oh my god, are we dying.

[wynnyelle]

I recently moved our forum from Proboards to SMF. Our members were thrilled with it and are pretty much all still with us, posting like normal and enjoying the features and faster load time.

But NOBODY new is joining. Oh my GOD.

We were averaging 13 new signups a day on the old site. We got one Saturday and not a one since. Now, I know that the old site is gone and our new one isn't ranking very high on Google yet, and I expressed concern about this and knew there'd be a slowdown, but bear with me. The stats show that guests ARE still pretty frequent on the site, there are a few on at any one time--even in the dead of night. It still has the same rules, content and everything the same just with a new look. So people ARE reaching our site, but nobody is signing up.

I got it set on high CAPTCHA settings, might that be it? Do you think that setting just makes it too hard to sign up?

Site: http://warriorcatsrpg.com

The current members are all from our old site. They're very devoted. I don't want to let them down.

Oh--to answer some questions before they come--Yes, we've got most of our affiliates changed over now, only about a quarter of them left who have not yet. We've got a few new ones too, all other busy forums. I have ads on 4 different popular directories and have begun a referral programme for forum money, which the members go out of their way to earn.

Nothing.

[WeWantRevenge]

Your forum definitely looks like it is doing well, and I congratulate you on how hard it looks like you've tried to make the site look better.

A Few Tips-

• Make it apparent to new guests that the site's layout is new. Post an announcement, or add an alert in the scroller box along with a *NEW* sign to attract people to the alert. Make it an exciting new feature on your site and list the reasons why it benefits your members.
• CAPTCHA may be the case. Some of my members have complained about captchas in the past, stating that they were nearly impossible to read, and that I needed to change the look of them. I suggest not removing the captchas, but instead changing their appearance.
• Listen to the cries of your members. It seems as though your members may have helped you out with this thread unconsciously because I just found this thread.

[wynnyelle]

We had porn bots on the site last week so I set teh CAPTHA higher because of that. We got kids on there. But we also installed a question thingy that should probably keep the bots out...well unless someone unleashes x-rumour on us...but anyway. I'll set it back to medium and see if that helps.

...That thread is OLD, from when the entire site was actually down. It was a redirect problem with the domain that has since resolved completely. But oh yes I was on there labouring away till I figured out the problem. That was a dark, dark day. XD

We have our topmost forum dedicated to learning the new software. It was a success with our current members. I'll try lowering CAPTHA back to medium and seeing how that goes.

Thank you so much for your compliments and advice. I need everything I can get.

[WeWantRevenge]

Thank you so much for your compliments and advice. I need everything I can get.

You're welcome. Reply to this thread if you need further assistance!

[wynnyelle]

Well, my trusty top programmer {HCF} suggested I place a welcome message that is only visible to guests or new members. Is there a code for that? I'm going to loook for one. Like, I see on some forums a message that disappears after you make 5 or 10 posts or something, telling you to read the rules, and basic guidelines new members gotta know.

Thinking this might help. We were averaging 13 new signups a day on the old Proboards forum so I'm thinking there is some kind of physical barrier to signing up, or just something that makes us look less welcoming or easy to do on the new board.

[WeWantRevenge]

If you upgrade to 2.0 RC2, you can use http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=355756.0

I'll continue searching.

[adbrad]

wouldn't say you was dying not with so many users on over 24 hours.
how did you get the users online over 24hours with all the different member colours i wanted this for my site

[wynnyelle]

We just assigned each post rank its own colour. Very easy actually.

...still no new joiners yet plenty of guests. We made the CAPTCHA easy and installed a guest welcome message. I honestly don't know what else to do. We appear as #6 on google for our most common search term last I looked so it's not like we're invisible. At least some of those guests have got to be human.

[adbrad]

We just assigned each post rank its own colour. Very easy actually.

i have done this but they don't appear coloured are you using any mod

[rd]

We just assigned each post rank its own colour. Very easy actually.

