The Infinity Program - Webmaster http://theinfinityprogram.com For all articles having to do with maintaining a website. Permissible subjects include, but are not limited to, picking out a host and domain, choosing the software for your message board, designing web pages, and improving SEO. en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:27:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://theinfinityprogram.com/enlighten/misc/rss.jpg The Infinity Program - Webmaster http://theinfinityprogram.com Interview with Patrick O’Keefe — iFroggy Network founder and author of Managing Online Forums http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3895&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:13:47 GMT Patrick O'Keefe is a website developer and manager—in short, a webmaster. He specializes in website and community management, writing, and social media. His experience in community management has even prompted him to write Managing Online Forums, a comprehensive guide book on the subject. Mr. O’Keefe began developing websites for clients in 1998, eventually shifting to managing his own sites. He has run the iFroggy Network, his network of websites covering various interests, since 2000. The websites under his care include, but are not limited to, phpBBHacks.com, KarateForums.com, PhotoshopForums.com, and ManagingCommunities.com. In addition to maintaining numerous websites, Mr. O’Keefe is often found participating in speaking engagements and web/podcasts having to do with matters of the Internet, social media, techology and more. Finally, he has served as an expert reviewer for SitePoint, and has written for several online publishers.

For this interview with Mr. O’Keefe, I wish to start by asking a few “basic” questions that will tell the reader more about the man and his work, followed by questions related to his area of expertise. After that, I will end the interview on a more whimsical note with miscellaneous questions. While I am talking about the format of this interview, I should also disclose the manner in which it was conducted: as Mr. O’Keefe maintains a busy schedule, I thought it best to take questions I decided on, and hand them over via email for him to then answer at his own pace.

Now, without further ado, here is the interview:

Kevin Malone: Mr. O’Keefe, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. To start, I was hoping you could tell me about your educational background?

Patrick O'Keefe: Thank you for having me. I was homeschooled for grades K-12. Not being at school for 8 hours a day (plus having homework on top of that) allowed me the time to experiment with entrepreneurship. I graduated a year early and decided to run my network of sites full time.

Kevin Malone: So is developing websites primarily how you earn an income?

Patrick O'Keefe: Yes, it is.

Kevin Malone: College prep English emphasizes a writing process from pre-writing to final draft. However, there is room for deviation, and each writer goes about the process in his own way. What is your writing process?

Patrick O'Keefe: I guess it depends on what I am writing. With the book, for example, I wanted to make sure that I could write it before I started pitching it to publishers. I began by making a note of everything I wanted to talk about. I would be on one of my communities, would deal with a situation and then would say “hey, I should write about that.” Eventually, this list of notes grew to a respectable size. I organized it and began to write it all out.

And then I went over it several times, adding things, adjusting things and rereading it. After I signed with my agent, Neil Salkind (http://www.salkindagency.com), we went back and forth on it and I bulked it up even more. When we signed the deal with AMACOM (http://www.amacombooks.org), it then went through their editorial processes. Basically, this was going through a few rounds of edits, from a development editor, associate editor, copy editor, etc. A final round of checks and there is your book. I probably read through it fifty plus times.

But, obviously, writing a blog post or article length piece is a bit shorter of a process. I’ll have the idea and just starting writing the article, doing whatever research is necessarily. Once finished, I’ll then read through it at least one additional time once it is done before I publish it. Nothing too complex.

Kevin Malone: How was your experience with your publisher, AMACOM?

Patrick O'Keefe: Overall, it was a good experience. Generally speaking, when you are pitching a book, most people aren’t interested. When someone (in this case, the executive editor on the project, Jacqueline Flynn) believes in your idea and the company will put money behind that belief, it means something. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the whole editorial process went. They improved my work and made the book as good as it could be, while also allowing me to make the points I wanted to make.

It was important to me to work with a publisher who could make the book available in stores, as well, and they managed to do that – it was in pretty much every Barnes & Noble store in the country at one point or another and that was really cool and an honor, because most books don’t even make it that far. So, I’m happy.

Kevin Malone: Why publish on Kindle and eBook?

Patrick O'Keefe: Generally speaking, I believe that it is a good idea to make your book legally available through the avenues where people will look to purchase it. And with the book being on a web topic, it only makes sense for the book to be available digitally through eBook and on the Amazon Kindle, as well as other reading devices. In the interest of disclosure, I am an Amazon.com shareholder.

Kevin Malone: I understand you are on a speaking tour, and have several events related to that coming up. Also, you informed me that you started speaking after your "book was announced and the book itself was released in April of 2008." How has the experience been for you? How much do you enjoy public speaking?

Patrick O'Keefe: The experience has been good, overall. It’s very rewarding to get on stage, give a talk and have people tell you that it helped improve some aspect of their life or business. It can be nerve wracking and stressful, but I do enjoy it. I hope for it to become a larger part of my life, as a paid speaker.

Kevin Malone: In your interview with sparkBB’s Chris Davis, you answered the question of how it is like to manage several high-traffic forums by emphasizing how all your concerns are magnified. You mentioned having to be tougher in your commitment, and having to put in more time and effort. Additionally, you stated in your “About” page on ManagingCommunities.com that you write content and copy for the entire iFroggy Network. That said, what are some of the things you have done to lessen the stress of managing so many high-traffic communities? In other words, what have you done to ensure you stay committed without encroaching too much on your other responsibilities?

