allow image ads, there might be more useful ads from some budget dealers. But some people don't like image ads.
Another option... Some of the budget dealers might be interested in paying for an ad spot on BLF. Or, they might give special offers to BLF members. How would we deal with this, so that it doesn't get in the way of discussions between users who don't have any vested interest in any particular dealer? I do not plan on filling this site full of annoying or misleading advertisements. But a certain category of the forum could be dedicated to commercial posts. Or I could swap out a Google Adsense block for a "sponsored" ad. But again, I don't want to have much more than two or three ad blocks on any page.
Please let me know what you think guys. Thanks for your opinions and your help on this topic!
Ads - not bothered by them, though image ads by default won't get past the ad blocker. I could block Google's text ads too but choose not to and periodically click on them if they look interesting. Currently the three at the top of the page are all relevant and UK suppliers - Google doesn't seem to know that it is way cheaper to buy such things from China - well I suppose they do now...
I don't mind ads especially if it helps keep BLF afloat. I'm with you on whatever you decide Admin. You gotta do what you gotta do. 
I see there is now a narrow majority for a separate Budget Dealers subforum. I'd certainly be happy with that. In fact, if I didn't have to retype this, I'd change my vote and will do so in a minute.
I assume once you move the forum, costs will become an issue. Speaking for myself, I'm happy to contribute if this will ease the issue. Just now I can afford to do so (This has not always been the case in the last 5 years) and would be happy to if this helps.
But the current ads don't bother me at all and if they defray costs then great...
Right on the button there Don. Never have anything being told so precise. I´m still laughing and cant fall asleep.
I would like to see a Budget Dealers section. However, if the dealers actually take the time to test out their products and show us an in-depth review (comparisons of beam shots, run-times, etc.), I would be more than happy to see those posts in the battery section. If they are just going to copy/paste from their website, I don't really see a benefit to that.
Good point, thanks for your comment. I suppose we could take this on an individual basis. If we ever get a real, entrepreneurial, honest seller with competitive prices who becomes a member here, we could give him preferential treatment.
Another question for the audience...
What do you guys think about the best way to deal with users who sign up here posing as users who only want to give false product promotions? I believe they would be classified as "schills". Again, I would prefer to not be the only one who just arbitrarily deletes these users, because another site with eminently powerful moderators already exists, and we don't want to be like them. 
I was thinking about configuring something like this for every user and/or every post:
When too many of our users get annoyed by a posting (lets say a -5 rating) the post automatically gets moved into a trashbin category. And when a user rating dips too low, he gets blocked or deleted.
I think this might be a good option so that the fate of our users doesn't depend on a single cranky administrator or a single disagreement between two users here on BLF. What do you guys think?
Great idea sb56637 .
How about having new users moderated until they make 3 approved posts?