Forum is Losing Its Cerebral Appeal Very Fast!

What i have understand till now is boddunan have different sections and among all the sections, forums attract more traffic compared to article or polls etc. So, taking any decision regarding forums needs good analysis and experience or else peoplemay loss interest. But it is not good to tolerate spam and duplicate posts simply to increase the traffic. i have a suggestion which is though common can be good for new members.

Maverick
It is nice to see that news letter feature is introduced. Similarly i request you to create a instructions mail regarding rules to follow in forums and mail it or share the link to all the newly registered members. I know it may take time but i strongly feel that new members are often confused in using forums and create duplicate posts or spam knowingly or unknowingly.

Putting some restriction on posts is not good as boddunan has variety of people with different thoughts and ideas. Regarding contest, yes in some thread previosly there was discussion and i think theme based contest can be created as festival season is approaching.

Thanks chinmoy for creating this post and allowing us to share our thoughts. :)

I think lot of topic already there to discuss but members not interested in search. they reply just topics came to front page.

This appears correct. I request members to go through posts made in the last twenty for hours and not just first page. This will give opportunity to give more comments.

forums are the really main part of boddunan. i really enjoy it but from recent days it is not interesting i thought that only i felt like this but now what i am watching it is really serious topic among all.

Firstly, kudos to Chinmoy for starting this discussion and thanks to Maverick for starting the weekly newsletter.

There are a couple of things I would like to suggest and, looking at present quality of the forum topics, must be done as fast as possible:

1. Revamp the list of moderators - remove the names of those who have been inactive for more than six months, some even more like Karthik. Those who are still present but are not really taking the moderator duty very seriously on a daily basis must be notified. If they are unable to do so because of time constraints, they need to be removed and someone else appointed.

2. Delete ALL and I mean ALL posts that are nothing but links to daily news items. There is nothing interesting in those and hardly encourage any discussion of any kind.

3. If any one is found posting news items again and again, deduct 100 points straight away on first offense. Second offense ban them from revenue share for that particular month. It looks like banning does not work, they come back after ban period and start the same thing again.

4. So many topics such friendship, love, arrange marriage etc. are being repeated so many times! I am really sick of such topics, delete such topics straight away!

All of the above may seem harsh to all, but then time and again these type of problems are repeated and I feel that until now, admin has been very much tolerant and lenient while taking action. So let us try and be more strict now.

[quote]Similarly i request you to create a instructions mail regarding rules to follow in forums and mail it or share the link to all the newly registered [/quote]
Rajani, good suggestion. Will do it in next newsletter.

[quote]1. Revamp the list of moderators[/quote]
Kalyani, good suggestion again. Need to revamp this list as I mention in my earlier post, the active moderators are needed.

[quote]2. Delete ALL and I mean ALL posts that are nothing but links to daily news items. [/quote]
I believe there are some very good discussions went on the daily news items. May be we need to restrict from now and delete unnecessary ones carefully.

[quote]3. If any one is found posting news items again and again, deduct 100 points straight away [/quote]
Many new people do them unknowingly. We need to educate them first.

[quote]4. So many topics such friendship, love, arrange marriage etc.[/quote]See answer for point 2

Thanks a lot friends for displaying your overwhelming concern for the cause I stand for! If boddunan has to survive it has to do so on the strength of quality alone and we need members who are quality conscious not ones who fill the forum with child-like posts! And I am particularly impressed with the way Maverick, Rajani and Kalyani have responded to this challenge.Now time has to come to talk straight and do things professionally to enable boddunan to find its place in the sun! What do you say?

yes, that right. I agree with chinmoy.and even my self lost interest in answering forums as the quality is lacking and the old forums are repeated

Maverick, thank you for giving your inputs on this!

[quote]2. Delete ALL and I mean ALL posts that are nothing but links to daily news items.

I believe there are some very good discussions went on the daily news items. May be we need to restrict from now and delete unnecessary ones carefully.
[/quote]

Yes, restriction would work, again if ever such posts are created, if there are no responses for a set period of time, then that means they are futile posts and must be deleted. Can something be worked out where the moderators get a notification, say weekly, as to what posts are being ignored with zero replies? They can then be deleted as soon as notification is received? Just a thought here! I know there are many technicalities involved here!

[quote]3. If any one is found posting news items again and again, deduct 100 points straight away

Many new people do them unknowingly. We need to educate them first.[/quote]

Can something be put in place, I have seen it on many websites, unless and until a newly registered user goes through the FAQs and rules and regulations etc, the system does not allow them to post on the forums?? Again a technical issue, but I think that can be worked out.

[quote]
4. So many topics such friendship, love, arrange marriage etc.
See answer for point 2 [/quote]

When a new thread is created for such topics where in discussions are already there on forums, the system gives an alert and brings up those threads, so the user can view them and if they still have something more to add, then they can use those already existing posts!

[quote]Thanks a lot friends for displaying your overwhelming concern for the cause I stand for! If boddunan has to survive it has to do so on the strength of quality alone and we need members who are quality conscious not ones who fill the forum with child-like posts! And I am particularly impressed with the way Maverick, Rajani and Kalyani have responded to this challenge.Now time has to come to talk straight and do things professionally to enable boddunan to find its place in the sun! What do you say? [/quote]

Thank you Chinmoy! you are right, what we need here is a much more professional approach with regards to forum. It will definitely deter those who are not so quality conscious and it may also prevent many from joining, but then in the long run, it is only going to prove beneficial for boddunan.

Kalyani,

Thanks for your inputs. There needs to be some technical things involved in setting up such things and any technical support will not come cheap. So it would take some time. I will make sure most, if not all, suggestions implemented.

