I think it's strange that there are alot of new members registering, but not posting. Nearly everyday there are new members listed on the home page, but they don't seem to be interested in posting...

I wonder why that is? :hmm:

I wonder too. I think it's normal to have that to a degree. I know one person has contacted me that she is unable to post or send PMs. She doesn't even get the box to type her message in. We are trying to figure out the problem and how to solve it. I think it's that she has an older version of netscape, which doesn't deal with xml too well from what I gather.

Then also, there are people that never receive the confirmation email, because either they made an error when they typed their email address or they have over-zealous spam filters.

Ahhh yes, I forgot about the confirmation email. I have had that happen to me before and it is very frustrating.

Yep. One guy used the re-send conf. email thing three different times and they all bounced back undeliverable. So I emailed him myself, at the same address, explaining what was going on. It didn't bounce, but he never got back to me, LOL.

What's weird is all the time I'm putting in for support on something that's free. It would be more understandable, if I was selling software or something and had to support it. I'm not complaining, as I definitely want people to be able to use the site. It's just ironic I think. :yup:

That seems to be common. I administer a couple forums and for some reason people like registering but then don't always follow up with a post. I think part of it is an instant gratification thing. When they signed up, they wanted to post something. By the time they got the confirmation e-mail (or not) they either decided that it wasn't worth the time or they forgot what they were going to say anyway.

I just figured something else out...

90% or more of the people who register and never confirm their accounts are using free email services like yahoo and hotmail. These services have spam guards, and they tag the confirmation email as spam and don't let it get into the inbox. The confirm email is dumped into the bulk folder and never seen, or even in some cases automatically deleted on arrival.

I'm going to have to figure out something I can do to improve the odds of hotmail and yahoo users being able to confirm their accounts.

What you could do is disable email confirmations completely.

The welcome email is a secondary way of telling whether an email gets bounced.

That way at least new members can participate in the forum.

Hopefully a solution is there.... It would be great to see all those people joining on the forums posting.

Well keep in mind that many do confirm and still never post. It's like IAFPO said, they may register because they want to post something on an impulse, and after a short time, the impulse is gone.

Anyway, I've added more information regarding email filter problems to the header message that uncomfirmed members see when they are on the site. And I am going to start personally emailing members with hotmail and yahoo addresses if they haven't confirmed after a day or so. I've already composed and tested a message on both yahoo and hotmail and they get through the spam filters. So these things should help increase the percentage of members who confirm, which is already pretty high as it is.

great idea to email them personally, you'll get a positive response from that.

maybe tom you should have a response letter that encourages people to see the benefit of participating. some people just like to be voyeurs as well.

WHAT IS THE "BUY IN" HERE??????

people need to have a "buy-in" they need to know that there is value for returning to the site?

why don't you author a questionairre to everyone in regards to needs/wants. it would be interesting to know the data of response. is it just like a volunteer type phenomena where the chosen few do most of the work, and it's a difficult to introduce new committed members?

I think it's strange that there are alot of new members registering, but not posting. Nearly everyday there are new members listed on the home page, but they don't seem to be interested in posting...

I wonder why that is? :hmm:
Hi! everyone, just registered a few days back, had some problem understanding the interface. i think that is the major reoson that a lot of people register but do not post a thread. anyway you will all find me posting and replying

Welcome to the forum rohit_mathur! Nice to have you here. :tiphat:

great idea to email them personally, you'll get a positive response from that.

maybe tom you should have a response letter that encourages people to see the benefit of participating. some people just like to be voyeurs as well.

WHAT IS THE "BUY IN" HERE??????

people need to have a "buy-in" they need to know that there is value for returning to the site?

why don't you author a questionairre to everyone in regards to needs/wants. it would be interesting to know the data of response. is it just like a volunteer type phenomena where the chosen few do most of the work, and it's a difficult to introduce new committed members?


Thanks for the ideas endeavor. Very helpful.

Regarding your question, I can only speak from my experience in participating in other forum sites.

For one thing, this forum is in it's infancy. And from what I gather, many great forums have started with just a few good members. People like yourself, Scarlet Warrior and a few others here. It's all a matter of keeping the momentum going and over time you get another Scarlet here and another endeavor there, etc. etc. So you can expect to see many more members as time goes on. And more importantly, I think you can expect to see more members participating with more frequency. Momentum is the key, I believe.

There are alot of new members posting here lately.... looks like things are moving along nicely.

I think you will want to keep in mind some of the statistical tallies of audience participation.

Most people are silent, and are happy to sit back, only to watch. Over 45% of most given populations can be 'grouped' as a Belonger/Joiner. They want to be a part of something. They see their contribution as just being part of the Group. They, for the most part, will be silent.

In a broad-based radio broadcast, that being of a generalized subject, it is a standard that only about 2% of the listeners will ever call in with their opinion or contribution. I've not seen figures on online participation, and suspect they would be substantially higher, but there will still be a bigger majority of people more happy to view than to participate.

I trhink you are right to send a personal invitation to those with the accounts you are concerned about, and I think you might also want to directly contact msn and yahoo (and all their combined acquired e-mail services) and ask them to encode your mail a other-than-spam/junk. And keep after them until they do.

There will always be those cases that require the take-in-hand-walkthrough. THAT is part of support. That you are willing to do this is a reason that this site will eventually flouish and grow.

Good Job Dude! :thumb:

Good Luck!

I trhink you are right to send a personal invitation to those with the accounts you are concerned about, and I think you might also want to directly contact msn and yahoo (and all their combined acquired e-mail services) and ask them to encode your mail a other-than-spam/junk. And keep after them until they do.





I wish it were that easy, but from what I understand, these companies are now using Ironport's bonded sender program. Basically what it means is that you pay Ironport big money so that your email can get through hotmail and other companies' spam filters.




There will always be those cases that require the take-in-hand-walkthrough. THAT is part of support. That you are willing to do this is a reason that this site will eventually flouish and grow.

Good Job Dude! :thumb:

Good Luck!



Thanks for your encouragement and support!