The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

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Brf
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by Brf »

This is getting off-topic.
This topic is about how to get new users, not how to run the board the way you want to.

If you want to run your board "my-way", then you do not belong in this topic.
naughtynicole
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by naughtynicole »

content, maybe advertising, and possibly SEO support. You definitely want to get it submitted to search engines
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lord.nitos
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by lord.nitos »

I mean, the users is 99% success of our site...
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by Volksdevil »

I'm starting to (Sadly) sort of admit defeat in the back of my mind. My forum has been around a good while now, although it was initially with Invisionfree before converting to PHPBB.

We used to have a couple thousand users and it used to be nice and busy, but after having moved over to PHPBB and tried to stay up to date as far as social networking integration etc it just doesn't seem to be getting used anymore, and I don't know why :cry:

I've just recently set up a Google plus community that's linked to the forum, but then after having a think about it, that's the problem. There are so many different outlets these days that all the 'Community' of a forum is now fragmented over all these social networks. :cry:

Strangely we do keep getting new members signing up all the time, but nobody really posts anything. Another strange thing is that the forum is considered widely to be one of, if not, the friendliest Vw forum around. All the current members say that...but they always come and go.

So to the original question, in this day and age where there are so many outlets for people to socialise on, how do we keep them coming to our forums to participate and become a part of the community?
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by BBWP »

it depends on what type of content your site is related to.

if your site is for popular content then people will register more often
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by AmigoJack »

Volksdevil wrote:nobody really posts anything
I never understood the benefits of social networks, unless they're meant to melt different techniques (chat, guestbook, [cork]board, game, lists...) for those who don't care for details.

Having that in mind, bulletin boards' purpose is to exchange/spread information, mainly textually. Since nowadays a lot of access happens on mobile devices my understanding is, that those users just simply don't have the ability to type a lot, if anything at all - I'd expect them to favor buttons to click on (speak: hit a "like" instead of actually typing that you like it and why).

While making a board style compatible to mobile devices it can't help on the device's possibilities of typing text. If that is a culprit, a solution would be to have more non-textual interaction options for everybody to create content.
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by Volksdevil »

I think you have hit the nail on the head there AmigoJack.
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thatgamesguy
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by thatgamesguy »

Another popular method to get your forum up and running although some people may be against this is to participate in post exchanges. Where you post X amounts of posts on someone else's forum and they do the same for you. This is an effective method to get your board up and running in very early stages.
I would like to try this, where can you find people willing, or get an invite? I don't see why people would be against it, its nothing different than a club. You could also get ideas and suggestions from all the participants.
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by Helixagon »

I've had a fair bit of luck with allowing an advertising board of my own where guests can post, and then posting the site on other similar sites.
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by Volksdevil »

Meh. :( I'm on the verge of just deleting my latest Board. I've put in so much time and effort and yet it just doesn't seem to want to get going...It's very specific with loads of personally hand written stuff too.

Facebook and application style communication wins. And I'm too oldskool to be bothered about designing for people who don't use proper computers...(Damn laptops get on my nerves, never mind tablets, phones etc!)

Think my forum days are over after a good 10yrs tbh! :|
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by BiG_SerGiO »

Volksdevil wrote:Facebook and application style communication wins. And I'm too oldskool to be bothered about designing for people who don't use proper computers...(Damn laptops get on my nerves, never mind tablets, phones etc!)|
FB and kinda like those come and go, phpBB have been here for ages and it will keep working ;)
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by HagoromoOtsutsuki »

Gaining positive reviews from people about my site :)
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mariank
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by mariank »

I've read a lot of the posts here (not all 27 pages :roll: ) but I'm still not getting new members for my board. I have a lot of original content articles and I have a full forum (most the posts are by me using fake names) but I can't get google to place me high at all

Maybe someone can tell me if they think my board has potential

Thanks

* removed *
Last edited by marian0810 on Sun May 25, 2014 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: link removed as per https://www.phpbb.com/rules/#show-off
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by AmigoJack »

mariank wrote: * removed *
  1. 1346 px mininum width: try to size your internet browser window to a lower width and see a couple of your design elements go nuts, i.e. the links near the board keyword search box.
  2. Watermarked pictures - the best indicator of non-original content.
  3. Left and right pane show always pictures. Why? Wasted space. And not everybody is able to script it away on his personal needs.
  4. Left and right pane show always the same pictures. Now they not only annoy but also bore me.
  5. Needless capitalizing: why does every word being with big letters in most titles and descriptions?
  6. Redundancy in texts: "Please Introduce Yourself ... but please introduce yourself". While other people might not be so picky I feel like reading a foreigner with starting skills in that language.
  7. Too many forums for such a tiny content. Start with 3 at max, and after one forum has more than 10 pages you can think of creating another one and move existing topics.
  8. Folder icon backgrounds don't fit the forum row background. To me this indicates beginners. Hell, it's even a GIF, yet you didn't choose to make them transparent?
  9. The publicons promise valid XHTML and CSS, yet both is invalid at least on the index.
  10. Why do the two lists on the initial site (recent & popular) have a height limit? More horrible: scrollbars inside scrollbars. If the administrator/designer of that site is happy with that then I'm wrong in this place.
Last edited by marian0810 on Sun May 25, 2014 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: link removed as per https://www.phpbb.com/rules/#show-off
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mariank
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Re: The hardest question of all... how do you get new users?

Post by mariank »

WOW! - thanks for all those comments. I'll have to go through them slowly and I'll have questions since I don't exactly understand them all. Might take me till tomorrow
Thanks a lot

(anyone else want to add before I get to work?)
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