...still no new joiners yet plenty of guests. We made the CAPTCHA easy and installed a guest welcome message. I honestly don't know what else to do. We appear as #6 on google for our most common search term last I looked so it's not like we're invisible. At least some of those guests have got to be human.

In proboards you don't actually have to sign up, doesn't one account allow you access to all the forum hosted in proboards?

[wynnyelle]

No, I just input hex values for each postrank. It has a field on each member group, post rank or non post rank that just lets you do this. No mod needed.

...No, on proboards you have to sign up for individual forums same as you do here. They're all hosted on the same set of servers using the same software, but that's about all they have in common.

I installed a guest welcome message, and eased up on CAPTCHA and am working out a new rules draft trying to make the rules a little simpler to understand. But we didn't have any issues with having no rules, and no welcome message back on the old board and people were joining like crazy.

[adbrad]

at the bottom of the info center you got

Members Active in Last 24 Hours
   203 Users

how did you get that to show

[Arantor]

There's a mod for that IIRC.

[Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R)]

You have had 183 new members this month so far:
http://warriorcatsrpg.com/index.php?action=stats

I suppose things gradually make an impact ?

[wynnyelle]

Yeah, it's an existing mod that can be dowloaded and used. I highly recommend it.

...Well, still no new signups. Is there some kind of physical block to our site going on? No one's reported anything wrong...and I had no problem making a test account. I'm concluding that somehow this new site is just not as appealing as the old one was.

...Those members are being remembered from the signups on Proboards. All the dates transferred nd we were averaging 13 a day then. We moved less than two weeks ago and most of the signups happened right after the move with people having problems logging into their old accounts, so they created new ones, even though it was eventually sorted out.

[adbrad]

which mod is it

[Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R)]

Have you set a redirection from proboards to your new URL ? It might be that people still don't know about the new site. It will take a while. I suppose you have just moved your site since past 2 weeks.

[wynnyelle]

The old board was deleted.

See here:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=1cdab3d5f9db067c&hl=en

I'm trying to get a response on how to get something set up.

Meanwhile, I found out that that anti-spam puzzle mod was preventing EVERYONE from signing up over the past 2 days sine it was installed.

STAY AWAY FROM THAT MOD LIKE THE PLAGUE!

[Ozysites]

Hi

I think your forum looks great, lot of work there.

BUT

If I may I just mention my first thought as I was going through it. I have no idea how your last forum looked so as well.

The Background image of falling stars and the color of your text do not go together as it makes me have to squint my eyes a bit to be able to read it. The background is too over powering.

People that need to get close up or squint there eyes i found never stay long on that page or website as they either get annoyed or sort eyes after a little while.

May I suggest not making the actual proum pages transparent at all or as least far less.

Like I said it's not a complaint but just an observation.

Cheers

[wynnyelle]

Really? Not a single person complained at all about the text being hard to see. I can replace the current transparent background with a slightly less one, or maybe make the text lighter? Do you mean the plain old text on the board names and stuff?

[Ozysites]

The old board was deleted.

See here:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=1cdab3d5f9db067c&hl=en

I'm trying to get a response on how to get something set up.

Meanwhile, I found out that that anti-spam puzzle mod was preventing EVERYONE from signing up over the past 2 days sine it was installed.

STAY AWAY FROM THAT MOD LIKE THE PLAGUE!

Hi

Real honest users of your forum wouldn't worry about having to fill the verifiaction code in.

By looking at the IP address of guests that where visiting our forum and some where spammers probably looking for a way in through the Anti-Spam feature.

So for that reason I am quite happy that I am only getting a smaller amount a members as those members are true interested members and not spammers.

Cheers

[Ozysites]

Hi

The board names are fine as they are bold. It's the text that you read that does what i mentioned above.

Like I said it's not a complaint because it does look nice, it's just my observation as I was trying to read it.
I had to give up as I wear glasses and squinting with glasses hurts ones eyes more.

I dodn't think changing the colour of the text will change that as it was the background behind the text that was interfering with being able to read the text as it was overpowering what i was trying to read.

