New Forum Idea

I'm open to changing most things on the forums, although the forums have already been re-arranged just a couple of weeks back - so I'd like to avoid any further major changes to the categories if possible (as the URLs change each time this happens).

P2P is a definite no though, as it could get the site (and me!) in to real trouble .

 

I've edited your rules post and stickied it, as for staff attendance, theres usually one of us around every day, I for myself visit at least once per day and read ALL new posts.

 

Here is an FYI:
My email that is tied to this account is tied to my phone as well.
THQ sends me an email when I get a Private Message.
If you send me a PM I will know about it within seconds.
If you see spam, or have an issue feel free to shoot me a PM and I will handle it ASAP.

 

If we start looking at every new member as a potential spammer then we lose our 'everyone inclusive' approach. New members have restrictions placed on their accounts for a limited number of posts, once said post count is reached, full access as a member is granted.
We find this system has worked well, and as mentioned above, although there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity recently, the forums are well moderated. Just as a side note, the forums have been active since 2002, although orginally named BinaryDreams, we have had a solid moderating team for nearly a decade.

As far as I know we are not in need of extra moderators at present, maybe when things pick up and traffic and post counts start going up.

 

I appreciate you not wanting to cause disruption, however, moving this thread into the staff room makes it unavailable to regular members who might have good ideas to contribute. It also means Maurice and you wouldnt be able to see it.

 

Until the forums grow I don't think we'll be adding any moderators, as between us we all check in most days and read all of the posts on the site. Once activity picks up then we can expand as there are lots of good candidates .

It's pretty rare that we get spam now, as those that get past Akismet and StopForumSpam are zapped pretty quick - the report post button notifies all mods with a couple of clicks.

Activity is the main problem, as we've got lots of people willing to answer questions, but not many questions to answer .

 

Feel free to post as much content as you wish

 

Ok Wolfeymole, I have to ask, what exactly is the intention behind posting a screengrab of the active users screen. It points out that there are numerous guests on the boards, and yourself and Ian.

People here have day jobs and dont sit on the forums all day hoping someone will post. If there is an issue, the relevant people get alerted, myself included.

 

And here lies the problem. As Wolf mentioned, we had a nice long conversation via PM.
I agree with the points that he is making. 1 or 2 people can't turn this board around, it needs to be a group effort.
The 1st few days after the re-org I was posting current events and tech news like it was going out of style.
During that time frame, we got 2 new members and a boat load of spider hits.
Shortly after, my duties changed, and I could no longer spend my day monitoring THQ and searching the web for content.
Since I was the only one bringing in content, when I stopped, traffic tapered back down to almost nothing.

Fast forward to Wolf showing up, and here he is bringing in loads of content.
His screen shot shows the results.
The last time I saw 80 guests hitting this site was right after the re-org when I was flooding the site with content.

The weight of this site's success or failure falls squarely on the shoulders of the staff.
I stopped flooding the site with content because it was taking 3 or 4 hours a day of reading news articles and searching for the latest gadgets to find good content to post.
Since I could no longer do that from work, where is the motivation to come home and spend that time knowing that I will be the only one?
I openly admit that I need to step up my game again.
Don't think that I am excluding myself when I say the staff needs to step.
I am also one to blame for the site's current state.

Nick is right, we have a solid staff.
The problem I see is, that everyone has gotten used to it being dead around here and no one wants to dig in and turn it around.
Really, who wants to hang around on a dead forum?

That is my :2cents. Honestly I agree with Wolf here and it's not very often that the Ban Stick sides with a newcomer.

 

Maybe I'm failing to see the point in his screengrab. It IS clear to see the forums are lacking in activity, but at I don't think wolfs screen was to demonstrate how when a thread is updated it brings traffic, rather I'm assuming it was to prove a point about members current activity.