Postloop Installer - More posts more activity more members!

[Jade Elizabeth]

Link to Mod

NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE HELP WITH ANYTHING POSTLOOP PLEASE CONTACT ME. Please sign up with my invite link and I will help you with anything you need, help you figure out a nice balance, give you tips and advice, and help you find ways to manage the posters you get. Please do use my link - that's the best way to thank and support me

If you want to use Postloop but are too lazy (or are somehow unable) to open your FTP, I come bearing a solution. Install my mod. It's hands free, does your washing, will marry your children into rich families, and much much more*.

Special thanks to Postloop for the help and the postloop.php file creation . Please note Postloop does not currently work for PostgreSQL SMF installs, and what were you thinking using PostgreSQL anyway?!

* not guaranteed


My Experience with Postloop
Since installing Postloop activity on many of my websites has increased quite a bit. In most cases activity has doubled or tripled, and it all looks and feels natural. Initially one of my websites was making <50 posts PER MONTH! Once I installed postloop my posts went up to 100+ a month, even climbing as high as 1000 a month over time! (those are from real members!)

How do they do it? These guys boost your members posts by replying and posting new topics that they can respond to...which might just be the thing your forum needs to get really active. It feels natural and you can request they do not mention Postloop if you are uncomfortable with it. You control how much they can post and have control over how many points to spend a day. GIVE IT A GO! For $11 to try it out you can't really go wrong!


Usage Instructions
1. Sign up to Postloop.
2. Install the mod on your forum.
3. In your Postloop dashboard click "sites" and then "submit new forum". Don't worry about downloading the file, just click next and fill out the details for your forum.

If you decide to uninstall, disable your website through Postloop BEFORE uninstalling this mod.


Troubleshooting
IF it says it cannot validate postloop.php, double check your forum URL. If it still says it you may need to change the files permissions.

Please note Postloop does not currently work for PostgreSQL SMF installs.

If you want to uninstall but deleted the mod, you can just install the current one over the top then uninstall it, or delete the postloop.php file from your server (all this mod does is place the file in your forums root directory).


About Postloop
Postloop is an awesome paid posting service where you pay for points which are used as a currency for posts. Posters of your requested quality join your forum and post topics and replies, which your regular members can respond to...which increases activity.

Tips:
1. Try it. Buy the $11 package and test it out...I was REALLY happy and now buy the $25 package once a month.
2. Set your quality high....I had 11 people sign up in a day, posting HEAPS which was awesome...but if you only need a few posters then set it at where ever you want and check it every hour...when you have enough, set the quality required to 5 and you shouldn't get (m)any more. I did and I have had none since .
3. Utilise the reserved points feature. I deposit into the reserved points and move 10 over a day with a max of 20 points....it feeds points slowly allowing a steady stream of activity.


Changelog/History
0.1 Initial Release.
0.2 Cleanup of Package_info to have readme's as files.
0.3 Added a file to CHMOD the postloop file for you, thanks to the SMF Customisers .

[Adrian Malacoda]

I was a poor homeless man with seven children and no home, but this mod married my firstborn son into a rich family and now I am no longer homeless! Can't recommend it enough.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Ha ha I hope for your sake, and those around you, it did your washing too!!

[Adrian Malacoda]

Ha ha I hope for your sake, and those around you, it did your washing too!!

That it did, actually. It also did my drying, which I did not expect

[Gryzor]

I installed this mod and my life turned around. My boss started loving me, my wife did too, and an unknown uncle left me a huge inheritance. Also, my CPU overclocked by 400%. I suggested it to a friend who laughed and deleted my email. His wife eloped with his boss, he lost his money in gambling and while trying to overclock his CPU he burned down his house. Pass this on.

Oh, also, nice to see new mods from you

[Jade Elizabeth]

Ha ha thanks, I like this one cause now I will never have to touch it again! LOL XD

You guys made me laugh

[Sudhakar Arjunan]

will try this mod now. Good idea.