Patrick O'Keefe: I think that routines help. Having specific times when you do things, rather than trying to do them all the time or at random moments. It can be very tough and I am feeling that right now and having to make choices as to what I dedicate my time to – even having to step away from projects in some cases. Keeping notes of things I want to do is helpful for me, as well, because it removes it from my mind and I can refer to it later.

Also, it is important to simply take breaks and do other things. As an entrepreneur, it is challenging to have a life outside of your work because you love your work and you don’t have a 9-5. Every waking moment is an opportunity to improve your business. But, there are more important things in life, like your family and health and you have to be careful not to neglect those things because they will pass you by and one day you’ll look back and wonder “what happened?”

Kevin Malone: I read your blog post wherein you described a member equating your suggestion to use a different post color as racial profiling, and in which you mentioned being called something so vile that you could not recall any worse. In that topic, I clicked the link to a related one wherein you alluded to several more examples. However, you also pointed out, in that second article I alluded to, that the haters out there do not represent “even a noteworthy number of people.” Even so, does it not contribute to stress? Certainly, though you may not let it pull you down, it must be there to a degree, especially for someone as busy as you? Do you sometimes find yourself having to take a vacation from any one, or all, of your communities? If yes or no, what would you suggest to your fellow forum administrators out there who deal with the stress and wonder how to lessen it?

Patrick O'Keefe: In that post, I said that I have come to terms with the fact that people will hate me, but I would differentiate that from “haters.” I didn’t actually use the word hater in that post, because I am really mindful of how I use that word. I think it gets overused today. Too many people dismiss criticism or simply different taste as hating. And crazy people aren’t always “haters,” they are just crazy people.

But, the answer is yes, it does contribute to stress. Over time, you get used to it and most of it, you can easily dismiss as some random lunatic. Then, what becomes stressful is when someone does it who you expected so much more from. Someone you may be familiar with, someone you may have liked, someone who may have made some legitimate contributions to your community. The closer you get to people, the more able they are to hurt you. But, that’s no reason not to get close to anyone.

Vacations are good, regardless of what line of work you are in or whether or not you are dealing with some major stress at the moment. Everyone needs to take a break, recharge and consider where they are.

Sometimes, you just have to let something pass and there isn’t much you can do about it. It may weigh on you for a bit, maybe a couple of days, but eventually life will go on and you will get back to business. When you are feeling that stress, sometimes there isn’t much you can do. But, different people respond to it in different ways. Whatever relaxes you, do that.

Kevin Malone: Michael G. Kimsal, a reviewer of your book at Amazon, expressed the wish that you had more to say about the major forum software packages available. This reminded me that, since I joined the phpBBHacks.com Support Forum in June, 2004, and the next year when I discovered your CommunityAdmins.com, you were using phpBB2 for both. In fact, to this day, those two forum communities are using phpBB2. I cannot say if your other forum communities were using phpBB2 years ago, but after looking at them recently, I see that they are now. Certainly, though, you must have strongly considered using a different forum software package before you started your first forum community? If yes, what was it that tipped the scale in favor of phpBB2 for you? Also, was there ever a time after you settled on phpBB2 when you considered converting at least one of your communities (well, besides phpBBHacks.com) to another forum software?

Patrick O'Keefe: When I started to look at options for hosting my own community (and moving off of a remotely hosted solution, which is where I started), it was back in 2000. Back then, we didn’t have all of the viable free options that we have now. The forum software landscape is blessed to have several very good options out there and that is a good thing for everyone.

I forget all of the options. But, there was UBB (Ultimate Bulletin Board), which was pay. There was Ikonboard, which was around version 1, I think. vBulletin was in version 1. YaBB was another one, also in version 1. I feel old. Everything was version 1. Heh. So, after evaluating the options, I decided upon phpBB (version 1.2.x, I believe, was the first one I used in a live environment). I just liked it and found it (after some practice) easy to customize and install.

I haven’t really seriously considered moving off of it since then. phpBBHacks.com was created out of need. It was the first site dedicated to phpBB hacks and customizations. There wasn’t a database prior to it. It has really set the standard for kind support within the community. I am so familiar with phpBB at this stage, and so tied into the community, that it is hard for me to look at much else. phpBB has a great community around the software, which is one of the main things that makes it great. As an aside, having all of my communities on one piece of software also makes them easier to maintain.

With the book, I specifically avoided software because that’s not what it was about. The book is about strategy and about the people aspects of online community, not about software. Software changes all the time, but good strategy doesn’t.

Kevin Malone: What do you think of phpBB3? Are you much interested in the future of the phpBB software, or are you only mildly interested at this point? Have you simply not converted any of your forum communities to phpBB3 because of the time it would require to implement it and then re-add the features you created, or because you do not think the benefit substantial enough to warrant the time and effort?

Patrick O'Keefe: From my experience with it, phpBB 3 is great. I look forward to using it and I am interested in the future of phpBB. The reason I have not yet converted is simply due to lack of time and resources. When it comes to these technical things, for the most part, it’s just me. To update 4 communities with all of the various considerations that they have is a time consuming endeavor. But, I am slowly making progress on it.

