Attracting new contributors

Cris

Cris

In search of Immortality
Valued Senior Member
The number of contributors seems to have declined recently.

I would like to see more forums added, as has been suggested, but unless we can attract more contributors we could find ourselves being spread very thinly if more forums are added.

Dave - do you have any statistics on hits to the main exosci home page and whether there is an indication of dropoff or not?

Is there anything that could be added to the home exosci page that would attract more forum contributors? Perhaps change the home page tab to say 'discusion forums' instead of message boards. That is a bit weak but I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Cris
 
You could use the shock value of a few exerpts from the message boards. That might draw a few more people from your home page. I'm willing to contribute a few lines if you allow me to create a couple new aliases. <img src = "http://www.exosci.com/ubb/icons/icon10.gif">

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It's all very large.

[This message has been edited by Bowser (edited December 01, 2000).]
 
a would be happy to help

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when christianity ruled the world, it was called the dark ages!
THANK GOD FOR ATHEISM!

voice mail: 1-800-222-6000
pin#- 2442235
 
dexter,

"A would-be-happy-to-help" or "I would be happy to help?"

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It's all very large.

[This message has been edited by Bowser (edited December 01, 2000).]
 
Right now, the primary goal is to improve integration of these forums with the main page. The current system suffers because the two systems act quite independantly (eg. the main page has a messaging system that partially duplicates the funcationality here and users have to register twice to use the forums and the main page).

In the coming weeks, I will be upgrading the software running the forums to <A HREF="http://www.vbulletin.com/">vBulletin</A>. This upgrade will allow me to synchronize the user lists of the main page and the forums. This is important since the main page is attracting new members at a much higher rate than the forums. In one month of operation, ~460 new users have signed up on the main page, whereas the forums have attracted ~800 members in >1 year. This integration will extend beyond simply sharing user lists. I will be able to place on the main page dynamic lists of, for example, the most recent posts/ most popular posts, etc. directly from the forums. vBulletin also has neat features such as private messaging that will further the sense of community and hopefully encourage more people to take part.

As I've said before, when this software upgrade happens, I will at the same time be restructing the forums. Some forums will be removed, and there will be many added. I'm pretty sure that the current forum topics do not totally mesh with the interests of the visitors to the main page, and so I'll be restructuring things to reflect the changing viewership.

Speaking of which, stats on the main page since our relaunch one month ago seem to indicate that we'll be able to maintain a 15-20% growth rate per month. (this is good).
 
"Some forums will be removed, and there will be many added."

Share the details, Dave. Which forums are you throwing away? What are the new forums?

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It's all very large.
 
Well, the removals are pretty much certain. The UFO/Conspiracy/Aliens forums will all be condensed into one. Also, SciFi Culture seems like a fairly useless one.

The additions are still up in the air (and suggestions are welcome!). I'm thinking of expanding the science topics (this is a science site, after all). I'll probably add one forum for each topic on the exosci main page (excluding a few of the less interesting ones). The religious debate forum is probably a reasonable candidate for break-up (perhaps 'religious debate' and 'philosophical debate'?). Finally, I'm thinking about a light-hearted chat forum where people can talk about whatever is on their minds - trivial or not.

[This message has been edited by DaveW (edited December 02, 2000).]
 
Oh, and I like the ideas from the other thread. An arts forum could be interesting, and a scientific ethics forum will definitely be included.
 
Phew! My fear was that you would lose the diversity within this crowd of posters if the topics were limited to only science. The appeal of these messege boards, if promoted, might be used as a gateway to your home site.

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It's all very large.
 
"Oh, and I like the ideas from the other thread. An arts forum could be interesting, and a scientific ethics forum will definitely be included"

I haven't looked myself, but you might want to see if those forums are in use elsewhere and if they are successful.
 
How about Psychology. A place to discuss the dreams we have had at night and some crazy fears or whatever we might have.

I know I have a couple of things I'd like to ash others about. Mine are on the light side, but I'm sure there would be a combination of both funny and sad.

[This message has been edited by Zappers (edited December 04, 2000).]
 
hey davew, will i still be moderator???

please~! i enjoy it very much, reguardless of what corp hudson thinx.

also, i think you should keep scifi, evan though it doesnt get much action, sometimess someone might want to post something in it.



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when christianity ruled the world, it was called the dark ages!
THANK GOD FOR ATHEISM!

voice mail: 1-800-222-6000
pin#- 2442235
 
Dexter,
Yes, you will remain moderator of the new combined UFO forum.
I'll reconsider scifi. It'll take me a few days/weeks to sort this stuff out, so nothing is really certain yet.
 
alright..... i would also sugest a 'computer and tech' forum, since i , and i know others probobly would like to tlak to others, since a good portion of us are computer nerds...

-dexter
 
caution

What's going on in here?
Am I deceived by minest ear?
Was there mention of no new blood?
Or perhaps just the mistake of no love?
Do you have straightjackets for the guests?
May I have one? Why of course! Yes!
Do you like the derailing of your trains of thought?
Is it something you find that can't be storebought?
Will you allow me to introduce mineself?
Could I possibly be of some kind of help?
Why, I could very well help y'all out.
Maybe there is some hope of newness from the south.
Would I be too much of a bother, should I decide to stay?
I don't mean to impose. I'd just like to make a way.
I have all these strange and wonderful ideas I want to express.
But alas, the world is a cruel place. And I'm being suppressed.
But enough about me. How about you?
Enough, enough, enough. I'm through.
 
Idea of the new

I only post here occasionally,mainly because theres not much happening here.The things I do post don't usually generate any responses, and usually have no value.They are just whatever happens to be up in RAM at the time.The Idea I'm throwing out to you guys isn't very exciting either.The main reason I keep coming back is I see some interesting thinking here(sometimes) and I'm sure there are some really smart people here.
How about an advanced math forum?Are there any number crunching nuts here? See... I am not a student. I'm a 38 year old CNC Programmer with tons of real life, real world, math puzzles that a text book person couldn't dream up.(Hyperbolas,Ellipses,Toroids,Modular Formations etc...etc)Whenever I come across something I don't know how to do,I make it a point to learn how.If I don't , it'll eat away at me.It's a cool way to learn.Anyways...just a thought.
G0G90G54X0Y0Z0;
T1M6;
 
New folks

Realizing that these posts started back some time ago in this thread I’ll hazard the guess that these changes have already been completed. Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake. It was confusing at first when I found this site. I kept trying to get into the forums but just didn’t stumble onto the way until later. What initially attracted me were the science, space, astronomy, and other news. Which I notice has not been ongoing lately. Yes, I understand that other chores from real life are pressing and the cyberworld suffers accordingly. One of the first posts I made was under the news column instead of in the forums where it should have been. Anyway as a new member I enjoy the forums and the news. You really find some interesting people in the forums. If there would be a suggestion it would be to ensure that a professional who was willing to devote some time to each individual forum heading. You may already have that, as I said, I’m a new member.
 
New to the Site

Hello

I just registered today, hope I can become an active contributor to this forum.

My background is in x-ray, and I also provide data research on many topics. For approximately five years, I have been an active participant on several message boards. Hope to learn more about some of SciForums topics and enhance my on-going projects ..

Again, glad to be here and hope to meet a few of you from time-to-time

cjosie
 
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