Question What's happening to Admin Zone ?

[Adam H]

Then explain how else someone is supposed to report something, (that is a article on another site) that is going on, that might interest everyone? It's not a RSS style, it is a article that someone found elsewhere, that the member feels might interest the membership here. So post a snippet, then everyone can discuss it here.

You would assume that the person posting said post would have an interest in the topic/news/article which is the reason for posting it, alot of the time it doesnt come across like that, it comes across as if they've been told to post these things to boost activity, if they have an interest, knowledge or opinion about it then why not post a link to the article a quote if needed........and then their opinion on the contents rather than a "what do you think ? ............give me your thoughts" even though the OP hasnt given theirs.

"In my opinion" the majority of these posts like this in recent weeks are only really going to be answered by a certain bunch of people.......whom have most Likely already read and maybe commented about the original article elsewhere ( at the source or another board ) so they have an opinion on it, but if whats posted on Taz doesnt add anything to that opinion,view, topic and add different perspective then its not going to stimulate any kind of desire for someone to reply.

There is the argument that its being posted for those that havent already seen it..........but if that was the case then there would be reasonable debates/questions surrounding those posts, they wouldnt be left with the OP and maybe 1 or 2 replies with very little , thin content.

Its not helping Taz in any shape or form, search engines will see the threads as thin, syndicated content and the members that would normally reply to a nice Juicy topic just see it as news feed and think " well if the OP cant be arsed to give an opinion, why should i make the effort" .

Like i said its probably just me, others may love to see small quotes with a link to another site.................maybe im fussy

 

[ozzy47]

Well as I am one of the ones posting said threads, I can assure you no one told me to post them. I am not doing it to get search engines here, I am doing it because the articles pertain to webmasters running their sites.

Some of it I don't comment in, because it is of no concern nor interest to me, but I feel some of the members here will benefit from it.

 

[bucket]

.........lets not lose that with a "quick" fix RSS style posting.

yeah, some people think that works on new forums. I don't care for it. I guess it's an SEO technique.

I joined a forum recently, and the owner has 800 posts out of a total of 1500. lots of posts where he links to a story somewhere else.

 

[Adam H]

Well as I am one of the ones posting said threads, I can assure you no one told me to post them. I am not doing it to get search engines here, I am doing it because the articles pertain to webmasters running their sites.

Some of it I don't comment in, because it is of no concern nor interest to me, but I feel some of the members here will benefit from it.

I think thats where its going wrong, because you have no interest in it and dont have an opinion there isnt going to be any kind of debate started on the subject unless someone really feels they need to talk about it............which in most cases they are not given the topics being posted and the current crowd here.

Ive logged in a couple of times read the title of a thread i know would interest me and i know i would have something to say about it, something i would have genuine interest in someone elses views.....only to open it and see there is nothing more said than what i saw 3 hours ago when i read it at the source.

How many people do you know start topics on things that dont interest them .............there is a reason for that.

 

[ozzy47]

I know quite a few, you start a topic to get members to participate, not just sit there and admire the post, cause it interests you.

 

[Adam H]

I know quite a few, you start a topic to get members to participate, not just sit there and admire the post, cause it interests you.

Do they all post a small quote and link with no opinion too ? either way im not bashing you or anyone else for posting them, my opinion however is that its not helping generate any kind of participation and is not likely to spark debate from those that do have interest in the subjects if there isnt anything to reply to.

 

[bucket]

when I check "new posts" and see a bunch of new threads by the same person (again) , I avoid those threads.

 

[ozzy47]

Do they all post a small quote and link with no opinion too ? either way im not bashing you or anyone else for posting them, my opinion however is that its not helping generate any kind of participation and is not likely to spark debate from those that do have interest in the subjects if there isnt anything to reply to.

This is the way I look at it, to some degree.

If someone posts something like described, and no one replies to it, that's fine. As long as at least one person read it, and said to them selves, oh wow I did not know that, that information is useful to me, I better do what was posted in the link.

That person will always remember they learned about it here, and will hopefully come back to find more information on other things. I just like helping people, so if the thread/post helps at least one person, I accomplished what I set out to do.

I know you are not bashing, you are just stating your opinion, which is perfectly fine. We all see things differently, that is what makes this site a great place.

 

[geebee]

when I check "new posts" and see a bunch of new threads by the same person (again) , I avoid those threads.

Ditto

 

[Lisa]

When I open a thread and all it contains is a quote and a link, 9 times out of 10 I won't click the link, I'll just leave the thread. I don't want to have to leave TAZ to read the information. I'm here to read things here. I also agree that when a thread is posted, I want to see the OPs opinion on what they posted, not see a generic message ending with "so what do you think?" What that tells me is the OP doesn't actually give a crap what I think or has any real interest in what it is they've posted because they haven't shared their own opinion on it.

 

[geebee]

When I open a thread and all it contains is a quote and a link, 9 times out of 10 I won't click the link, I'll just leave the thread. I don't want to have to leave TAZ to read the information. I'm here to read things here. I also agree that when a thread is posted, I want to see the OPs opinion on what they posted, not see a generic message ending with "so what do you think?" What that tells me is the OP doesn't actually give a crap what I think or has any real interest in what it is they've posted because they haven't shared their own opinion on it.

