Engagement How 'Approachable' is your forum

[CTS]

Now I know you are going to say "of course we are friendly and welcome everyone".

But that is a function of community.

This would apply differently to different subjects and forum community styles and standards. A better way to explain it,.... a totally green organic visitor accidentally lands on your site with no prior knowledge of your site. How does it appear to the viewer. Is is visually inviting? Does it provide easy things to click on? I know that for my recent forum it has a vibe that may be a bit standoffish to some visitors who may not be comfortable with the subject, and of course my styling was designed to add a bit of theme based fun to it without getting cartoonish. I imagine I will turn off some people just with my forum name present in the url, but I expect to intrigue a few visitors also with that same effect.

Based on your site... have you looked at it with green eyes of a new visitor? Its all subjective, but I am curious.

 

[Cedric]

That's the big question, isn't it?

What's approachable for someone isn't necessarily approachable for the other. So yes, it's a subjective question. I think for Administrata, we've done an ok job to make it inviting and welcoming. But someone else might not have the same thoughts.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I know I need to work on condensing some of my sections on Thee Zone. I've got way too many sub forums and I think it can be off putting for new members. This is something I finally plan on fixing this year, it's something I should have worked on already I admit.

 

[frm]

I know I need to work on condensing some of my sections on Thee Zone. I've got way too many sub forums and I think it can be off putting for new members. This is something I finally plan on fixing this year, it's something I should have worked on already I admit.

My approach for a new forum is to have no more than 5 main topics or areas of discussion (nodes/forums) with one being off-topic. Then, sort through the off-topic section to see if there are enough posts to build a sub-forum, or even a new forum, and move those conversations there.

I, personally, find a forum with 20+ forum nodes that are all empty unappealing, and a turn-off when they can be condensed down and then eventually grow out of them.

 

[Cpvr]

My approach for a new forum is to have no more than 5 main topics or areas of discussion (nodes/forums) with one being off-topic. Then, sort through the off-topic section to see if there are enough posts to build a sub-forum, or even a new forum, and move those conversations there.

I, personally, find a forum with 20+ forum nodes that are all empty unappealing, and a turn-off when they can be condensed down and then eventually grow out of them.

This is my approach as well. Once topics start overriding a main forum, I generally start introducing another sub forum.

I think this approach is more appealing as it’s a good way to build up the forum in the beginning. It’s a lot easier to seed the forum as well.