Is member or post count the most meaningful measure of a forum’s success and if so does that mean having a forum is a numbers game? What value is placed on a forum’s usefulness?
I make no money from my forum so numbers are not a factor to me, usefulness is what I value most. If I thought my forum were not one of the most useful of its type I would close it. Please excuse me if the pride I take in my forum sounds conceited, the effort I put into it is not trivial.
well, numbers might be important for a general discussion forum but not for a support forum like yours.
(2015-02-05, 04:12 PM).m. Wrote: [ -> ]well, numbers might be important for a general discussion forum but not for a support forum like yours.
Your point is well taken. I failed to acknowledge in my OP that general discussion forums have different goals than support forums, how embarrassing! Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Forum stats may play a part in someone deciding to join or not. I would be hesitant to be among the first non-staff to join a forum, or if that forum appears dormant (no new posts in a long time). Also, if the forum appears dormant I would be less likely to visit it on a regular basis.
Hopefully your forum is about a topic which interests you, and isn't just seen as a way to earn money. Some topics are niche and won't have a huge community.
In your particular case, I browse support forums, but only join when I need to ask support or someone else asked for help and there isn't a good answer yet. Likewise, you will see lots of users with just a few posts (once they get their support, they are less likely to return).
I would never attempt to make a discussion forum, general or otherwise. It would bore me to tears. I use the Internet as a tool, to me it’s one big app. I don’t need no smart phone.
I’m not much interested in socializing. Small talk is not part of my skill set, online or off.
And I expect competition among general discussion forums is insurmountable. Having a failed forum would depress me no end.
I don't schmooze my members either. I answer their questions (if I can), that's all.
My goal is to give my members power. REAL power they can use in their everyday lives to get things done using their computers.
If it is a general discussion and not support, the amount of threads and posts does matter more. What may be helpful is editing templates to not show how many posts and threads are in each forum because this way you are more likely for a member to click the name of the forum and find a thread they like. You might also choose to hide the stats on the index page for the same reason.
(2015-02-11, 02:03 PM)dragonexpert Wrote: [ -> ]If it is a general discussion and not support, the amount of threads and posts does matter more. What may be helpful is editing templates to not show how many posts and threads are in each forum because this way you are more likely for a member to click the name of the forum and find a thread they like.
This assumes members/visitors have superficial values and will “judge a book by its cover”.
As soon as they navigate to a forum they will know (or have an idea) how many threads it contains anyway.
Quote:You might also choose to hide the stats on the index page for the same reason.
Already did that.
IMO a support forum with a small number of useful threads is better than a forum with large numbers of chaotic or low value threads. YMMV
Basic stats are nice but extended stats (ProStats plugin for MyBB for example, probably even the stats.php page) are unnecessary and add clutter to the layout.
I would go further and say that with the exception of post date, thread and post count all stats are visual noise.
For example, Board Statistics at the bottom of most forums. People look at that for the same reasons they look at ant farms, they like to watch the ants moving around, it’s a kind of voyeurism.