As eloquent as ever. My sentiments entirely. I had one poster who insisted on scouring the local and national news websites posting links and cutting and pasting items. It annoyed the hell out of the other members and put me in an awkward position as it was somebody I knew personally and I didn't have the heart to pull them up over it. Eventually I sent a message saying that all of the outbound links were hurting seo and they'd have to stop.

We settled on the happy medium that they'd only post news items that they had an interest in and had made some personal observations on. Basically I boiled it down to links with no original content = bad. Original content with a link at the end = good

 

[Ramses]

Most people are into social stuff now, maybe the way to go is a social network based on admin/webmaster stuff?

I think that's the most valid point made. All this social crap (facebook, instagram etc.) is killing slowly all old fashioned websites and forums.
Mobile phones are the other problem, people nowadays need to have apps and the home personal computer is dying slowly, only we old farts are still using it

I've seen the switch to XF from vB kill traffic at more than one busy board. Subjective, I know.

Don't believe that, I still love vBulletin but I have no issues with xenforo how it's implemented on taz, they did a great job on that.

What metric are you using, over what time frame? My statistics say otherwise, though as Erika mentioned posting is down over the past couple of weeks. But we're getting more members and guests visiting daily and on a month by month basis we're getting more posts than we have in years.

Alexa shows a steady decline in traffic rank http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/https://theadminzone.com
Yes, I know this numbers are not really significant in details but they contain some truth I think.

Or could it be that all this VB bashing on here has alienated the greater number of members ?

It's probably the sum of all parts, the software, the change, and the bashing you get if you dare mention you like VB.

I agree. The bashing of vB does annoy me on this forum.

Someone would make a post asking about vbulletin, and immediately the same suspects would jump in and hijack the thread - and basically tell them they were an idiot for running it, and that IB are the devil in disguise ... etc .. etc. The same people would simply attack everything that IB/VB did. The same people would bring up the same things they have been doing for year after year. In the last few months, its not been nearly as bad.

No one in their right mind would pretend all is rosy with vbulletin, but bringing up the same arguments and attacks for 5+ years now is just pointless and makes you wonder whats wrong with their lives. More to the point, it puts people off posting, or even visiting. Few people come to a forum to be attacked, or have their choices attacked.

Agree, often it's getting out of control in discussions.

What I want to do is talk about SEO, bounce rate, registrations, member activity/retention, monetization, growth, etc etc etc...

Me too.

 

[geebee]

people nowadays need to have apps

So true. I've found that if I'm working on my websites, I'll use the laptop or desktop. If I just want to have a browse around, I grab my iPad. It's just more convenient and portable. I love the apps as well and use them far more than the regular browser Twitter, Gmail, ABC, BBC, Flipboard, Netflix etc etc. just so much easier. I'm amazed that the main players in the forum industry aren't putting much more effort into fully featured apps. I know vb had a go at a mobile suite, but I really do feel that there's a huge opportunity being missed.

 

[s.molinari]

only we old farts are still using it

Actually, the developer community are still on PCs (or laptops). They have to be and that won't change for a while. Well, I am betting on that future some.

I'd also venture to say, although there may be more mobile devices than PCs, there will always be a "large screen device" market, simply because some things just are a whole lot more enjoyable to do, with a large screen. Developing programs is one example. Playing games is another.

And in general to what you said, "people need to have apps", is one way to put it and I agree. Though, I'd extend that viewpoint a bit. I'd say, people need access to your website and it needs to perform like an app on their mobile devices, for them to use it best. This is why I am not completely convinced responsive design is the best answer to the mobile device paradigm and for every kind of website, especially those which form complex applications, like forums. Responsive design is IMHO a "copout" to serve a mobile device a better mobile experience. Responsive design is ok, if all you have is simple content. But, as soon as a web application gets just a bit complex, then I think an "app" ( an application that works with the device more natively) becomes a necessity.

Building an "app" is just a whole lot more work to accomplish and thus we cop out to responsive, because..... it is easier.

Scott

 

[eva2000]

Really depends on the audience and topic/content of the specific site. For instance, across 3 of my most visited domains, average mobile + tablet traffic is only <2-9%. There's just some content or topics better suited to large screen devices and forums for discussion.

 

[Alex.]

TAZ was one of the very few forums I visited and I curtailed my use of the net when the weather began to warm up here. Suffice to say, it never quite cooled down. Apart from TAZ, I post on a few sports forums and the occasional ESPN article, but I never bother to keep up with alerts about replies or whatnot. I follow the same process with XenForo sites or even the newer vB or IPS sites. I want to peruse a forum or site at my own leisure. Not have likes or replies stroke my ego.

TAZ is here to stay, much to the dismay of a very vocal few who've caused trouble for many years. It'll have its ups and downs, but it'll likely be here in another 10 years unless the world internet backbone implodes.

 

[Andrea Borman]

I have noticed that you have now enabled guest posting. Why is that as I thought most forums did not like to allow guests to post?

 

[The Sandman]

I have noticed that you have now enabled guest posting. Why is that as I thought most forums did not like to allow guests to post?

It's not really guest posting - guests can compose a post but must then quick register for it to appear.

 

[Digital Doctor]

I have noticed that you have now enabled guest posting. Why is that as I thought most forums did not like to allow guests to post?

but you can post anonymous

but the admins and mods know who posted it.

 

[Lisa]

but you can post anonymous
View attachment 34532
but the admins and mods know who posted it.

What does that have to do with guest posting?