FORUM DEATH

[Blah]

The fastest way for a forum to die is to have lots of message boards but very few posters, at the moment there are 30 message boards with 6.23 registered users per message board, this is not sustainable, people will not use this site if posts go unanswered or days go by before a reply is made.

CAN WE PLEASE HAVE SOMEBODY IN POWER MAKE A SENSIBLE DECISION AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF BOARDS, i, like probably most people on here enjoy browsing threads that perhaps i wouldn't normally look at, a message board with diverse subjects posted as threads is 100% more appealing than single subject message boards, its also a hell of a lot less work, not everyone has a few hours to browse 30 message boards.

Diverse boards help generate additional posts and increase participation in debates creating a thriving community.

The whole idea for this forum was to facilitate Janey in serving up confirmed news, that concept has been lost in a sea of message boards completely unrelated to the core reason this board exists.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - Can we have just two or three boards, 'Janeys News', 'General News & Chat' and a 'technical/support' board, there is absolutely NO NEED for any other boards.

Im sure we all appreciate the hard work and effort thats gone into setting this place up and the ongoing moderation etc.. but unless you sort things out, i fear the opportunity to create an amazing news resource will be lost when news is thin on the ground and the excitement for the moderators etc.wears off.


Carry On..

[Mother Mary]

The three Admins talked about this and decided against it. (From your first post)

It is really more difficult to have fewer forums. If we have a Breaking News Forum only and none of the sub categories, then everything gets lost in that one place and then we would have more people complaining about having to search for posts and subjects.

When the site began we had many come to us and ask for more forum categories. For the exact reason I specified above. That is 20-odd people who wanted specific forums vs the handful that don't like it.

As far as I can see most of the posts that don't have "answers" are that way not because a question went unanswered, but because it is a news story. Maybe no one has a comment about it. That boils down to more people coming to the site and signing up, which has to do with advertising. Which we are working on. We are actually working on a few things

The purpose of the site is to bring news, not only through Janey, but also from registered members/guests/other professional journalists.

We have not made this public knowledge, but the percentage of repeat visitors for the site is near 50%. We don't believe we have to worry about a forum death.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

[Blah]

50% return visitors, that also means 50% don't bother which should concern you and lead to the question WHY? also the other thread 4 people agreed there are too many messageboards, whilst two didn't (Non Mods), that should also worry you, in that two thirds have issues with forum structure/design.

First lesson in business, Listen to your customers - Perhaps you can set up a pole with the following question.

Does this forum have too many message boards? Answers: YES - NO - MAYBE

Its your forum and your choice whether you listen to people who visit it.



Carry on..

[Janey]

50% return visitors, that also means 50% don't bother which should concern you and lead to the question WHY? also the other thread 4 people agreed there are too many messageboards, whilst two didn't (Non Mods), that should also worry you, in that two thirds have issues with forum structure/design.

First lesson in business, Listen to your customers - Perhaps you can set up a pole with the following question.

Does this forum have too many message boards? Answers: YES - NO - MAYBE

Its your forum and your choice whether you listen to people who visit it.



Carry on..

I think you are missing the point on the return visitors. This did not mean we have lost half of our readership. We get on average 50% of them returning each day. Some only may come every couple of days and so on. Over the time we have been running very few users have not returned regularly, in fact, the number is less than 10. Mary was quoting daily stats which show that 50% of our users return each day, over the course of a week, that is into the high 90s because not everybody visits every day because of their life committments.

That said, I am entirely happy to take comments from the users here as the website belongs to all. To date, we have had 22 separate requests sent to the mods to create specific areas. We have had numerous comments to keep the forum this way so threads are not lost and people can go straight to the area of interest, rather than wading through reams of pages where threads can get lost in a rolling update format.

You are also skewing the data on thread usage. Our primary focus is major breaking news. I can guarantee you that when a major event happens that requires constant rolling updates we see no less than 100 people on that thread 24x7 as you might expect. You are also referencing registered posters as your benchmark. Only around 20% of of our ongoing readership has actually registered here. A good 80 percent of repeat visitors (who do stay with us) are not registering and reading and posting as they choose.

You are right in that we must build the website that the users want to see. We will be announcing some major developments very shortly on that too, which certainly excites me and puts us into a whole new ballpark. There is a lot of work behind the scenes. However, we have to create the website that the majority want, rather than satisfying the needs of the minority or the one as the case may be.

