DSF - Moving Forward - We want to hear from you!

[Justin]

I'm in the process of taking a look at the forum and how we can improve things for our members. I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has any thoughts/suggestions etc. on this.

A quick brainstorm came up with this as a starter:

The forum 'look' - I feel the forum has a good, known look about it and it works fine. That said, it never hurts to have a makeover. I'm looking at a new logo to go alongside the DSF initials, maybe a colour change? Not sure about that.

Does the forum well well? - We don't appear to have any major issues with the day to day performance of the forum having invested more in server speed/space etc. the last couple of years. Would be good to get some feedback on this from members.

Premium Membership - Continue to get great deals for Premium Members with suppliers on products that they already buy, regular discounts, one off offers etc. I have toyed with the idea of creating a voucher booklet where members immediately get for example, £100 vouchers with suppliers, perhaps £10 off any order over a set amount. I appreciate £10 a year is nothing for the benefits of this scheme but I would like to have an immediate payback of some sort like this.
It's been mentioned that this is excellent value, perhaps too good! lol. We could increase the membership cost if more value could be added to it.
Are there any suppliers/products you would like to see introduced into the scheme?
The Premium Membership base is very small but constant, what would make you want to join?


Advertising - It's become more important in recent years to sell advertising space. Don't get me wrong, the intention was always to remain independent with no bias towards any one supplier. I feel we maintain this and get some good discounts in return for the advertising banners. I've tried to keep the banners as non intrusive as possible but obviously advertisers need to have their banners seen. I introduced the right side vertical banners to keep everything away from the main forum areas and again feel this works well.
I don't want to get into a debate over this but again appreciate members input. It was suggested that we do away with advertisers in return for all members paying an annual subscription but I would still like to offer the free membership alongside the premium membership.

I'll add to this thread as ideas/thoughts pop into my head. I'm not looking to open any cans of worms or let myself in for abuse, the idea is to move the forum forward for everyone's benefit so any suggestions will be taken onboard.

If anyone would prefer to send me private messages, my inbox is always open

Many thanks,
Justin
DSF Admin

[GoonerGary]

It's not nice to talk about supplier problems on an open forum. And suppliers don't want grievances being aired in public. Perhaps a private membership area to discuss these issues without suppliers threatening legal action every time? Perhaps block the suppliers from this private area to avoid anything offensive being read!

A beginners section?

[Justin]

Thanks for that. Yes you're right, no supplier will want to hear negative comments, especially if they're paying to advertise! I know a lot of the time we're all guilty of only posting reviews/comments when something goes wrong although there have been a few 'well done' posts recently which is good.

I think it would prove difficult to keep suppliers out of such a forum area unless only known members were allowed in. Even then, we'd have to consider any legal implications but I take your comment. If comments are based upon fact and this can be backed up, such comments shouldn't be a problem but as we've found, this can still lead to major issues for the forum. Enough said

Beginners section.....something we've looked at before. I know some members find it annoying when new members come on-board and ask "What printer can I use" "Why don't my Epson inks come out onto T-Shirts" and so on. I looked at having a Sublimation 101 section with all basic topics covered but for the time involved in doing this I'm not sure it would be that beneficial. Maybe we could have a "I'm new and don't know where to post" forum

[webtrekker]

I'm happy with everything more or less the way it is Justin.

As an example of the way NOT to go, just look at the t-shirt forum! What a mess!

[Customprintwales]

I don't know much about vb forum software but wordpress forum and membership plugins tend to offer the option to only display advertisement to paid members or members above a certain level to tell the difference between free member and paid for member.

That tends to be a happy medium. Paid membership is ad free while free membership is supported by ads.

[UK Printed Mugs]

I think this forum is an incredible tool. I would welcome a "Reviews" section (for Premium Members only) whereby certain members could give honest photographic/video reviews of anything sublimation e.g. hardware/substrates. I think it would be going backwards in free speech not to allow negative reviews as well as positive but all with disclaimers of course. Although all posts would be subject to moderation before going live.

[jennywren]

Its just a suggestion but is there a way of have a section about about bad suppliers and only members that have so many post or maybe theirs a way technicality that cannot be accessed by the suppliers. I do find it disturbing that I read about suppliers that I use and don't that are criticized and members personal believes are harsh about the quality of the goods supplied. It does feel some members are constantly recommending the same supplier for everything, then complain about other suppliers who ever writes a post. It dose make me think do they work or benefit in some way. This is just my opinion and not for any suppliers that I buy off. I understand that we can offer our experience to newbies and members but in a fair way to all of the suppliers that advertise on this forum and that are on the list supplied by the forum

[Justin]

I don't know much about vb forum software but wordpress forum and membership plugins tend to offer the option to only display advertisement to paid members or members above a certain level to tell the difference between free member and paid for member.

That tends to be a happy medium. Paid membership is ad free while free membership is supported by ads.

This was suggested a while back. We decided against it on the grounds that it was unfair to supporting suppliers who were paying to get their ads in front of members and then a section were choosing not to see them. We've always avoided allowing ads from companies not related to the trade to keep the junk off.
Obviously it's possible to install ad blocking software so members always have the choice to do this.

If enough members were willing to pay to avoid seeing the ads it would be worth looking at removing all ads in favour of this!

[GoonerGary]

Thanks for that. Yes you're right, no supplier will want to hear negative comments, especially if they're paying to advertise! I know a lot of the time we're all guilty of only posting reviews/comments when something goes wrong although there have been a few 'well done' posts recently which is good.

I think it would prove difficult to keep suppliers out of such a forum area unless only known members were allowed in.
)

Don't suppliers have 'supplier' underneath their username? Does the forum software allow for types of profiles to enter certain sections of the forum...like the member's area?

[logobear]

I think the forum is invaluable, - I got a note that my subs expired a few days ago, and will deffo pay up.

The members discounts don't really mean much to me, - normally suppliers I don't use, or there is a catch, or an alternative way to get a similar deal.

I beginners section might be good, OR - a way that a new member has to 'log' 20 hours on the forum before they can ask the same old beginner questions !

Accept conflict between advertisers, and members being able to speak their mind.
I do want to hear bad experiences shared by others.

Happy with colour, speed and navigation.
Don't change too much!

Many thanks. Phil