Approx 20,000 Members & Only Approx 200 Regular Posters

**Qui Gon Jinn** · 03-01-08

Just wondered what peoples thoughts were with the forum having approx 20,000 Members & Only Approx 200 Regular Posters.

Should non contributors have access to limited access?
Leave as it is?
Or another possible solution?

Does it suggest lurkers sucking / leaching knowledge & opinion without contribution? Is it take, take, take ?!

**loquax** · 03-01-08

I'd do something radical and that's pull all the communties off A4U and go back to a straightforward forum - split between promotionals and discussion - with headlines used to feed the latest posts from both sections.

As is everything is sucked under by the vast amount of promo material, which is great, but it means that most decent AM discussion heads out to the blogs these days.

I can understand why the forum has expanded to accommodate other countries, but imo the UK side of things needs to be managed and revamped a tad.

For me the web 2.0isation just hasn't worked and I prefer going out to the blogs than posting nowadays.

Jason

**scifind** · 03-01-08

There are a few options.
1) Leave the forum as is and let lurkers lurk.
2) Charge a premium fee for a locked section of the site.
3) Stop access to newbies and have a closed forum.

I personally favour 1, a paid section was introduced (2) - but didn't take off. 3 would stop new blood entering into the chat

Probably more - would like to hear ideas, but I doubt things would change

**D-Mac** · 03-01-08

How many of the 19,800 regularly visit the site?

**tomj** · 03-01-08

Currently Active Users: 839 (305 members and 534 guests)

says a lot!

**zinc** · 03-01-08

Originally Posted by loquax

For me the web 2.0isation just hasn't worked and I prefer going out to the blogs than posting nowadays.

I agree with you Jason - go back to just the simple Forum

**Grounded Vertigo** · 03-01-08

I've only really been a proper active member since the change of the forum so can't really comment on which was better. I expect I am one who could do a lot better in participating and plan to in 2008. My excuse has been that up until recently I'd have classed myself as something of a newbie however I think having been in this game a while now that's not going to wash anymore so I'm ready to post away

**stevebrowne** · 03-01-08

I can't say I've really looked at the communities side of things. I assume I'm missing somethign, but also assumed that most of what went on would be in the forums as it always has been.

**sgpratley** · 03-01-08

I agree the communities thing just splits the discussion that would otherwise have happened on the forum. A better way to keep up with new posts in that area might help, but fundamentally I don't think the discussions are any different than what used to go on in the forums.

I'd hang on to the blogs though, I think there's a different sort of post that gets made there and I find myself using it a lot, even though I've all the best ones in my RSS reader as well.

Lurkers, let 'em lurk. I've made a fair few contacts who don't post for whatever reason. If you try to force people to write you'll just get a load of crud being written, some of them will put their heads above the battlements eventually.

**drivetowin** · 03-01-08

I guess a problem with making people post is that people would post rubbish (some even more than now!!) just to get their post count up to access other areas.

It is really frustrating that so many people just lurk - far more people ready to take than to give anything back. That said, one thing I would like to see is the removal of the ability for guests to post - if you can't be bothered to register then you shouldn't be allowed to post imho and doing this would also reduce some of the opportunist spam which plagues the forum (especially at weekends).

I'm with Jason on the communities thing - it was a good idea in theory but in practice I think it has weakened the forum and maybe should be canned.

**ian-d** · 03-01-08

Its scary to know only 200 of us are classed as regular (am i classed as regular!!!). Think unfortunatly there are quite a large number of spammers too, more and more ad links are appearing and junk promotion posts telling us how to make $1000 a day etc etc. Letting non-members post too probably isn't great, but then they don't count towards the members figure.

I like the way the forum is, although admittadly i only use the 'find new posts' function and don't like the way merchants post the same thread to 4+ network sections, although i appreciate the reasons behind it!

Don't think i'd be that keen on paying for the service, its an open forum full of like minded ppl, wouldn't do good to alienate them, or have any leaving.

**Edwin** · 03-01-08

A tangent, but perhaps a relevant one... the forums have been very slow for me ever since the "revamp". They were fine until the day the new version of the site went live, and since then the site has crawled at a snail's pace. Certainly puts me off reading/replying to threads to some degree.

Also worth noting that vBulletin normally reports search engine spiders as "Guests" in the currently active users section, so those numbers should be taken with a large teaspoon of salt.

**hrbs** · 03-01-08

Hi

We were all lurkers once ... or still are, depending on what it takes to be a regular , or semi-lurker, demi-semi-lurker.
Lurkers are fine by me as they'll chip in when they are confident enough to make a contribution or the thread strays into their area of knowledge/experience.
As others have said, the spamming is a waste of time and space.
If the forum was paid, then I for one would probably not have stayed (maybe some think that would have been a good thing!) . My idea of a forum/community is the open sharing of ideas and knowledge and the bouncing ideas/problems amongst others who may be able to help due to their wide experience or having just sorted the problem themselves. A4U should definitely not become a clique, although invitation-only subforums (fora?) may be worth considering ... only if I get an invite

I would agree though that postings should only be by members.

BTW, what is a regular poster? My average is about 10 per month. Does that give me lurkerish tendencies

Keith
Fixed Fee Accountants and Small Business Specialists - High Royd Business Services Limited

**Qui Gon Jinn** · 03-01-08

regular'ish

.. no definitive figure as of yet .. but maybe something applied to those who have been members for quite a while & not contributed or havent for a long time (granted they may need time to gain the confidence). It's hard to define a quota & possibly unreasonable too.

You do get paranoid merchants or networks which ad nothing except read (like the blogs)... btw ... re blogs ... log all those ip addresses & search, it makes interesting reading. So Log The Blog IP's

It is really frustrating that so many people just lurk - far more people ready to take than to give anything back. That said, one thing I would like to see is the removal of the ability for guests to post - if you can't be bothered to register then you shouldn't be allowed to post imho and doing this would also reduce some of the opportunist spam which plagues the forum (especially at weekends).

Yep, well said .. i don't foresee anything happening asap if at all, perhaps as already mentioned, some positive suggestions may come forward from members which Existem might decide to implement.

**KieronD** · 03-01-08

Leave as is, its just the nature of the beast.

You will always get a far far larger percentage of lurkers than active members, its just the way of the world. BTW I think the forum is fine as it is and the changes made in 2007 were all really positive for the user experience.