Kevin Malone: Shawn Hogan, administrator of the Digital Point Forum, refuses to add customizations to his forum that he did not create. Are you the same way? Why?

Patrick O'Keefe: Absolutely not. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that perspective, but I am not a programmer and the customizations that I have created are and will be very limited. Plus, even if I was a programmer, I wouldn’t want to reinvent the wheel every time I needed something. Obviously, I run phpBBHacks.com, so that would be kind of an odd thing to say! The community collective that releases customizations for phpBB is the greatest strength of the software and I fully appreciate it.

Kevin Malone: What are the ways in which you promoted your websites? What role did social networking play? Did you utilize “promotion forums,” or those forums built around the idea of giving members “services” with which to advertise their communities, such as post exchange deals, advertisements on the promotion forum itself (e.g., in the header, or in an active member’s signature), and reviews?

Patrick O'Keefe: I have never had any marketing budget, so most of what I have done is use free and organic means of promotion. Cross promotion between my sites and other sites, mentions in my profiles and signatures, partnerships with other people, etc. I really view quality as marketing. So, having a community with a great environment is marketing – it makes your community more attractive to visitors. Having good content is marketing. If you are familiar with inbound marketing, that is basically what I have done (before it was called that).

I view social networking as part of what some of my sites are about. But, as far as tapping into other social networks, that is something I have done as some of the main social sites have grown in popularity. (You have to remember, some of my sites were launched before there was a MySpace or a Facebook). Twitter is a consistent referrer for Bad Boy Blog and ManagingCommunities.com, for example. I don’t do as much as I would like, but I hope to do more in the future with Facebook and Twitter, especially.

I have not used any promotion forums. I just haven’t had the occasion.

Kevin Malone: In a topic at CommunityAdmins.com, you expressed the utmost confidence in your ability as a community manager, and with so much experience under your belt that is understandable. Even so, you had to start from somewhere. As you were working on projects and gathering experience, was there anyone in particular in your field of work that you looked up to, or continue to look up to? What advice or action from him or her was most memorable to you? For an example of “action,” perhaps how he handled a situation at his forum, or how he interacted with his members on a regular basis, inspired you?

Patrick O'Keefe: We all have to start somewhere. Confidence comes from experience. My first community was on the Everyone.net remotely hosted platform. There weren’t user accounts or guidelines, that I can recall. But, piece by piece, I learned.

And I learned from everything. I learned from members, I learned from what others did, I learned from administrators who I served as a moderator under. It’s really hard for me to name names as it was a lot of people and it was often bits and pieces of information. There were both good and bad examples around me. But, I learned from them all.

Kevin Malone: I recently wrote an article about what I called “misused community building methods.” In that article, I named copy-paste introductions, substance-less topics, substance-less email updates, and substance-less post exchanges. What do you think are the most common and notable community building methods that less experienced administrators misuse?

Patrick O'Keefe: I don’t know. I think that short posts and what not are a part of any community. I don’t view them as particularly damaging. There are some things that I view as unethical. For example, post exchanges or paid post arrangements where one person acts as more than one person. I think that’s a bad thing to do. Not only ethically, but because, eventually that person will go away. What happens if another member liked that imaginary person? How do you explain that? You have to have better foresight.

Another thing is, of course, spamming. Whether blatant or subtle, using someone else’s community to build yours is an underhanded tactic that no responsible community administrator should engage in. Treat people how you want to be treated. Unfortunately, I see this all too often.

Kevin Malone: Now for a change of pace. How does the future look for Patrick O'Keefe? What are your personal goals and plans?

Patrick O'Keefe: I am focused on managing the websites that I have now and continuing to make some tough decisions that will free me up for bigger opportunities. I am working on making the transition to paid speaking and I hope for that to become a bigger part of my life, as well. It’s hard for me to get too specific on a question like that. I work hard and try to put myself in the position to be successful and that’s pretty much it.

Kevin Malone: What in the tech world really gets on your nerves?

Patrick O'Keefe: It bothers me when people stifle experimentation because they don’t like change or because they like to be critical. Without experimentation, we never get better. If you don’t like what someone is doing, that’s fine, but if what they are doing is different, that’s often good for everyone in the space because we can watch and learn from what happens. Whether it is successful or not, we have to push the boundaries if we don’t want to always be stuck in the same place.

Kevin Malone: If you could invent one thing, what would it be?

Patrick O'Keefe: If I had a good idea, I would probably want to keep it to myself until I did invent it.

Kevin Malone: What is the funniest joke you know?

Patrick O'Keefe: Wow, I have no idea. But, I love Jim Gaffigan.

Kevin Malone: If you did not have to worry about making money, what occupation would you choose, and why?

Patrick O'Keefe: Another tough one. I might still do what I do now, just in a different (probably more relaxed) context. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a baseball player.

Kevin Malone: Tell us something about yourself that we do not already know.

Patrick O'Keefe: Sticking to the baseball tip, when I was in little league, I was on the all-star team four consecutive years in three different leagues. ]]> Webmaster Hyperion http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3895 Creating the ideal guest welcome message for your forum http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3838&goto=newpost Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:58:54 GMT What is the 'guest welcome message'?

