General Creating fake members to jumpstart community: yay or nay?

[frm]

I might make a new member to see the view and permission are setup correctly but that as far as it goes.

This is what a dev board is for (duplicate accounts for testing as well as signing up new accounts to ensure functionality of that didn't break).

You should have 2 instances at all times and copy/paste the files over after an upgrade to test new add ons and compatibility before upgrading them as they can, and often do, break things.

Better to test them out on a dev than have to roll back. Such a waste of time.

Sometimes, add ons do work, but you just haven't tested them enough to see, which kind of sucks. I had a recent add on that looked promising, tested it out, and it was working on the dev. So, I installed it on the live site. However, it took away the "quick reply" feature (as in when you type in a thread title, the message box wouldn't drop down, or the Elasticsearch similar threads wouldn't appear either), something that I didn't take notice of, but could have if I tested out forum posting, etc., more before pushing it live.

I was posting threads to test it, as it was an add on that added to threads, but I used the button to post threads too. So, it's important to check every way that could effect your forum. It's now disabled and I hope it gets fixed because it's a good add on.

 

[Arantor]

When I'm doing a site with active dev, I usually have three instances: my local where dev happens, a test/staging environment to eliminate weirdness from my machine (avoiding the 'works on my machine' syndrome, but also eliminates oddities from my test data during dev), and then production.

 

[Allan]

Oh, I do everything on local host before making it the live site I agree with both of you there completely. I still make sure that everything on live works as it's supposed too. Sometimes things get lost/ forgotten when moving. (I have never forgotten to paste the last line in code)

 

[Bawse]

I know some that do it, but I've been against it with my own forums. I like to build my community naturally, and with post exchanges.

 

[Bryn]

Nah, it's a stupid concept.

 

[ConradKenzee]

What's the difference between a fake member (sock puppet) and a paid poster? - or a post exchange?

You aren't replying to yourself. i did that in the past not anymore lol.

 

[InMyOpinion]

I might make a new member to see the view and permission are setup correctly but that as far as it goes.

and that's very fair and even smart. You just don't want to be an "active" member on that account. Using it to help you set up the controls and permissions is reasonable.

 

[2TonWaffle]

I could see how it could've been a benefit many, many years ago but, as it was mentioned before. People can see through the fake account like a window. It's hard enough to create and find the content for posting, let alone control several false accounts just to make the place feel alive. That's putting more work on yourself that isn't needed.

 

[Chadook]

I was under the impression that posting packages would jumpstart a forum, then they're just there to pay the bills for the one who joined the forum to complete the packages, honestly, i feel like any community would truly get off by genuine interactions and engagements.

 

[Bluezone777]

I'd think if you felt the need to create fake accounts to mimic what an actual community looks like is a sign you shouldn't be opening one in the first place. I seen many boards open up without a community and I don't get what makes them think a bunch of people will rush into an empty forum.