[kat]

Good to see you're still mental, Lizzy.

[Jade Elizabeth]

So I just discovered, last night in fact, that due to this service my post counts have tripled across multiple sites!!

The non postloop members activity has increased because of the postloop posts giving them something to reply to. VERY happy and excited about this. On some sites this amount is small (averaging 20 posts a day from 6) and on others quite large a difference (~90 more posts a day from non postloop members).

So if you want more posts maybe look into this for a little while at least .

[Jade Elizabeth]

Guys if you use my invite link I will give you support throughout your Postloop experience, as my way of saying thank you to you for using the link, which you used to say thank you to me .

That means I can help you to:
1. Sign up and understand the system
2. Get approved to write on other peoples forums
3. Get your website approved and set up for posters
4. Help you manage your posters (including some types of advanced management that may require code editing, until I learn to make a mod for that too)
5. Help you prevent your posters from mentioning the word "postloop" (with the exception of shoutboxes)
6. Any support question feel free to message me directly, I'll help. I'm on there every single day .

The reason I will only offer this to people who use my link is because it's a lot of effort to do those things for many people, but I want to look after my referrals as best as I can. The best way you can help me is to use my invite link, and the best way I can help you is to help you get set up to post or receive posts and work with you to make that as painless and stress free as possible.

[nend]

I did Postloop on a older site of mine a few years back. Since I have been signed up with them for awhile your referral doesn't work, sorry.

I did install your mod on one of my sites and going to give it another go.

The results I had on the other site were good, I wouldn't say great but it does help and I believe the price is well worth it.

[Jade Elizabeth]

They've gotten better so hopefully you'll find it great this time! Just remember to add them all to the watch list or a hidden group and delete any post you don't want to pay for .

[nend]

I had one user sign up, however the post they made was questionable. They also didn't follow the instructions that I put up.

I went ahead and modified the queries in the script to validate if they followed all instructions in order to get the credit.

Before posting make sure your profile information is up to date via the "Profile" link in the main top left menu, under "Account Settings" and "Forum Profile" in the top right sub menu. Only new topics will receive credit.

For additional revenue you are more than welcome to put in your "Adsense Publisher ID" in the "Account Settings" page. You will only earn revenue if you have "Only my owned sites are authorized to use my ad code" unchecked in your "Site Management" in AdSense account.

I believe since I posted the terms in the site description it is up to them to follow them.

[Jade Elizabeth]

You can't pack it in after one poster lol. Also best to keep your long description very short and simple as people do tend to ignore it.

What did you change in the script?

[nend]

What did you change in the script?

Mainly just the query and a additional check to see if they uploaded a avatar.

Code Select Expand

$request = $smcFunc['db_query']('', '
SELECT id_member AS user_id, member_name AS username, topics AS posts, avatar
FROM {db_prefix}members
WHERE UPPER(member_name) = {string:username}
AND UPPER(email_address) = {string:email_address}',
array(
'username' => $username,
'email_address' => $email,
)
);
while ($row = $smcFunc['db_fetch_assoc']($request))
$queryResult = $row;
$smcFunc['db_free_result']($request);

if($queryResult && $queryResult['avatar'] != '') {
$result[] = array('success' => 'true', 'user_id' => $queryResult['user_id'], 'username' => $queryResult['username'], 'posts' => $queryResult['posts']);
} else {
$result[] = array('success' => 'false');
}

Code Select Expand

$request = $smcFunc['db_query']('', '
SELECT id_member AS user_id, member_name AS username, topics AS posts, avatar
FROM {db_prefix}members
WHERE UPPER(member_name) IN ({array_string:username})',
array(
'username' => $usernames,
)
);
while ($temp = $smcFunc['db_fetch_assoc']($request)) {
if ($temp['avatar'] != '')
$result[] = array('user_id' => $temp['user_id'], 'username' => $temp['username'], 'posts' => $temp['posts']);
}

I have a topic count as well in the member table to hook into.