The guest welcome message, as it relates to the Internet forum, is a notice, usually placed near the top of the front page (whether the index or the portal), which explains to the first-time visitor what the forum is about, and entices him to register. Whether a forum software displays this message by default (e.g., vBulletin), or it is added by the forum's host (e.g., FreeForums) or administrator, it can most often be edited by the administrator to suit his needs.

Along those lines, the welcome message is sometimes aligned above, or in a column beside, the forum listing on the index page. Also, there are administrators who have used the description area of the first forum of the forum listing of their index page to create the welcome message when limitations by their host or software have prevented them from creating a separate notice.

Why should I care?

If you are reading this, you are likely already an administrator of a forum, or are interested in becoming one, and want to find out how to increase registrations. Similarly, if a guest is already reading your welcome message, he probably already has an at least cursory interest in your forum. That said, the welcome message has the potential for great value, as it allows your guests, within a few seconds after arrival, to be presented with everything he should know about your forum in a single area of a single page (more on that below).

Of course, there are forums out there that already get a steady stream of new members from an attached website, but you may find that the attached website already has a welcome message of its own, and so the forum needn't perform the duty of informing the guest of its purpose. For the sake of this article, anyway, my concern lies with stand-alone forums, or forums without an attached website. The stand-alone forum, then, must either make up for the lack of attached website by adding a portal, or by finding ways to highlight content on the index page. When only the latter option is chosen, you may find the index page populated with a sidebar and notices, or links to content or services the administrator wishes to highlight.

What information should I include in the guest welcome message?

Before getting into what should be in a welcome message, let us examine the following one provided by default for vBulletin:

Quote:
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Although "dry," this welcome message is professional (e.g., it avoids the common mistake of pleading) and direct (e.g., it avoids making unsupported declarations that tell the guest nothing, such as "this is an awesome forum"). Even so, it is clearly meant to generalize for all vBulletin forums, and says nothing about what your community is and has to offer (the most important point of a welcome message). Also, a lot more useful information can be stuffed into a welcome message much smaller than the one above.

In an article on Squidoo titled "Make Them Stay Longer & Return Frequently," it was stated that you should "[w]rite an engaging introduction" and "[m]ake your content into a story format." To start, then, you can welcome the guest, briefly describe what your forum is about, and then mention why you created your forum. For example, take a look at the following excerpt from the welcome message of this forum:

Quote:
Welcome to The Infinity Program, a general discussion forum. As the founder, my goal was to create a community that would last, and that would pride itself on purposeful discussion and relaxed (though not arbitrary) moderation.
Similarly, here is the welcome message for The Admin Zone:

Quote:
The Admin Zone is the resource for owners and administrators of online communities. Join TAZ now to have full access to all that we have to offer! Don't be satisfied with lurking when you can interact with thousands of other admins - Register Now!
For the second welcome message quoted, less about the community in question is mentioned, but a brief mention of the forum's purpose, and at least one major reason to join, is included. Also, that community has a portal page, which includes the following, much more descriptive welcome message:

Quote:
The Admin Zone is an online Community of Bulletin Board owners and administrators dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information relating to all aspects of managing Message Board Communities. Our goal is to become the leading resource for every Bulletin Board Administrator seeking the information and advice needed to plan, launch, and manage their online Communities.
As you can see, this one isn't much longer than the portion of the welcome message to TIP quoted above, but it is more informative and includes three things I suggested adding (i.e., a welcome, a brief description of the forum, and an explanation for why the forum was started).

Moving on, you can also make the guest aware of topics about your forum. That in mind, here is another excerpt from the welcome message for TIP:

Quote:
If you are a new comer and want to know more about this place, read the “Guide,” “A Short History of the Forum,” and the highly entertaining “A Brief History of the Universe.” Alternatively, if you want to submit feedback, contact us.
In this case, three topics were linked to, the first of which (i.e., the "Guide) is a customized FAQ that includes a lot of information about the community, and about special features found at the forum. The other two topics, on the other hand, are both historical accounts of the forum, though one of the two is more fanciful or comedic.

As for what other topics you may link to, here are two more examples: the rules and staff list. At any rate, these are but examples, and you can certainly come up with your own topics to point out to your guests, even if one or more of them are already listed elsewhere in the forum, such as the menu.

In addition to what's been suggested above, you may go so far as to create a bulleted list of what your forum has to offer. For example, you may mention the following: a gallery, directory, photo album, classifieds, and chat. If you go this route, though, it would be more beneficial to make sure your examples are unique to your forum.

How can I encourage my guests to read the guest welcome message?

First, there is the obvious issue of placement. Fortunately, most welcome messages are, as I said, placed above (or beside) the forum listing on the index page. However, there is still the danger of the welcome message being undermined by having several other features above it, such as a shoutbox, or a listing of the latest album pictures. If you must populate your index page with so many features, try to keep the welcome message prominent and high enough so that it is one of the first things a guest sees after the banner.

