Hello i got 30 registered members and i keep debating shoutbox or not, but im thinking will the activity go....
If you think i should, what shoutbox is the best and why
if not why too..
Depends on your forum to be perfectly honest. If you have a GD forum, then no, a shoutbox is bad no matter what. If you have a Gaming forum, I might add one, just because on my own forum, it kept the members around while I was posting threads.
Yea, for example for game clan or football forums it's a must-have in my opinion, but in others it can be or not.
(2012-06-03, 07:34 PM)Destroy666 Wrote: [ -> ]Yea, for example for game clan or football forums it's a must-have in my opinion, but in others it can be or not.
Yes its a fifa forum, what shoutbox is the best?
(2012-06-03, 08:09 PM)xStefan Wrote: [ -> ] (2012-06-03, 07:34 PM)Destroy666 Wrote: [ -> ]Yea, for example for game clan or football forums it's a must-have in my opinion, but in others it can be or not.
Yes its a fifa forum, what shoutbox is the best?
Keep it
I thought about geting rid of mine but i'd hate to lose my traffic to other chat places(Facebook, tinychat, other forums, etc)
Shoutboxes are useless and pointless in my opinion.
(2012-06-04, 02:40 PM)Anxiety Wrote: [ -> ]Shoutboxes are useless and pointless in my opinion.
Not always. When I first started penhacks, people started hanging around the forum more after I added a shoutbox. And some times I'd get my news from people posting in the shoutbox, which in turn I'd go and post, or I could convince them to go and post it.
I think it really depends on the type of forum you run.
Agree, I hate shoutboxes. It makes newer members feel less welcome, like they can't just jump in as things are moving too fast or whatever.
I'd much rather have a useless chatter thread so at least it isn't in your face if you're not interested. In fact, that's exactly what I do have.
I agree Ryan. Normally shoutboxes consist of already established members talking to others. It can be quite intimidating (believe it or not) for a new user to suddenly join a conversation with people they don't know. Also, if they're talking in the shoutbox, who's posting?
Posting = content and content = traffic. Shoutboxes reduce activity (that's what i have found anyway, it might be different for you) and look rather ugly anyway, lol.
Normally the useless conversations take place in their introduction threads (which decrease if you have a shoutbox) or off-topic discussions in the off-topic section. I much prefer it like that, lol. However, like you said green, it does depend on the forum and its members.
Well I think shoutboxes play a big part in gaming related forums. If you place the shoutbox right people will only use it when they really just want to chat. On my old gaming forum we created a popup shoutbox where users would have to click a small button on the website to make it appear. This way it wasn't in your face as soon as you logged in, but it was there as an option for chatting.