[Siirist]

Hello,

I am inquisitive as to whether this idea is workable on my forum, Your Sanctuary a place for Survivors of any type of abuse.
It has an entirely separate area for Friends & Family, and another area for Professionals.

Thoughts?

Be Well and Walk In Beauty,
Siirist

[nend]

Hello,

I am inquisitive as to whether this idea is workable on my forum, Your Sanctuary a place for Survivors of any type of abuse.
It has an entirely separate area for Friends & Family, and another area for Professionals.

Thoughts?

Be Well and Walk In Beauty,
Siirist

I don't think I would be able to post much on a site like that, since it is about a real sensitive subject. Maybe post information, but that is about it. Maybe somebody on Postloop would be able to do it.

From what I gather trying Postloop for the second time that it has really slowed down.

What most forums need is members, differences of opinions/expression.

Don't want to take away from Postloop but another option is to create small groups and do a post exchange.

[Siirist]

Hello,

I am inquisitive as to whether this idea is workable on my forum, Your Sanctuary a place for Survivors of any type of abuse.
It has an entirely separate area for Friends & Family, and another area for Professionals.

Thoughts?

Be Well and Walk In Beauty,
Siirist

I don't think I would be able to post much on a site like that, since it is about a real sensitive subject. Maybe post information, but that is about it. Maybe somebody on Postloop would be able to do it.

From what I gather trying Postloop for the second time that it has really slowed down.

What most forums need is members, differences of opinions/expression.

Don't want to take away from Postloop but another option is to create small groups and do a post exchange.

I know, right?!

I am the original creator from 2009 and even I have difficulty posting (wonder what to post).

However, (just thought up), I could just go on and post about my daily life and how the "survival" effects me.

Hmmm.

Be Well,
Siirist

[Jade Elizabeth]

Hello,

I am inquisitive as to whether this idea is workable on my forum, Your Sanctuary a place for Survivors of any type of abuse.
It has an entirely separate area for Friends & Family, and another area for Professionals.

Thoughts?

Be Well and Walk In Beauty,
Siirist

I think Postloop could definitely help you out. There are many types of forums there, including ones for emotional support. There are also many Postloop members who are supportive or need support and I've never met any nasty ones.

The benefit of Postloop is that everyone who registers is a real member, they're your average people who like posting on forums and want to earn a little money as they do so. Give it a go, and let me know what you think .

From what I gather trying Postloop for the second time that it has really slowed down.

What most forums need is members, differences of opinions/expression.

Don't want to take away from Postloop but another option is to create small groups and do a post exchange.

How can you say it's slowed down when you only had one member previously?

Posts exchanges are a lot of work, and they aren't going to help you out if you need posts but don't have time to post elsewhere. Postloop is great because you can earn posts by posting yes, but you can also pay for them.

Additionally you're paying for members, not so much posts, and every single one of them has their own opinions and are as unique as regular members. If you're worried about the type of members you'll get @Siirist I can send you a couple of links to where mine are posting .

[nend]

How can you say it's slowed down when you only had one member previously?

Last time I used it on the first day I got new people posting new topics. This time around just got one user.

[Siirist]

How can you say it's slowed down when you only had one member previously?

Last time I used it on the first day I got new people posting new topics. This time around just got one user.

It's only been ONE day.

Be patient and give it a week or two.

Just my thought.

Best Wishes,
Siirist

[Jade Elizabeth]

You've also got to account for the time of year it is, it's right in holiday season still and people aren't posting as much naturally. The end/start and middle of the year are down times for traffic.

[nend]

I know, not giving up, just stating the obvious.

[Rust]

This mod works very well.  Thanks for the addition.