Not only am I happy to set up polls, I also welcome all comments here or through PM to me directly. I want to build a site that people want to use and enjoy the atmosphere here.

[Blah]

However, we have to create the website that the majority want, rather than satisfying the needs of the minority or the one as the case may be.

Why does that sound wrong????


Good luck with the forum, people posting on here will decline though because no one likes their posts going unanswered or ignored and thats what you get when you have to many Messageboards and not enough footfall, if you cant see the forest through the woods then there's no point in trying to give you the map, real shame because the concept of the site was good.

I wont post about this again, i have made my point already.


Carry on..

[Strawberry]

Thankyou for your feedback Blah. Your concerns have been duely noted.

Just out of interest would you provide a web address to what you had in mind as an example for the way forward.

[cab123]

Thankyou for your feedback Blah. Your concerns have been duely noted.

Just out of interest would you provide a web address to what you had in mind as an example for the way forward.

Good idea Straw, in L's spare time could we have Home added to the jump to area?thanks

[Blah]

GLP is a good example.... where you have a main board, and a separate topics link page, clicking on topic link brings up all related threads in that particular topic. The main thrust of the site is the main messageboard where ALL topics are listed, this allows for browsing for interesting threads without trawling through 30 odd message boards, but also allows topic specific pages.

Presented in that format, you will get significantly more threads with multiple comments and discussion, which will make the site extremely viral. The current format is doomed to fail unfortunately.



Some quick statistics

• there have been 9715 posts on this site including guest posts
  
  4262 of these posts have been made by moderators/ administrators of this website which totals 14 people
  
  thats 47% (Roughly) of posts made by just 14 people.
  

You need to redesign the forum to make it user friendly and viral otherwise it will die.

[Mother Mary]

50% return visitors, that also means 50% don't bother which should concern you and lead to the question WHY? also the other thread 4 people agreed there are too many messageboards, whilst two didn't (Non Mods), that should also worry you, in that two thirds have issues with forum structure/design.

First lesson in business, Listen to your customers - Perhaps you can set up a pole with the following question.

Does this forum have too many message boards? Answers: YES - NO - MAYBE

Its your forum and your choice whether you listen to people who visit it.



Carry on..

50% don't come back? LOL okay, listen, on major websites it is considered really good if they get 35% of visitors coming back. We are above the curve on that one. We did listen to our "customers". They each asked for a specific board and we gave it to them.

Strawberry, I agree with you. I would love to see a forum website with about 200 members and near 10,000 total posts that only has 2 or 3 main forums sections. Maybe if the site is specific to one subject and one subject only it would work, but this sits has many subjects to cover since the news encompasses quite a bit.

[Mother Mary]

GLP is a good example.... where you have a main board, and a separate topics link page, clicking on topic link brings up all related threads in that particular topic. The main thrust of the site is the main messageboard where ALL topics are listed, this allows for browsing for interesting threads without trawling through 30 odd message boards, but also allows topic specific pages.

Presented in that format, you will get significantly more threads with multiple comments and discussion, which will make the site extremely viral. The current format is doomed to fail unfortunately.



Some quick statistics

• there have been 9715 posts on this site including guest posts
  
  4262 of these posts have been made by moderators/ administrators of this website which totals 14 people
  
  thats 47% (Roughly) of posts made by just 14 people.
  

You need to redesign the forum to make it user friendly and viral otherwise it will die.

Okay and I have been there for 2 years and I have seen more then my fair share of people complaining about the format of that site too. Did you miss the threads that talk about how many people there are there and how many posts go without an answer?

People complain about threads falling off the first page, never to be found again. Only does a thread stay at the top of the main page through mods pinning them. People don't search correctly and the same subject gets posted twice and then people whine that their post was first.

I can not believe that someone would come on a site and start spouting on and on about how it is going to die and the site is just over a week old.

Like Janey mentioned...Major news sites have stories and have zero comments. The difference is members here can post their own breaking news stories.

Again...I want the link to a site that has the same amount of members and a subject as wide as ours that only has 2 or 3 total forums boards.

[Blah]

As i cant post the web address in full, please add the extra bits as needed..