I have been keeping away from forums for some days due to my official works targetted to complete by Sept 30th.

[quote]Kalyani,

Thanks for your inputs. There needs to be some technical things involved in setting up such things and any technical support will not come cheap. So it would take some time. I will make sure most, if not all, suggestions implemented. [/quote]

Thanks Maverick, I know these inputs all require money resources, but I hope that they can be worked out as soon as possible. :)

When some threads of months back are seen feel very irritated.But what can do?

When some threads of months back are seen feel very irritated.But what can do?

We have to be accommodating to new members who may not write posts of good quality. They will learn with experience. But they are expected to show same care in writing posts as they do in examination hall. The posts are read even by non members and so, we should not do anything that could spoil image of site.

No one should hasten to write. First understand the topic, then gather necessary data or information and thereafter write the post. If this much is done, there will be ample improvement.

[quote]Abid Areacode wrote:
When some threads of months back are seen feel very irritated.But what can do?


We have to be accommodating to new members who may not write posts of good quality. They will learn with experience. But they are expected to show same care in writing posts as they do in examination hall. The posts are read even by non members and so, we should not do anything that could spoil image of site.

No one should hasten to write. First understand the topic, then gather necessary data or information and thereafter write the post. If this much is done, there will be ample improvement. [/quote]

You are right Gulshan, but unfortunately most of such posts are written only to score points and not to learn and improve their own knowledge. This type of attitude is what creates qualitative problems.

Yes, I agree with kalyani. Now a days forumpostng has become boring. From fewdays again some interesting forums have been created.

I feel that admin should keep a rule that the forum post should be at least 3 lines.then there may be some quality in forums

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions and thoughts you have shared! Now I would ask members to collectively think on the linkage between the falling standards and falling revenues of boddunan. When I joined this site had a membership figure of around 4000 which has just doubled roughly in a span of two years. Not a very happy piece of stats I suppose! My pointed reference to falling standars was not directed at any class of members - old or new. In fact my concern was all about quality. We need not be accommodating towards ones who contribute nothing.Here I again would point out that the present system of choosing weekly leaders is flawed - which has led to voulumious inane posts made with the sole intention of scoring points. Let boddunan sort out the technical issue to find which posts and article bring traffic that ultimately translates into hard cash and auguments boddunan's paying capacity. While making this post I am perfectly aware of courting displeasure and irritation of some but I don't mind it. After all hurtng boddunan's interest we all hurt ourselves!

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions and thoughts you have shared! Now I would ask members to collectively think on the linkage between the falling standards and falling revenues of boddunan. When I joined this site had a membership figure of around 4000 which has just doubled roughly in a span of two years. Not a very happy piece of stats I suppose! My pointed reference to falling standars was not directed at any class of members - old or new. In fact my concern was all about quality. We need not be accommodating towards ones who contribute nothing.Here I again would point out that the present system of choosing weekly leaders is flawed - which has led to voulumious inane posts made with the sole intention of scoring points. Let boddunan sort out the technical issue to find which posts and article bring traffic that ultimately translates into hard cash and auguments boddunan's paying capacity. While making this post I am perfectly aware of courting displeasure and irritation of some but I don't mind it. After all hurtng boddunan's interest we all hurt ourselves!

I am in total agreement. The site works for revenue. Hence, all activities that only score points but not revenue to the site are meaningless. Hence, there is need to promote quality as against quantity. It may also be necessary to ensure that the moderators devote more time to improve the site than making their own contribution.

[quote]Thank you all for your valuable suggestions and thoughts you have shared! Now I would ask members to collectively think on the linkage between the falling standards and falling revenues of boddunan. When I joined this site had a membership figure of around 4000 which has just doubled roughly in a span of two years. Not a very happy piece of stats I suppose! My pointed reference to falling standars was not directed at any class of members - old or new. In fact my concern was all about quality. We need not be accommodating towards ones who contribute nothing.Here I again would point out that the present system of choosing weekly leaders is flawed - which has led to voulumious inane posts made with the sole intention of scoring points. Let boddunan sort out the technical issue to find which posts and article bring traffic that ultimately translates into hard cash and auguments boddunan's paying capacity. While making this post I am perfectly aware of courting displeasure and irritation of some but I don't mind it. After all hurtng boddunan's interest we all hurt ourselves! [/quote]

I totally agree with this, looking out for interests of all will only hurt boddunan and consequently all of us. There is a need to change the criteria for the weekly leader board which only takes into consideration the scores of poits, which do not guarantee any quality whatsoever, so also the DFAA award which really does not speak for the quality of posts, but only quantity.

Thanks Kalyani and Gulshan for your welll-reasoned views. As both of you have expressed yourself very clearly on quality issue, I would cite a particular instance here which might kick up a shindy but I have to do it being driven my conscience. The thread which is currently drawing a lot of participation is ''members currently online''. Can anyone explain to me how it's adding value? A member making a quality post get 5 points as anyone who is responding to this thread!! Just see the monstrosity of it! You are treating chaff and grain the same way!!!

Thanks Kalyani and Gulshan for your welll-reasoned views. As both of you have expressed yourself very clearly on quality issue, I would cite a particular instance here which might kick up a shindy but I have to do it being driven my conscience. The thread which is currently drawing a lot of participation is ''members currently online''. Can anyone explain to me how it's adding value? A member making a quality post get 5 points as anyone who is responding to this thread!! Just see the monstrosity of it! You are treating chaff and grain the same way!!!

I think this thread should be removed. Moderators need be given more authority to delete such useless threads and encouraged to devote more time to as a moderator rather than participation in discussion himself.