Postloop, on the other hand, does not work at all and is rapidly dying.  Many hundreds of forums have filtered through that "service", since at least 2010, and close to none of them survived.  That isn't too inspiring considering being listed there for any length of time involves hundreds or thousands of dollars spent on low-grade content.  I'd caution any new forum owner who is considering using PostLoop for content creation.

[Jade Elizabeth]

If you work with me I can help you get the best out of it. But no matter how much money you throw around you have to be advertising and getting new members in. Postloopers are only supposed to help keep the forum active and going so real members can become established.

On one of my sites it failed because I couldn't get new members in. On my other sites where I've been able to get newbies in Postloop has been a life saver. On one of my sites in particular I'd NEVER have succeeded without it. I only keep it for a small boost now, maybe 10 posts a day, because my members are posting and keeping things going themselves .

You have to put in the work. You can't just throw ingreedients into a cake tin and hope it will mix itself lol.


And seriously Postloop is not dying, people say that about so many things but honestly if you're not actively using it you have no idea (and even then I would suggest perhaps it's your POV).

[Rust]

If you work with me I can help you get the best out of it.

Thanks for offering, but no thanks.  There is no way I'd use PL for content writers.

On my other sites where I've been able to get newbies in Postloop has been a life saver. On one of my sites in particular I'd NEVER have succeeded without it. I only keep it for a small boost now, maybe 10 posts a day, because my members are posting and keeping things going themselves

Links to your sites?

And "small boosts" is still dependent, in at least in part, on PL.  Until a board is no longer dependent on paid posters, it is not a success.

And seriously Postloop is not dying

Sure it is.  There is less than a third of the forums on there than in years past.  The owner, Ryan, even confirmed that on the support board.  Heck, take a look at the forum list and review the totals at the bottom of the page.

people say that about so many things but honestly if you're not actively using it you have no idea (and even then I would suggest perhaps it's your POV).

Your perception is incorrect.  I log into PostLoop, literally, every day and have done so, with few exception, for almost a half decade.  You, evidently, haven't noticed the huge drop in forums, the multiple complaints on the support board, and the negative reviews elsewhere.

[Jade Elizabeth]

It's not dependent now. In fact it's been off now for about a week and no drop in posting.

I won't link publicly ha ha.

There's another up and coming service being built from people who are sick of PL, but I haven't looked into it yet.

[Rust]

I won't link publicly ha ha.

That's odd.

There's another up and coming service being built from people who are sick of PL, but I haven't looked into it yet.

The Forum Wheel, per chance?  It actually is worse.  And they only have six forums active as of this writing.

[Jade Elizabeth]

No it's not the forum wheel. I honestly can't remember the name, I got invited though so I will probably check them out. They've got a lot of people pissed at PL there so I expect it will be decent sized.

[-Rock Lee-]

@Jade Elizabeth It seems a curious modification I've never heard of the serious matter of try to see that this is all;) thanks for sharing!


Regards!

[Rust]

No it's not the forum wheel. I honestly can't remember the name, I got invited though so I will probably check them out. They've got a lot of people pissed at PL there so I expect it will be decent sized.

If you recall the site, I would be curious to take a look.  Thanks.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I remembered, here's a linky!

Also I wouldn't share the forum info because I'm not managing it from my regular account and I'd rather it not be associated with PL anyway, outside of the ugly has to be listed stuff .

[Rust]

There is less than a third of the forums on there than in years past.

Did I say third? It is more like a fifth now, about six weeks later.  There's only 22 listed now, but two of those have negative points.  Of the remaining 20, four of those have a rating setting at or around 5.0 meaning they don't want anymore PL writers.  So, we're looking at about 16 active forums.  Compare this to the 110-130 forums listed there in years past and one can see the service is in terminal decline.  The reasons are pretty obvious and covered extensively elsewhere.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Does it really matter if Postloop is or is not in decline? It's working right now, there's some really awesome posters on it...why not take advantage while it's still around?

[Rust]

Does it really matter if Postloop is or is not in decline? It's working right now, there's some really awesome posters on it...why not take advantage while it's still around?