Cheers

[wynnyelle]

I could try and replace the graphic to make it darker/less transparent. but the text is nearly white on a moderately dark green background. Still, it wouldn't be too hard to change.

...The verification thing that I uninstalled had been preventing everyone from signing up even if they answered the questions correctly. I know because after this one person's sister was unable to register despite repeated tries, I tried it myself and couldn't.

[Ozysites]

Hi

I have tried my registration process and just then again now just to be sure and had no problems what so ever.

As for your forum,, yea either the graphic although if you like that graphic I would remove the transparentcy from the actuall post/forum pages themselves and leave it as a normal page or lightly colored page. Then your background would still be seen except on places where reading is involved.

Cheers

[wynnyelle]

yeah...

Tried to make us a sitemap, but I don't know how. I heard that helps.

I've just never been this disspirited before, about my community's future. It's this deep funk I can't break out of, like there's no hope. I try to get my enthusiasm for it back and it's nowhere to be found. frustrating as hell...

[ishy]

We've had a lot of problems with the CAPTCHA not working, and not allowing anyone to join. And it's hard to find out since most new members don't actually know you. I ended up dropping the CAPTCHA completely and going to two math problems, and people started joining again. My math problems are long with both addition and subtraction, like 3+16-7, and so far no bots.

[wynnyelle]

The math problems prevented everybody from joining even though they were answering correctly. I know because I tested it. Now we're back to about 3 signups a day and none of them actually bothering to participate, while our former members from Proboards slowly drop off one by one.

[adbrad]

try adding something exciting like a fun game or something so it encourages people to participate again.
or as it is a rpg site try adding a new scenario

[wynnyelle]

Yeah, we have that stuff going. The problem isn't the present members, it's that new ones aren't coming in quickly enough to male up for the natural turnover rate. I've started several promotional and referral programmes as well as posted advertising in various places to try and make up for it at least enough to stay at our present activity level, as growth is pretty much impossible at this point.

One issue when I seek advice on it or something is when they see my board they're like "Wow you get 1000+ posts a day and you're complaining you're dying??" Well, if they knew that we USED to get over twice that much they would see that it is all relative and I'd rather not wait till we're down to about 50 a day to notice the problem.  They don't understand. It isn't the actual size that matters, it's whether it is growing, stagnating, or declining that matters.

[teh_Krall]

Wow I had no idea cats were so enticing to so many people. Your site looks great to me, very easy on the eyes and appealing.

My site doesn't generate a fraction of the traffic yours does, so my advice should be taken with 2 pounds of salt: I think portal software would lend itself very well to your setup allowing you to organize it a little better and display pictures and active threads on a front page instead of taking everyone to a list of forums right off the bad. For someone like me who isn't really into cats the way the forums are organized wouldn't 'hook' me to join because to me what you have at the start is kind of like reading through rules and regulations whereas a little bit further down is the 'good' stuff that shows what your site is really about. 

[wynnyelle]

Hm, you mean have the front page be a portal instead of the forum? I've seen that approach before.

I guess it's a holdover from Proboards, that we're organised as we are now. The top board up there with the SMF help is also temporary, it will eventually be moved to a sub board in Questions and Comments.

We were organised just this way back on Proboards and had around 15-20 signups a day.

[Vekseid]

Use the weakest captcha setting in combo with the stop spammer module. And verify that signups are working.

[teh_Krall]

Hm, you mean have the front page be a portal instead of the forum? I've seen that approach before.

Yes, that's what I mean.

[ishy]

I would not do the portal on a forum RPG.  I don't think most forum RPGers would like a portal setup as the first thing they see. Forum RPGers are sadly the most stuck-in-a-rut particular group when it comes to joining sites.  That's "not how it's done".  Of course, just using SMF does away with many of them. 

BTW, Groovy, this is Roswenth.

[wynnyelle]

Hi Roswenth!!

Our forum is STILL dying. It's even worse than when I first posted this. I've begun to try paid advertisements and still nothing is working. It's so strange because our current members love it...well, till they start to drop off and leave. We're down to about 30 less logging in daily than we were when I posted this.