Contrarily, you should avoid making your welcome message too lengthy, and cut down on vertical space; i.e., make it as concise as reasonably possible. After all, as I've shown above, forums can be summed up in about one or two short paragraphs, and maybe a short, bulleted list. Along those lines, watch out for wordiness and repetition; aim to cut down your message to the bare essentials. By cutting down, though, you need not be overly formal, and you need not sacrifice narrative.

Remember that article on Squidoo mentioned earlier? Another related article from that website is titled "Understanding How Visitors Read Online." That article, furthermore, starts by pointing out that visitors scan rather than read, and then links to a 1997 study by web usability consultant Jakob Nielsen titled "How Users Read on the Web."

What is most important about this study, as it pertains to this article, is the accompanying "heat map," which shows the areas visitors look at with the greatest frequency (red means most). As you can see, the banner area features prominently, but then even more so the area right below the banner area, followed by the main content itself.

In the case of the forum, the welcome message would be in one of the most heavily scanned areas, and should therefore be given much consideration by the administrator. Along those lines, I already mentioned placement, and conciseness. In regard to the latter, I must quote Mr. Nielson, who made a list of considerations to make when crafting your content, including the following: "half the word count (or less) than conventional writing".

It should now be apparent that you have to employ a few tactics to try to get the welcome message to capture the guest's attention. Here is another point, then, that I spotted in the first Squidoo article I linked to:

Quote:
Highlight, underline or bold important keywords or phrases.
Remember that "bulleted list of what your forum has to offer" mentioned above? Well, why not highlight "gallery, directory, photo album, classifieds, and chat", as well as any other features mentioned? When coupled with the bulleted list, the additional formatting quoted above, when used appropriately, work in unison to capture and maintain the guest's attention until he is through reading it.

What if I want a long guest welcome message?

If you are not simply being wordy and redundant, and making use of links does not shorten the welcome message enough to allow the guest to see the forum listing without having to scroll down, you will just have to use your judgment to weigh cost and benefit. In other words, if you feel that your lengthy welcome message is helpful enough that added scrolling is worth it, so be it.

I have ideas, nevertheless, that may prevent some of you from choosing to display such a long welcome message on the index page:
  1. Add your lengthiest version of the welcome message to your portal, and add a more concise one to your index page. If you remember, I gave The Admin Zone's two welcome messages as an example of a forum using this idea.
  2. Add the most important details to your welcome message on your index page, and then add the click-able text "Read the rest..." at the end, which will direct the guest to a page containing the full version of the welcome message, including the less important details.

In Summary
  1. The welcome message is a notice placed near the top of the forum that tells the guest what it is about and why he should join.
  2. There are numerous ways to customize the welcome message. A particularly noteworthy idea used by several administrators was to convert the description area of a forum into the welcome message.
  3. The welcome message is being read because the guest likely already has at least a cursory interest in the forum. Also, since so much information can be presented to the guest in a single area, the welcome message can serve a most valuable purpose.
  4. The first part of your welcome message should be a welcome followed by a short description of the forum's purpose, and an explanation of why it was made.
  5. Include links to topics about your forum, such as a customized FAQ, history page, rules, and staff list.
  6. A list of features your forum has may be useful, too.
  7. Give the welcome message good placement, by concise with it, and highlight key words and phrases.
  8. There are other places to display a longer version of your welcome message, if need be.

Conclusion

The welcome message can be valuable, but it's not essential; there are other ways to fulfill the role of quickly informing and winning over the guest. For example, I'm aware of at least one forum that has a most prominent link on its menu of an "About Us" page that also includes, in the drop-down, links to several more pages, such as Privacy Policy and Contact Us. Additionally, the "About Us" page is shown in several more areas, such as in the footer. That said, the guest would not have a hard time finding what he needs to know about the forum all in one spot, just as the welcome message would do; the only difference is in one click to see it.

Finally, you can certainly get much more creative with your welcome message than indicated above. For example, I know that some administrators have added a fancy and click-able "Join now!" image, which has been neatly aligned to the left of the welcome message in the same column.

Whatever you do, just remember that the welcome message should suit the guest, and to do that it must tell him what he wants to know: the mere facts of what you have to offer, rather than a propagandized version filled with vague and unjustified claims. ]]> Webmaster Hyperion http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3838 Misused Community Building Methods http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3782&goto=newpost Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:59:49 GMT There have been numerous articles created about how to build content on your forum and keep a community going. For example, it has been said many... There have been numerous articles created about how to build content on your forum and keep a community going. For example, it has been said many times that you, as the administrator, should get involved with your community (e.g., by posting topics, starting competitions, and replying to inquiries). However, as I mean to show examples of below, there are community building methods thought beneficial that administrators often misuse.

Starting Topics

It is often advised of an administrator to start topics on a regular basis, in order to keep his members interested. For example, in an article by Shawn J. Gossman, "How to run a successful forum: Getting Members and Posts," one of the advices given is to keep your "forum active by keeping fresh content on it." To do this, one of the two suggestions he makes is this: decide on a set minimum amount of topics and replies to submit each week.

The problem, however, is that inexperienced administrators who pick up on this advice will often focus on quantity while paying little attention to quality. What I mean is simply this: there are no shortage of forums stock full of the same non-substantive topics that ask what your favorite day of the week is, or what your favorite color is.