The fact it is in rapid decline says something;  the most obvious of which that forum owners have figured out it doesn't work for launching or sustaining a forum.  Some of the posters are indeed quite good, but most of them post drivel.  Utilizing the service over any length of time is very expensive, which would be fine if it worked, but it doesn't.

And since posting, the slide has continued.  24 forums listed, but only 14 with positive points, and only 8 of those with a rating requirement that really allows new members.  Circling the drain ...

[PyroTech03]

Considering contentvania apparently crashed, looks like these types of services are slowly going to the wayside

[Jade Elizabeth]

Considering contentvania apparently crashed, looks like these types of services are slowly going to the wayside

That was because the operator knew how to advertise but not how to run the show. The instructions were a mess and basically non existent. I even asked them for help several times and their replies weren't very helpful (when they were understandable) and they were constantly "going to" fix things that weren't working right. I think there's a lot more to it than "forums are dying".

[Rust]

Just an update:  Postloop is no more come November 1st.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Fantastic. He's still making money from it and there's probably not a lot of maintenance past updating the file every now and then. He also covers blogs really nicely; he should just change his focus or sell it.

I sure hope crusaders against it like you haven't influenced the decision.

[Rust]

I'm a little surprised by it too considering the maintenance couldn't be that onerous.  On the other hand, the decline this year has been dramatic.  And I know for a fact some of the forum owners who bought points by the thousands were pretty torqued off at the results they were getting.

And speaking of dramatic, "crusader", seriously?   I just reported it as it was:  literally hundreds of forums filtered through Postloop and all of them are dead.  Those pretending that isn't the case are at best misinformed and at worst have an interest in keep up the facade.

Parenthetically, their competitor Contentvania is dead and gone.  The Forum Wheel is still around, but only has five forums listed.

[Jade Elizabeth]

All forums go through ebbs and flows, and business in general everywhere has slowed down at the moment if you haven't noticed? People I work with have all noticed an almost halt in the sales of their products, we're wondering if the industry we're in is going to crash.

And yes it does feel like a crusade, you've (and a couple of others, even on PL) come into topics and vehemently opposed things, even when I've told you of good experiences. You have a cognitive bias and you just won't accept there can be good come of this. Some of my best members have been postloopers. Hell I even have some on staff because they've been really into the forum and so great for it. Yes there are turds who post ****** but they're all real people and that's what happens when you have real people (you get real people ha ha ha). I've had multiple people unsubscribe on postloop because they loved my forums so much they wanted to support them, and they continued posting without being paid as well. I hope a bunch of them follow suit now that PL is closing because I'd be a bit lost without some of them.

Contentvania...see reply 36 .

[Rust]

I'm not alone in thinking Postloop is, or was, complete crap, with a success rate hovering just above 0%.  Take a look around some of the forums and blogs dedicated to forum administration and you'll see the same.

As to your sites, yuk75, well, let's see now (9/22/2016, 4:17 AM GMT): 

• Color Me Forum:  Listed on Postloop on December 2015 and still using said paid service.  Will be dead come November 1st, based upon the active usernames I see there.
• Creative Burrows:  The last post was from June.  Dead.
• Awesome Crazy:  Last post from August.  Dead.
• The Fat Blog:  Last entry December of 2014.  Dead.
• Michael Besnard Blog:  Last comment "Five months ago".  Dead.
• Next Level SMF:  Last entry February.  Dead.
• Jades-World | Alunnyville:  Last entry February.  Dead.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Please remove that, I did not want that information posted.

There is only one of those who are on PL right now and the others aren't all owned by me. 2 of them are owned by friends (and are blogs not forums), and 2 of them have been dead for a long time and are up for the members, any posts there are inconsequential because they've been dead for a LONG time. Additionally the last two are not supposed to be "alive" as you put it and are also blogs, not forums. I haven't blogged in a while, that's my choice.