CTS

I (so far) have decided to ditch the sidebar image at the top. My thoughts are the front page real estate is too important for a static image. I try to get as much on the first fold of a 4k monitor as possible. But I did want some eye candy. I also wanted some elements that were dynamic, as I thought my layout looked too flat and two dimensional. So I put a featured thread scroller right above the forum list below the navbar, and added a single pane media scroller to the top of the sidebar. It kinda feels right. Of course I am receptive of complements, but I prefer peer-driven comments or criticisms. If you happen to take a peek.

I think a small forum should just try to be the best that they can be for their members. Let the competition chase you when your membership gets big enough. Till then it just doesn't look good imo when you proclaim you are the best or better, when you are not.

Yeah, I ripped it off and replaced it with a Media slider block, and cleaned up the sidebar a bit to make it fit nice and tidy.

25 Thread package as posted in Holiday Wishlist thread. [EMBED content=post-10500]https://administrata.net/threads/holiday-wishlist-fulfilled.1531/#post-10500[/EMBED]

Them are some great wishes ! #3?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I added a featured scroller above forum list, and a small stamp image on top of the sidebar to balance out the layout. Changed the phrase to remove the "Thread" statement before each title listed in the scroller as well as trending under whats new. I seem to like the featured scroller but I am uncertain about the sidebar image I added.

My last forum I would have been considered the SME. But in the process it, well, it just felt like work. My latest forum I am certainly not an SME, but I enjoy the subject and have always. I had to make a choice.

I offer just dark

I thing gamification is the wrong term for what you describe. But I understand what you say. I think some type of off topic 'entertainment' can provide value to most boards. The community otherwise can get rather dry especially on niche. But I think it can get out of hand quick if your not careful. I do see community value in making your members smile from time to time.

Its a punch in the guts when something you spent a lot of time on is hated or didn't work out like you planned. But ya know, if nobody told me I woulda kept wasting time on it. So I really do want honest feedback good, bad, or ugly. I may/may not change anything, but I certainly will realize I need to put eyes on it and give it some more thought.

Decided to add something minimal for members that may lead to an element of entertainment to those that wish to patronize it, when completed. Of course it is behind a registration wall. ;) http://topsecretserver.com/

I like to keep the styling and templates. On one forum that had multiple admins with access, alot of cross-editing was happening.

Form your questions to people, so that it doesnt give room for 'no' as an answer, if you have any need or a want. The easy answer is always 'no'.

Today I added a couple usergroups with promotion enabled. A few feature enhancements for members are added to each one.

This thread just feels like a Trump crypto pump.

Just checked my domains for good measure. I'm safe.

I am at that particular point on my forum. Basically some more checking and testing, but basically a whole lot of posting. I already setup some Google tools so now I am discoverable somewhere on the serps. But I expect many months of content building with few members. I dont want to spam my name on websites everywhere. For now I will let it be organic.

If your in your 20's and 30's and not saving your guts out for the future by maximizing a 401k, IRA , and Roth, then don't expect much of a future. Play crypto only with 'spare' money.

The actual current numbers are that less than 4% of the population has a million or more in a retirement account. The vast majority retire with a lot less than a million. And 40% of current retirees have nothing but SS or less, probably still working.

Crypto coins are like Vegas casino chips,... They're only good at the casino, and you can lose em all in an instant.

[mention=39]frm[/mention] I think the OP was asking in reference to using crypto on your website. Not in how much you made in crypto. Everyone and their brother knows of and/or invests in crypto.

I have often wondered this and never really came to a conclusion in my past experiences. All forums have some type of entertainment value. From lounge and chat forums for members, active thread games and events, to outright extremely elaborate designed games or events. And quite honestly I like participating in some of them in forums I am at. The big question is, what seems to work the best. But really I just want to know do they prove worthwhile? Do certain things work poorly to the community? Outside of the obvious above, has anyone tried anything unique? I don't want to game-ify my website, but I am looking at it and thinking I see opportunity for something. Just haven't clicked on it yet.

You answered your own question. ;) But I don't and doubt I will in the future.

SEO is mostly ignored by search algorithms anymore, keyword stuffing is long gone, back link ranking has diminished values, even link farm sites don't work like they used to. With the advent of high density a.i. algorithms operated by the site aggrigators like search engines, the only real thing that will give your search ranks any muster will be understandable common-phrase content tuned to the subject. Ai will be looking for that to give your page relevance to search users. I think focusing on relevent content will benefit being found in searches, and hopefully convert some traffic. And maybe some word of mouth or back links will organically happen. But I hate manually spamming websites.

No, I completely agree. The flat earth post?... I will have to check if i posted something like that, I do not recall that specifically. But if a member wishes to post something rather outrageous to the subject matter, the community can respond if they wish. If it is outside the subject matter focus, it gets moved to the Lounge, or the appropriate forum.