Sure, topics may be posted that have a lot more potential for worthwhile discussion, but they are wasted when the administrator simply asks members for their opinions on the topics without providing his own. Even if a topic has been covered before, it can be made far more interesting if, in the opening post, the administrator adds a few sentences detailing his stance on a subject, or any other observations about it.

That said, regularly posting new topics increases the probability that members will post, which increases the probability that they'll become, and will remain, active. However, by adding substance to your topics, you will do a much better job of keeping your members entertained, and will make better use of the topics you post.

This advice, in any case, will be of more consequence to forums that don't rely on members' desire to promote, or obtain something of benefit that hasn't to do with your community. For example, on promotion forums, members will post regardless of the quality of content because increasing their post count helps them obtain "services" which they'll use for the benefit of their own forum, and a certain post count may be required to submit an advertisement. Also, there are forums that people will join only to meet the minimum post count to receive movie downloads, or other media. Nonetheless, since most forums aren't based on promoting other forums, or serving merely as a portal into the downloads section, the focus for their administrators will have to fall on something else, namely content.

Even if you are the promotion or download-able content type of forum, however, this advice may help you with content and interaction, but that will depend on the type of community you want to build; i.e., if quantity takes precedence over quality, so be it.

Exchanging Posts

I do not make use of post exchanges, and I have reservations about that "service." However, this is but my philosophy, and I do not deny that post exchanges may benefit a community.

That out of the way, the problem with the post exchange, as an inexperienced administrator may choose to use them, is that they settle for poor quality. Furthermore, this problem coincides, to a certain extent, with the problem detailed above about the submission of non-substantive topics.

Often times, a set amount of topics and posts will be agreed upon by both participants of a post exchange before it is carried out. However, the worth of that content is often not a consideration thought worthy of discussion (if even thought of at all), and so non-substantive topics and replies by an administrator may be compounded with non-substantive topics and replies by the exchanger, which will help in creating and maintaining a community where discussions and interactions are of a low quality.

As said above, anyway, you don't have to settle for poor quality. The Admin Zone, for example, has a section on their forum, "The Exchange," which details a system of exchange regulated for "quality control." In any case, I mention the exchange service at TAZ not to recommend it, but to point out an option. Of course, many people are going to find something controversial so long as there are regulations. Fortunately, you needn't join an exchange group for better quality exchanges; i.e., you may simply make a deal with someone that takes quality into account.

Sending E-Mails

For a tutorial on the proper use of e-mail by forum administrators, Alfa1's "How to keep your board from getting blacklisted as a spammer" is as extensive as it gets. For this article, however, I mean to limit myself to the problem with content in e-mails detailing forum updates, and the use of automated emails.

First of all, it is suggested that administrators send out e-mails occasionally with details about changes to the forum in order to lure members back by reminding them about the forum, or by convincing them that something worth seeing has been created since their last visit. Nonetheless, an e-mail may go to waste if insufficiently specific. For example, an administrator may state that several changes have been made, but fail to explain what those changes are and why they matter.

Additionally, notable changes to the forum may be sparse, prompting the administrator to send an e-mail with much padding and little substance, instead of waiting for a more opportune time. That pointed out, it must be remembered that impatience leads to rash action; in this case, frequently sending non-substantive e-mails will help give the recipients the impression that you're spamming them. What you must do, then, is again put quality over quantity: a substantive e-mail is more productive than a dozen non-substantive ones sent in quick succession.

Now, on to automated e-mails, specifically for members' registrations and birthdays. If you recall, I linked to an article by Mr. Gossman, and it is in that article that the following relevant suggestion was made:

Quote:
You may also want to consider giving your first few members some form of "thank you" status. I give my first 8 members on my weather forum free Premium Membership for life calling them founding members. It seems to keep them coming back because they feel somewhat important, which they should because they helped build up the community.
Automated registration and birthday e-mails are inconsequential, and are much like those non-substantive e-mail updates I talked about. Well, what does that have to do with the sentences quoted above? I will explain.

By personalizing the registration and birthday e-mails, you will make the members feel more important, which will help in an important aspect of community building: forging relationships with members. Many communities, after all, are built around the administrator, and though it may be impractical to get to know every member of your community, it nonetheless helps to make your presence felt in the community every way you can.

When it comes to the registration e-mail, it may be of more consequence if, for instance, you add important information about the forum. Instead of an e-mail, too, you may post in the new members' profile (for vBulletin, at least), or send a private message, personally wishing him hello, and giving details about the forum. Also, you can take the opportunity to point him to the introduction forum, and to wish him thanks for joining. In other words, there are alternatives to the stock registration e-mail that are more beneficial to your community.

As for birthday e-mails, a member may find it more valuable if it's you (or the community, collectively) wishing him a happy birthday; otherwise, it's just the Internet saying it remembers his birthday, and why send an e-mail for that?

Replying To Introductions

There are countless forums where the overwhelming majority of replies are simply a "welcome," or variation of it, that would apply to any introduction topic, and doesn't take into account what the new member says or does in the opening post or elsewhere in the forum. This is a problem because the introduction topic is an excellent opportunity to acquaint yourself with a new member and make him feel welcome, and it is squandered with copy-and-paste replies by members who just see the introduction topic rather than the member who submitted it.