GLP

• Main front page address is: 204.74.214.194 This page is the General discussion forum, where EVERY thread is viewable on one message board, this makes for quick scanning of threads to find something interesting.
  
  Topics page address is: 204.74.214.194/topics/ This page gives links to specific topics of interest, clicking a topic link brings up a message board relating to that specific topic, all threads started on that message board get posted on the general discussion message board also..

Whilst it is semantics, in reality most people will view Godlike through 1 message board, which is the general message board, the minority who have particular topics iof interest have the ability to view their particular topic of interest in isolation if they want, but the majority do not drill down.

That format works, is extremely easy to navigate, is user friendly and is viral, In my opinion, if this forum was set up in a similar fashion, it would be 10 times as busy.



Carry on..

[Mother Mary]

I asked for another site besides GLP. I want one that has 2 or 3 forums and is a success.

[Blah]

People complain about threads falling off the first page, never to be found again. Only does a thread stay at the top of the main page through mods pinning them. People don't search correctly and the same subject gets posted twice and then people whine that their post was first.

I can not believe that someone would come on a site and start spouting on and on about how it is going to die and the site is just over a week old.

Mother Mary - Instead of getting defensive, you should maybe consider the facts and suggestions presented, i am bringing up design issues of this site in an effort to get some remedial action so that the site becomes a resounding success, not just another message board that after the initial excitement dies after several months, i have followed Janey from day one on GLP, so i have as much right to come on here "Spouting" my concerns as anyone else.

There are real issues in the way the site is designed for end users, it is extremely difficult to find any threads of passing interest quickly, this poses a real problem in that the end user has to work very hard to get what they want, people will get pissed off and not come back, especially if after they have found something of interest or made a post themselves and it takes two or three days to get an answer if at all because nobody else can be bothered to spend 2 hours going through each individual message board, that is not a viral or successful message board in my opinion, and one doomed to fail.

I have pointed out the problems, others have voiced agreement with those problems, its up to the Admins to decide if they listen or carry on, lets not forget the majority thought the earth was flat, didn't make them right though!


Carry on..

[Mother Mary]

I am defensive because I am speaking for all of the Admins and Mods here. (And I am an Admin!) I am defensive because YOU are the only person that keeps bringing this up.

What does your successful website look like? I want to see it.

To YOU there are real serious site issues. We stand by our decision that it is EASIER to find posts the way we have it setup now. Again...Like 4 total members agreed with you. That is not the majority.

[LLL]

We do listen to what members say, that's why we have so many forums because they have all been asked for and we are listing to you now, that's why you are being replied too.

Don't forget we have not been going long and are always on the look out to make the site better.

In the mean time have you tried

View posts since last visit
View your posts
View unanswered posts

on the home page (right hand side).

[Blah]

Again...Like 4 total members agreed with you. That is not the majority.

4 out of 6 is a two thirds majority of those that replied to the thread and expressed an opinion (Including me), they are also users of this website and their opion actually does matter.


LLL Has the right idea about being courteous and open to discussion on design issues, hat off to you. As for you Mother Mary, you act like a dictator, what you say goes, if you dont like what i say or impose on you.. tough. Reminds me somewhat of many examples of the oppressed people in the world whose opinion also doesn't count because they are a minority (allegedly).

Like i said, good luck with the forum, i wont be visiting again, no doubt the minority view (Allegedly) wont be missed.


Carry on..

[LLL]

Again...Like 4 total members agreed with you. That is not the majority.

4 out of 6 is a two thirds majority of those that replied to the thread and expressed an opinion (Including me), they are also users of this website and their opion actually does matter.


LLL Has the right idea about being courteous and open to discussion on design issues, hat off to you. As for you Mother Mary, you act like a dictator, what you say goes, if you dont like what i say or impose on you.. tough. Reminds me somewhat of many examples of the oppressed people in the world whose opinion also doesn't count because they are a minority (allegedly).

Like i said, good luck with the forum, i wont be visiting again, no doubt the minority view (Allegedly) wont be missed.


Carry on..

Well you are way of the mark with that Blah, Mother Mary has a lot of respect here and at GLP and for good reasons too. I think you are missing the point, I agree with Mary and we are both talking to see what you are really saying you want but don't really under stand.
Mary asked for you to show us a site so we could have a better understanding in what you are saying.

