The Beginning Of The End Of This Forum?

[mrpig]

Hi All,

I’ve been watching this forum for a long time and been a member for a little while.

I didn’t post an introduction thread at the time of signing up because the same old stuff gets posted by a little few saying hello and welcome just going through the motions (no offence intended but that’s what really happens) and the rest just look to see if there’s a new threat in town where they are (again no offence intended but that’s what really happens).

Now in this thread I will give you my expert advice as a person who has run forums for over 10 years on the net and also still runs online shops along with current retail outlets in this genre and others.

First off! It costs money to run a forum and that mounts up if the forum becomes popular which is then compounded with costs as it grows with popularity, unless the forum is run or owned by a very well off person or brand name Company then at some point it has to be funded from an outside source which normally means a sole sponsorship or advertisements which is now the case of here.

I’ve been looking at loads of the threads and posts in this forum over the last few weeks where the owner has dropped very big hints that it’s costing him money to keep it going after going down the donation route which were enough in the early days but has now come to a point where he has had to go down the advertisements route.

What I’ve witnessed is people moaning about where the ad’s have been placed and the size of them along with the colour and design? Well to all the people that moaned! Do you contact the owner of every site you visit where you don’t like what they have on their sites? (I don’t think so).

It’s very easy to criticise something when you have not had to work on it or know how it works, even more so when it costs you nothing.

If you think I’m talking bull then I challenge you to find a well-known forum where they don’t have ad’s, sponsorship or have big backers.

There is also something I don’t think the majority of the long term members have noticed since the ad’s/sponsorship started is that BMS have removed the link to the forum from their site because they don’t have an ad on here which for whatever reason but was a place I found this forum from.

The discounts offered by the site sponsors who have limited time offers just go to show they just want to kill off competitors because they never knew this site was around and not offer better long time deals that would help them with blank sales.

[busybusybee]

I'd be very happy to pay a subscription to keep the forum going! Ive had some great advice from the people on this site!

[Paul]

I must sa I dont understand thread name. And I also can not agree with this quote:

didn’t post an introduction thread at the time of signing up because the same old stuff gets posted by a little few saying hello and welcome just going through the motions (no offence intended but that’s what really happens) and the rest just look to see if there’s a new threat in town where they are (again no offence intended but that’s what really happens).

I think is always good to say hallo so next time you post people know who you are.


I dont think this forum is "The Beginning Of The End".
I think forum is getting busier and busier every day and personaly i like it.

regards to banners i dont mind them as I get used to them. adverts are all over our lives. And if there is some good dealfor us, printer then why not??

[mrpig]

Paul, no disrespect but seems you’re a mod here you of all people should know what is expected in the role of a “mod” which I would hope that you checked every thread & post that were in the sections you are meant to watch over? And if everyone were honest the welcome section just gets paid “Lip Service”

[Paul]

Can you post some link to forum you run Mr. Pig? (sorry dont know your name)

[mrpig]

Paul, I’m going to be really nice here and let that reply go until you have earned the respect to question someone with more forum knowledge then you!

Please Paul don’t make this into a row where you won’t win even if you ban me from here because I am telling the members the truth about where this forum is going.

[smitch6]

As a fellow forum owner along with chat sites and 2 other forums and a dating site and a few others lol
i think this site is defo not dying
i understand where Justin was coming from when he implemented the ads, i don't think anyone complained although Justin did ask everyone in a poll before going down that route.
The only comment i've seen about the ads were that 1 of them was a slightly dif size which made the page jump but Justin sorted that double quick once it was mentioned.

I think the staff here do an excellent job and knowing what goes into running a site i for one would like to say thanks for keeping this place going, as for paul reading every post well actually i think he does.
I have posted stuff and within seconds of posting Paul has relied usually with help and advice (all be it in his native tongue which can take a few seconds to interpret, bless him )

I can't comment on BMS because i'm not Martin but i really hope that there isn't any bad feelings there.

As for the welcome section i think it's respectful to post a quick post saying who you are and a bit about yourself and your experience, in 99% of forums they ask you to post a welcome post just so ppl can say hi.
As for watching to see the local competition i can only comment on my own thoughts which are........ if there is someone near to me who does the same stuff then great, i'd like to meet them personally and become friends who can share experiences and knowledge etc and maybe help each other out being close by.

[Justin]

Hi Mr.Pig, nice to meet you, I think

As the owner of the forum I'd like to respond to a few of your comments. With regards to dropping big hints that the forum is costing me money to run, yes it does cost me money to run, more importantly it takes up a heck of a lot of my time and has done for the last 2 years.

The members are great when I put the begging bowl out for donations but unfortunately regular donations just don't happen. I started a poll a long while ago regarding how members thought the forum should be funded and have tried to progress in line with the response to this. A very small response indeed which can only lead me to believe that most members don't really care how it's funded.

The comments regarding members not liking the banner ads were initially made when I initially put up a very bright banner of my own. I've had very few negative comments with regards to advertising in all honestly. I could be putting far more ads on here but have tried to maintain a balance, this is still being worked on as I'm not 100% happy with it right now.

I do appreciate your comments with regards to how easily folk can criticise without realising what goes into running a forum and couldn't agree more but then I do encourage all members to be open and honest as I feel this is very important in helping us to move forward.

The introductions section is good etiquette and yes, you're right, generally the same folk welcome the new member which is fine.

I wasn't made aware that the small link to the forum had been removed from the BMS site so thank you for pointing this out to me. I'm not sure why this is, maybe Martin can respond here? As a customer of BMS myself this lack of communication surprises me. I'm not prepared to discuss private conversations between myself and Suppliers but I believe that this is the start of something far bigger and better and certainly not the start of the end.

I welcome any other comments on this subject.

Justin
DSF Admin

[Paul]

Paul, I’m going to be really nice here and let that reply go until you have earned the respect to question someone with more forum knowledge then you!

Please Paul don’t make this into a row where you won’t win even if you ban me from here because I am telling the members the truth about where this forum is going.

I am not it is you question my knolege not me yours
I respect your pov even that you speek up with a rant as a first post. thats it... oh... and i do not ban people from here. most of us are friendly bunch
Have a great night!

[jennywren]

To be fair I would like to welcome people to the forum more often, but there is only so many ways you can welcome somebody with out being repetitive and with out sounded like a arse licker. It's a shame we have'nt heard more from you, with your experience we might have gained a better insight in to running the forum even smoother than what it does