After all, the very point of the introduction is the new member, and letting members respond to the new member directly instead of having to fit the interaction into another topic about another subject.

First, think about why you, as the administrator, created an introduction forum. If your answer has to do with post count, then you're doing it wrong; rather, the answer should have to do with the feelings of the new member towards your community. That said, making more productive replies does not necessitate making lengthy replies, so long as a new member at least provides a little information about himself.

This is where controversy may set in, as many people may get it into their head that you risk being too restrictive with introductions, thereby curbing creativity and disrupting the new member's ability or will to "settle in," or other members' ability or will to get acquainted with new members.

I believe this concern is not without merit: you, as the administrator, must be cautious with how you advise your members to conduct themselves in an introduction topic. Take, for instance, my introduction guideline topic:

Quote:
Originally Posted by New members, please read this first
Please post a few words about yourself. It could be anything from hobbies and what you're majoring in, to favorite food and movies. In any case, it of course doesn't have to be anything too personal, or anything you don't feel comfortable talking about. It doesn't even have to be long; one or two sentences can certainly be informative enough to provoke an interesting conversation between members.

And don't feel scared about whether your introduction is good enough. Even if you're not sure, just post it. I'll reply by asking you some follow-up questions, none of which you have to answer if you'd rather not. If it's too short, I'll just ask for a little more. (Of course, if you've read this topic, it's hard for an introduction to be "too short.") Sometimes, I even go by what a person says about himself in his profile in trying to start small-talk.

Not sure what to say? Don't sweat it! Try using either of the questionnaires (adding or removing what you want) in an introduction topic (if you would like a reply, otherwise you may just post there):

“TIP's Official Member Survey.”
“Survey on Life.”
Notice, first of all, that I spoke not a word of punishments. Also, instead of simply detailing my expectations, I sought to help soothe any uneasiness by saying to the new member that he may submit his introduction without fear of repercussion for "inadequacy," and that I would simply attempt to work it out with him in that topic instead of taking unnecessary action. Along those lines, you may have also noticed the two survey topics I linked to, which would help the new member if he didn't know what to say. Finally, I attempted to make it clear that I'm not expecting or demanding a paragraph or more, or information too personal.

Now, with new members giving a few details about themselves, here is what I had to say to the other members:

Quote:
Originally Posted by How-to: welcoming our new arrivals
Members:

When replying to a newcomer's introductions, please keep in mind that a copy-and-paste greeting that doesn't take anything the new member said or did into account does little to help him feel welcome, or to get acquainted and "settled in."

That does not mean your responses have to be elaborate, or even have questions: I only ask that you customize your welcomes, and avoid making it a meaningless copy-and-paste-plus-one-post-count response.
I do not want to be restrictive, but I want to nudge members in what I perceive to be the right direction. When a new member provides a few details about himself, and another member submits a reply that takes into account what was said, the probability becomes much higher for interaction and worthwhile discussion to ensue. All this goes back to what I've been saying about community building: that be personalizing, and by adding content, you make for a richer community. ]]> Webmaster Hyperion http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3782 The effects of a shoutbox on a forum community http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3748&goto=newpost Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:26:25 GMT *Introduction* The shoutbox, as it relates to the Internet forum, is a feature, usually attached to the front page, which provides a space for a... Introduction

The shoutbox, as it relates to the Internet forum, is a feature, usually attached to the front page, which provides a space for a type of interaction similar to an instant messenger program in that there is more of an emphasis on synchronous communication. Also, since the shoutbox, by its very nature, so encourages spontaneous interaction between forum members, it is often viewed, especially by webmasters, with contempt for influencing the creation of messages of exceptionally meager value.

Indeed, the value of a shoutbox has, on numerous occasions, been made into a topic of discussion at webmaster forums. In such discussions, several arguments against the use of shoutboxes have been advanced, but the most substantive and common is, in my estimation, the assertion that the shoutbox siphons or robs member-generated content that would otherwise have been created as topics or posts.

That said, my intention is to show the following: (1) the assertion that the shoutbox necessarily robs activity is specious at best, (2) the other criticisms advanced against shoutbox use are merely window dressing, and (3) there are ways to effectively minimize the perceived disadvantages of the shoutbox.

Countering The Main Argument

The problem with asserting that the shoutbox robs topics and posts is this: it simply assumes, without evidence, that, if the content was never posted in the shoutbox, it would have been posted as a topic, or reply to a topic. The assertion may, at first, seem self-evident: after all, the members visit and submit content, but with a shoutbox present, you may see them submit much of their content there while paying little attention to the topic listing area of the forum. This, in turn, creates the impression, in the observer's mind, that the shoutbox offsets activity in the topic listing area.

What this ignores is that it is because the shoutbox is a different medium of communication that to compare it to the Internet forum's topic and reply system is similar to comparing apples and oranges. The shoutbox, as I said, is more like an instant messenger program, which necessarily implies that the standard for starting topics is more relaxed, and so members who participate in it move from one topic to the next more freely and with little effort.

When it comes to participation in the topic listing area of the Internet forum, however, it is no secret that it is the administrator, or other staff members, who submit the majority of the topics, which means that the non-staff members (the overwhelming majority of an Internet forum's population, hopefully), in comparison, rarely submit topics. Therefore, replies are limited to what topics already exist, which means that the majority of the topics created in the shoutbox are either nonexistent in the topic listing, or are not current.

