Suggestions For New Design - Oakley Forum 4.0?

[Rustpot]

The thread title is bolded when there are new posts. Hover your pointer over the blue ball (there you go again, Frank..) and it says it takes you to the first unread...

Hmm. Whenever I open a thread it takes me to the last unread. I use the "New Posts" button to browse the forum though, rarely go through forum by forum anymore.

 

[kronin323]

Hmm. Whenever I open a thread it takes me to the last unread

Yeah I think that's how it's supposed to work but there have been a number of times where I opened a thread with new posts (from the thread list, not from an alert) and it took me to the beginning, even though I'd already read that part...

IDK, all I know is I like clicking on the blue balls...

 

[Rustpot]

I think there's a timeout. That's how I've been discovering necro-posts. I see a thread saying I've posted but I don't recall it, click on it and I'm at the OP. Check the date and it's 2011.

 

[nlgrav182]

Not sure I agree with that one; yeah, people making a bunch of "welcome!" posts can look like post whoring and I rarely do those, but my attitude is changing.

When you're a newbie just joining the forum, the response you get to your intro post can make a big difference with how accepted you feel and how much participation you'll ultimately do. So, though those posts seem to add little value, they actually do help the forum encourage new members to pull up a sit-down and have a stay-awhile...

Untrue. There's few, if any, members that base their impression of the forum on the quantity of posts in their Intro thread. Secondly, few, if any, members have perused the Welcome forum and looked to see how other members have been accepted. Forum members sign up because of particular protected content and overall content quality.

 

[kronin323]

Untrue. There's few, if any, members that base their impression of the forum on the quantity of posts in their Intro thread. Secondly, few, if any, members have perused the Welcome forum and looked to see how other members have been accepted. Forum members sign up because of particular protected content and overall content quality.

Again, I must respectfully disagree. You may have missed my point. I didn't say that newbies base their impression of the forum on the quantity of posts in their intro thread. Nor did I say that members spend time reviewing how many welcomes others received. And I do agree that people sign up for access to protected content and content quality.

All I'm saying is that is that welcome posts actually do serve a purpose; they make people feel welcome. If someone takes the time to make an intro post (and not all newbies do) and all they get is crickets, that's discouraging. It doesn't mean they won't make posts, that they won't lurk around, or that they won't use the exchange. But having other members welcome them is encouraging, and sometimes can make a difference in how long they stay around and in how much they ultimately participate.

Why do you think OakleyBoss welcomes every single member who makes an intro post? Should he be the only one? I know the response I got to my intro post made a difference to me, kept me going at the beginning, which led to more response outside of the intro and then to building some friendships. And I've heard others tell similar stories.

Just because most of us don't bother to welcome new members, why criticize those who do? What does it really matter if some people make a lot of "welcome" posts? If you're getting a bunch of annoying alerts for those sort of posts, then just don't watch that thread / forum section. There's no need to make rules restricting that sort of thing.

 

[i am rich]

Again, I must respectfully disagree. You may have missed my point. I didn't say that newbies base their impression of the forum on the quantity of posts in their intro thread. Nor did I say that members spend time reviewing how many welcomes others received. And I do agree that people sign up for access to protected content and content quality.

All I'm saying is that is that welcome posts actually do serve a purpose; they make people feel welcome. If someone takes the time to make and intro post (and not all newbies do) and all they get is crickets, that's discouraging. It doesn't mean they won't make posts, that they won't lurk around, or that they won't use the exchange. But having other members welcome them is encouraging, and sometimes can make a difference in how long they stay around and in how much they ultimately participate.

Why do you think OakleyBoss welcomes every single member who makes an intro post? Should he be the only one? I know the response I got to my intro post made a difference to me, kept me going at the beginning, which led to more response outside of the intro and then to building some friendships. And I've heard others tell similar stories.

Just because most of us don't bother to welcome new members, why criticize those who do? What does it really matter if some people make a lot of "welcome" posts? If you're getting a bunch of annoying alerts for those sort of posts, then just don't watch that thread / forum section. There's no need to make rules restricting that sort of thing.

I joined a forum last year. Up to now , nobody had welcomed me. I do not feel welcomed. True story.

 

[kronin323]

I joined a forum last year. Up to now , nobody had welcomed me. I do not feel welcomed. True story.

I assume you're not talking about this forum since you joined in Feb '13, but just in case...

WELCOME!!!

 

[i am rich]

I assume you're not talking about this forum since you joined in Feb '13, but just in case...

WELCOME!!!

Lol. No, it is a car forum.

 

[Rustpot]

I think the only thing people complain about is when someone - sometimes someone below the exchange limit of posts - goes on a tear and fills the entire 'New Posts' feed with welcome responses.

Yeah, it's good. No, it's not much better than spam in some cases (not all). We need to deal with it on somewhat rare occasions.

 

[Rustpot]

I'd like to see blog posts show up as items in the "New Post" feed. Or, like the eBay listings item, just have it generate an auto-locked thread linking to the blog post.

Most people don't use the blog, or even know if its existence. Until people go seeking it I think a little reminder thing would help get traffic.