rocknbil - 4:40 pm on Jun 7, 2012 (gmt 0)

Short story: Craigslist **will not** be allowed to be used as a resource to bring traffic to your site. That's not what it's for, so don't bother.

Generally it's user maintained. The users can flag posts and get listings deleted, it is all automated, and the users are extremely voracious about keeping it just what it is. External links are likely to fly swat you faster than you can say "where did my listing go."

RE: Cheesy look: This is one of the sites that doesn't care about what people think about how it looks. It's 100% about function, and those that use it LOVE that about it. In making the "cheesy look" assessment, you're allowing your design sensibilities to interfere with the value of the resource - not that there is anything wrong with that, just that there is a Very Good Reason Craig & co have never bothered to give it an "updated look." When you figure it out, it's pretty enlightening. :-)