Of course, it is not always the case that the administrator, or staff members, post the majority of topics, but this is very often the case for smaller Internet forums, especially the stand-alone, non-niche variety. This is important, too, since it is mostly these forums that struggle with activity that will have webmasters who care about activity being robbed from the topic listing area.

Also, since the shoutbox encourages such spontaneous interaction, and, as I said, allows participants to "move from one topic to the next more freely and with little effort", it is wrong to assume that these topics would have occurred just as likely within the topic listing area, where there are more stringent rules or standards for communication; e.g., off-topic posting is more regulated, even in the off-topic section. Even if you have a "spam" section, moreover, this doesn't encourage the same spontaneity as the shoutbox allows.

Finally, if a shoutbox really never encourages anything more than valueless interaction, why is it blamed for stopping valuable interaction from taking place in the topic listing area?

Countering Additional Arguments

Redundancy

It has been asserted that, all other considerations notwithstanding, the shoutbox remains redundant, as the Internet forum already provides several ways to communicate. Sure, there is the private messaging system, which is like the topic listing area except more personal. Also, depending on what Internet forum software you use, there is a visitor messaging area within each member's profile, and that is more like the shoutbox except more private. There are certainly other means, but those two examples should suffice. My concern, in any case, is why a webmaster would cut down on the ways members may communicate. I already explained why I believe the shoutbox is a unique method of communication, so with that in mind, I wish to share the following short essay by Richard Millington, "It's The Interactions That Matter Most":

Quote:
Make sure you're always spending the overwhelming majority of time working on elements that directly increase the number of interactions in your community.

If you increase the number of interactions (comments, likes, ratings, blog posts, befriending etc..) your online community will be better.

If the number of interactions decrease, your community will decline.

Don’t be sidetracked with writing guidelines, resolving petty disputes, writing metric reports. Spend your time on issues that directly affect the number of interactions. Spend your time stimulating discussions, reaching out to members, soliciting volunteers, arranging events, rewarding contributors.
The point is to get members to communicate, whatever the means, as long as it's on the forum. It helps foster a sense of community, as members are more often communicating with each other and therefore quickly getting comfortable doing so.

Case in point: two members of my forum ("saturnword" and "Dhampir Boy") "met" after registering years ago, and were most active in the topic listing area. They frequently had one-on-one conversations in the shoutbox, and visitor comments area of their respective profiles, before they recently moved in together in real life.

Although they were using the several methods of communication afforded to them by the Internet forum, furthermore, their activity in the topic listing area only increased. I theorize that this is because the relationship they struck up with each other also helped to foster a sense of affiliation with the forum, thereby increasing their desire to make use of it.

After all, the challenge of every administrator is to make a member more interested in visiting his Internet forum than in watching whatever is airing on the television. What better way to do that than to encourage a sense of camaraderie among the members?

Obtrusiveness, Or "Ugliness"

The shoutbox, as a product, exists as a plural, not a singular. For Internet forums alone, several coders have constructed their own version of the shoutbox, and each construction has its own features, benefits, and disadvantages. That said, many webmasters should have the option to change the height and width of the shoutbox they choose to implement, and may sometimes be able to make other changes based on aesthetic considerations.

Furthermore, these shoutboxes designed specifically for Internet forums do a better job integrating by virtue of having been created with a specific Internet forum's code and construction in mind. With the many shoutboxes in existence for Internet forums, some expertly crafted and others not so much, the "look" of a shoutbox becomes more a matter of preference than one of any substantive standard like quality of integration.

A shoutbox may also be considered intrusive because it was placed near the top of the forum's front page, but this is usually the choice of the administrator, who should be able to place it near the bottom where it is may still be noticed, but doesn't demand attention.

Webmasters: Tips For Shoutbox Implementation

Much of what I wish to say here was alluded to in the previous section, but it may bare repeating. If you want to add a shoutbox to your Internet forum, first of all, try to find one that was made with the software you're using specifically in mind, as it is more likely to look more "natural" with the styles you're using.

Additionally, you want to keep the shoutbox from featuring too prominently on your Internet forum's front page, so be conservative with its height, and make sure to allow members to minimize or close it.

Lastly, I would make the shoutbox viewable only to members, as it should only be of concern to members anyway, and is unlikely to help with guests' first impressions.

Conclusion

I don't think the shoutbox is necessarily much of a positive or a negative; rather, it's but a minor perk. At my forum, which runs on vBulletin, the shoutbox is near the bottom of the front page, just above the "What's Going On?" box. I couldn't care less if the box was even lower than that, but its current location is fine. I do not like it near the top because I want the welcome message, sample topics, and forum list to be foremost in catching one's eye.

By posting new topics with my own substantive input whenever I can, I help maintain the activity of the sections of my forum. Along those lines, the idea is to start (or revive) topics on a regular basis so that there's at least content for members to look at (and look forward to). If you're not doing that, perhaps the reason why it feels like the shoutbox is sucking away activity is because there isn't much activity there in the first place. ]]> Webmaster Hyperion http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3748