This community is my life and as it dies, I'm dying along with it.

[Specklefur]

To be honest with you, Wynn, I don't really think that we're that bad off. It really isn't much different from when we were located on PB. We're down a little bit in numbers but we still have 178 right now - that was pretty average before for members, though that didn't count staff. Things have been a little slow posting wise, but hopefully it will pick up when school is out. I'll advertise more for you, but looking from my perspective it doesn't seem like you have much to worry about at the moment. :3

[Stevee]

Hi Roswenth!!

Our forum is STILL dying. It's even worse than when I first posted this. I've begun to try paid advertisements and still nothing is working. It's so strange because our current members love it...well, till they start to drop off and leave. We're down to about 30 less logging in daily than we were when I posted this.

This community is my life and as it dies, I'm dying along with it.

Don't panic.  Could be it's spring, the weathers good, and people are getting out and doing other things.  You should expect slow cycles like these. Start making note of seasonal cycles and patterns in your traffic so you can take advantage of slow times to make improvements.  And be ready for busy cycles,  when you'll then be complaining about how busy it is. 

[ishy]

Things have been a little slow posting wise, but hopefully it will pick up when school is out.

I just had the same thought. It may just be the time of year. You could kick off a big contest in a few weeks to get the summer going and send out a mass email. Maybe bring some people back.

[adbrad]

Tbh with you my forum is more dead than yours i have only 30 members no new registration's and no one posting

[wynnyelle]

Well I sympathise with you, Albrad.

Specky--that's the thing, it doesn't count staff and there you have about 30 members less than we used to. That's a large drop in only a couple weeks.

But rest assured, I am far from giving up. I've been advertising us in every corner possible.

[ishy]

Yes, but right at the end of the school year it's not too surprising. It's just a crazy busy time of year.

[wynnyelle]

Yeah. It is. I'm just going on the data from my forum for the last two years in which we were much busier during this time despite that.

[rd]

oh my god, are we dying?

Yes you are, sometimes you can change it and sometimes no matter what you do, your forum will be dead.

* Royalduke has seen quite a few forums with thousands of members die.

[wynnyelle]

I've seen quite a few die as well...take a look around the net, how many booming forums from the year 2000 are still around?

Nevertheless, I'll die before my forum does.

[Specklefur]

It's been a little over a month and we're down a little bit. I agree with ishy that it's not surprising - I noticed a little bit of drop this time of year last year.

I think you need to calm down a little - not to say that I blame you and I understand where you're coming from, but you've been posting a lot of things up lately and not only bringing me down and discouraging, but it seems like you are to yourself as well. Like I said I'll advertise for you, but just stick it out a little longer. If it's just the time, it wouldn't surprise me which is why you should.

We all love you, and the site as well. You've got a lot of loyal members. :3

[wynnyelle]

I love you guys too. I'm not giving up. I'm sorry I was such a downer lately, but I was just trying to alert people to the fact that we got an issue.

[Specklefur]

I know. :]
And I don't think you should give up, anyway! Just that maybe you should wait it out a little and not stress out about it quite as much, but I can't blame you for feeling that way. I'd be working extra hard if it was my site it seemed was dying.

[Allusion]

Are you sure that registration e-mails are being sent out and that they don't end up in spam folders?

Have you tried registering a new account from the normal registration page (not from Admin > Registration), just to see what happens?

[di3f00l]

I'm thinking maybe before most of the new members were bots.

edit: WOW I just looked at your forum, that's an amazing job! You grew like crazy for a free smf start! :O

[Specklefur]

For some people it did end up in the spam folder. However, some people did not receive theirs whatsoever.

[wynnyelle]

Yes, some people just don't get them at all. It seems most people are fine but we get a few who say they do have problems. I set up a guest account people can use to let us know if they need help with straightening that out.

LOL our forum was cloned over from Proboards. We spent the last 5 years acquiring all those members and posts! Almost all of them were ported over.