I mean with quotes like this

examples of the oppressed people in the world whose opinion also doesn't count because they are a minority (allegedly)

are taking it just a bit far, after all you asked us to change the site, we asking what you mean and that's it. It's no deeper than that.

[BelgianBoy]

I came from GLP. I do not want to see a CLP 2.0. We came with a purpose. As long as this purpose remains fullfilled I will keep coming. I suspect others will too. Maybe it is "niche marketing"?

[Blah]

Ok ... came back to see the response.. couldn't resist, i like a good debate ;-)


Whether you like GLP or not, the format of how it presents its message board and topics is bang on the money, hence why it gets over 1 million page visits per day.

The argument that peoples threads would be lost because of the high turnover of threads posted is ridiculous, how on earth can you compare a forum with 187 registered members and possibly 800 guests with GLP?

I regularly read a footy fans message board with high traffic levels and guest visitors, membership is around 3000 and the main message board is not hard to keep up with even though its busy, its vibrant and extremely easy to browse for new topics.


The simple questions you need to ask yourselves is this..

• How many threads are started per day?
  How many posts are made per day?

I Doubt new threads would even fill one page of the message board per day, hardly going to kill people to look at maybe two pages is it, as opposed to having to trawl through 30 message boards to find topics of interest.

If people want to read specific topics, then they go to the topics page and click the link that says 'UFO's or 'Middle East' or 'Financial'.

The navigation downside of the way this board is currently carved up into specific topics shouldn't be imposed on the majority who have more than one topic of interest.


What people are not realising is that the time it takes to scour each and every message board for an interesting topic, could be better spent on actually participating in the threads themselves by posting and debating and contributing links etc.

A single main message board allows people to speed browse threads, literally seconds, find something they like and then contribute - The way it is set up now, you need to view 30 different message boards, for people with multiple interests, it is an absolute nightmare having to trawl through 30 message boards to find something interesting.

One major problem with separate boards presented as they are on here, is that it creates the impression that the site isnt very well visited or have a thriving reactive community... its common sense really, a single main message board as the front page is definitely the way to go, just like GLP, along with a separate topics section with links to specific topics also like GLP. This site does not need to be GLP, it just needs to function like it, which is GOOD design.

If people can suggest a reason why the way GLP's message boards are set up is not superior to the way this site is set up i would like to hear it? Anyone...



Carry on..

[BelgianBoy]

On this point Blah is right:

What people are not realising is that the time it takes to scour each and every message board for an interesting topic, could be better spent on actually participating in the threads themselves by posting and debating and contributing links etc.

We are discussing interface, not content. That's another game altogether.

Good job.

Besides: pins can keep breaking stories on top.

[LLL]

Just to let you know we are talking about this and are listening.

[~Om~]

I could name another 3-letter site that starts with an A that is very successful and has an overwhelming amount of subforums. It's my favourite site and I spend at least an hour every day there with no confusion whatsoever.

Personally I prefer organization over mayhem. Just sayin'

[Janey]

what we have done/doing for the new permanent site (yes it looks great so far!) is to reduce down the number of forums as we found some topics could share a forum with each other.

We still have categories, but the shared forums means that it is much easier to navigate. The best of both options I believe.

For example, entertainment, movies, favourite videos etc are now incorporated that into the watercooler. There are other amalgamations too, that make us easier to navigate.

On top of that there are other quite exciting ideas that I will not unveil just yet or LLL and Mary will be chasing after me with a big stick!

[gardener1]

On this point Blah is right:

What people are not realising is that the time it takes to scour each and every message board for an interesting topic, could be better spent on actually participating in the threads themselves by posting and debating and contributing links etc.

We are discussing interface, not content. That's another game altogether.

Good job.

Besides: pins can keep breaking stories on top.

The Libya breaking story is closed, apparently the thread has reached its post limit.

So the world's most important breaking news is now closed for discussion here due to format issues.

Yeah, this is my first time on this site and I think the format could use plenty of retooling.

I give it a low user friendliness rating.

Could....be....great--but it's not.

[miabelieves]

If I may put my 2cents in. If one is registered you can hit on the link in the upper right hand of page it says "posts since last visit" or something to that line. This will give you a list of most recent up to second posts. I don't use the main page unless I just want to wonder into a certain topic. I usually just hit the button and see all up to date active threads. Hope that helps.

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