one time posts

[fishmaven]

Okay, after being

informed that I'm too negative about what the ACA does vs what I want it to do, the ACA website

and this Forum, I've been wondering...we often get people that just pop in, make a post, then

leave. Do they EVER come back? For example, there are several posts in the fish disease section

where people have posted problems, recieved a response but have never replied. I'm sure there

are other areas that are the same way.

When visitors appear where do they go on the

forum? Some register, some don't. Why?

BTW, I've also decided that if the

comments about MY comments were intended to change my attitude, it didn't work. I've been

nice. I've just watched rather than pouncing on stupid comments. I'll continue to do so,

commenting just wastes my time. I DO feel that if someone had something to say, they should have

directed comments to me rather than just making side comments to others. Dan

[bobrfish]

It was not me that reported

your vile offensive behavior http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

I sort of liked the attitude.

We could all be postive and feel good or we can have some disagreements and generate a lot of

interest in a thread.

Regarding sick fish, it is hard enough to figure out how to deal

with my own sick fish. If I had something of value to offer others, I would offer it.

[fishmaven]

You should read

what I say about retailers in my newsletter. OR what I say about the problem makers at retail

levels. http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

What I meant about the sick fish

is:

1. I don't know if they ever read it
2. I don't know if they ever tried

the advice or decided NOT to use it for some reason.

Basically I think they should have

left SOME feedback of some sort. You know, a resolution to the question.
Dan

[Patrick Kelly]

From time to

time, on my club forum, I look at these posts and click on the persons name to see when the last

time they were logged in. I then send them a PM and ask something stupid. Like "did you get

your answwer or did the fish survive." This means they get an email directing them back to

the forum to see what it says.

I also do that with club members who for some reason

sort of drop off for a while.
Like I said, tricky way to bring them back and maybe keep

them.

If you look at the members list on here, you see a lot of people that registered

in 04 and have not been back. Some of them ACA members or BOT. Maybe we should find a way to PM

them and see if it helps. If they got on here in 04 there was not much to see. There may be more

here to keep them now.

[fishmaven]

<div

class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>I then send them a PM and ask

something stupid. Like "did you get your answwer or did the fish survive." This means

they get an email directing them back to the forum to see what it says.</div><!--

QuoteEEnd-->

So... sending a PM generates an e-mail? I thought you had to login and THEN

recieved your PMs.

Maybe when they leave a post like that the response should be e-

mailed to them AND left as a response here.
Maybe the e-mail should be- "you've

recieved a response to your sick fish post." Dan

[Tim]

Most forum software allows

individual members to toggle on or off emails to notify them of PM's. So, if the notification

isn't on, the admin would have to go in and turn it on, or he could just look up their email

address directly and email them. In running Fishaholics, I see a lot of people log in post once or

twice then never return. People's interests don't always remain steady. Also, there's a

lot of competition out there as far as forums go. If someone is not a member of the ACA or

isn't interested in the ACA but just wants to answers about their fish, they most likely

won't return once they've found a site with 33,000 users and a one people on line all the

time. If we're interested in retaining more users here, other than ACA members, we need more

content on the site. I run out site for the sole purpose of sharing knowledge and as an outlet for

my programming hobby mixed with my aquaria hobby. If people visit and then don't return, I

usually don't worry about it.
Tim

[buntbarsch]

I agree with Tim. Growing

a forum takes time and the more specialized the forum is, the longer it will take. I know from my

duties on other forums that the type of content will make a big difference.
A simple example

is a photo gallery where members can post their pictures and show off their fish. Cichlid people

like to look at cichlid pictures, that's a fact.
I have mentioned in another topic that I

believe that this site has a great potential but we need to attract hobbyists that are not ACA

members and we need to have patience. Just think of this forum as an opportunity to recruit new

ACA members. http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif