Post by fubar on Sept 19, 2005 21:19:23 GMT -5
I am quite new to these forums, but a few things stuck out to me that could be improved upon:
1. I tried signing up for the forums, but it didn’t even occur to me until a week later that you don’t actually need an account to post. This meant that I was waiting around for a week for my account to be approved by a staff member. I couldn’t post under the name I wanted to as a guest, since it told me someone already had it (since I had registered the name Fubar already). The fact that accounts need to be approved does not even really seem to be of much use. At what times would someone be refused an account? My suggestion is that that the fact that accounts need to be approved should be removed, or the fact that no account is needed is made a lot more obvious (it is pretty much standard that when you go to a new forum, you immediately reach for the ‘register’ button). Otherwise, I can't see many people willing to wait around for a week to begin posting (most people hate registering because it’s an extra 10 seconds out of their day). I would assume that you have a LOT of accounts on this forum that do no even have one post to their name, simply because they registered, waited for a day, then moved onto another website because their account was still pending.
2. The other thing is that there appears to be way too many forums. The worst thing for a forum, and the thing that is what kills them first, is when they look empty. Having so many forums with only a few posts each gives the impression that nobody posts here. I would suggest that instead of having:
Flatland
Vert
Dirt
Street
Park
Just combine them into:
FlatLand
Street/Vert
I would also suggest ditching the BMX racing forum altogether. This place is called BMX Freestylers, not BMX racers.
I wont go into a long explanation, but just remember that the more forums you have, doesn’t mean its going to persuade members to talk about more topics, and in essence, make more posts. Start with the minimal amount of forums you possibly can, and then expand as you need them. Up until then, it is detrimental to the forum to have so many empty areas. Look around at what forums have very little posts. If nobody is posting there, do you really need them?
3. In regards to the big logo you have at the top of the forum. If possible, I would suggest making this link back to your main website.
Cheers.
edit - typo. I blame the keyboard.
1. I tried signing up for the forums, but it didn’t even occur to me until a week later that you don’t actually need an account to post. This meant that I was waiting around for a week for my account to be approved by a staff member. I couldn’t post under the name I wanted to as a guest, since it told me someone already had it (since I had registered the name Fubar already). The fact that accounts need to be approved does not even really seem to be of much use. At what times would someone be refused an account? My suggestion is that that the fact that accounts need to be approved should be removed, or the fact that no account is needed is made a lot more obvious (it is pretty much standard that when you go to a new forum, you immediately reach for the ‘register’ button). Otherwise, I can't see many people willing to wait around for a week to begin posting (most people hate registering because it’s an extra 10 seconds out of their day). I would assume that you have a LOT of accounts on this forum that do no even have one post to their name, simply because they registered, waited for a day, then moved onto another website because their account was still pending.
2. The other thing is that there appears to be way too many forums. The worst thing for a forum, and the thing that is what kills them first, is when they look empty. Having so many forums with only a few posts each gives the impression that nobody posts here. I would suggest that instead of having:
Flatland
Vert
Dirt
Street
Park
Just combine them into:
FlatLand
Street/Vert
I would also suggest ditching the BMX racing forum altogether. This place is called BMX Freestylers, not BMX racers.
I wont go into a long explanation, but just remember that the more forums you have, doesn’t mean its going to persuade members to talk about more topics, and in essence, make more posts. Start with the minimal amount of forums you possibly can, and then expand as you need them. Up until then, it is detrimental to the forum to have so many empty areas. Look around at what forums have very little posts. If nobody is posting there, do you really need them?
3. In regards to the big logo you have at the top of the forum. If possible, I would suggest making this link back to your main website.
Cheers.
edit - typo. I blame the keyboard.