What can we do to make the forums better for you?

**Terminator** · 08-02-08, 11:16 PM

What can we do to make the forums better for you? Serious inquiries only please. I'm personally looking to increase activity on the forums and try some new things. I WANT your input. Please PM me or post here with ideas.

**Jenna** · 08-03-08, 12:16 PM

I don't care much about how the forum looks--I just want it to download quickly and not have glitches or server problems. The main strength of the forum is social, not technical, so I would recommend prioritizing technical stuff that facilitates social interaction and the smooth operation of the site and not technical stuff just to look good.

The real magic of the forum lies in how much members trust each other, the security of the site, and the fairness of the site staff, and how much members are able to develop and maintain strong friendships and feel free to make posts that are deep, personal, silly, and/or crazy, make playful insults and edgy jokes at each other's expense, and engage in heated debates and harshly criticize each other, without a lot of site staff intervention or bans of long-term members. Choosing and keeping the right people as site staff is key to maintaining that. The current site staff are great people doing a wonderful job, so I just hope you can keep them and not burn them out, but how exactly you do that is above my pay grade.

I also hope you can keep the current members active and minimize attrition. I like how this forum has a lot of regulars who all know each other well and post a lot of high-quality posts, rather than being like many other larger forums that have revolving doors for huge numbers of transient websurfers that arrive via search engines and are far too numerous for anyone to keep track of, most of whom just post a few low-quality posts and then disappear. I don't think the site needs large numbers of new members; it just needs enough new regulars to replace old regulars who disappear or become less active. The best way to get new members who are likely to stay is for regulars here to recruit people they know in real life or from other online communities who seem like they would fit in here.

I'd also like to see the regulars post more, but I can't think of specific things beyond what you're already doing that would get them to do that. Does anyone have ideas about what would cause you to spend more time on the site and post more?

**mack** · 08-03-08, 12:57 PM

I go in and out of the site all day long. I stop in see what has been posted, comment, then may leave for a little while and come back in later to do it all over again. I have made alot of friends here, some really close friends also. Quite a few I keep in touch with outside of OR. I can't see what would make it better, it's a great place to hang out to begin with, except we need to get the chatroom more active.

**Terminator** · 08-03-08, 01:25 PM

More than 12 hours since I posted this and only two people thus far have replied. This means I don't want to hear any bitching when we don't make improvements you might want in the future.

**mack** · 08-03-08, 03:23 PM

Term it's Sunday and summertime, give people a chance, lol.

**Jks9199** · 08-03-08, 03:35 PM

Thinking...

When I get a decent idea, I'll pass it along.

If, of course, the firefighters succeed in saving the foundation!

**nsb22** · 08-03-08, 04:49 PM

The only thing I miss is the radio. That's realy my only suggestion. Sorry.

**Buttercup** · 08-03-08, 05:10 PM

I've been thinking! As nsb said, O/R radio would be good to have again.

**Jenna** · 08-03-08, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by mack

I can't see what would make it better, it's a great place to hang out to begin with, except we need to get the chatroom more active.

I think having the chatroom show how many people are in it as soon as members refresh the forum like it did in the past, without users having to check the chatroom specifically to see if there are people in it, might help it become more active. A lot of members who aren't motivated enough to post a "chat now!" thread and then sit in the chatroom for a long time waiting for someone to show up might nevertheless drop in if they see while browsing the forums that there are a bunch of people already in the chatroom. Believe it or not, I never started out wanting to go into the chatroom any of the many times I ended up there, but as a sheep I just couldn't resist following when I saw that a herd was gathering in there.

**Just KC** · 08-04-08, 03:05 AM

I think it is expected to have a slow down of posts during the summer time. Lots are out vacationing, spending time outside, with families, swimming, etc which all cause you to be more tired and spend less time on computers. Kids are out of school and that monopolizes parents time too.

I think we need to remember what this forum is about and a level of professionalism needs to be kept. I also have seen some posts and topics more recently that cross the line, IMO, and have turned me off from posting at times.

I can't think of anything in particuliar to increase posting or members, i just think it is that time of year where families are busy. Also, we are extremely busy at work cuz summer heat and alcohol do not mix......but hey, job security for us!

**dapples** · 08-04-08, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by mack

Term it's Sunday and summertime, give people a chance, lol.

+1

AND Jenna pretty much summed it up for me.....

The real magic of the forum lies in how much members trust each other, the security of the site, and the fairness of the site staff, and how much members been able to develop and maintain strong friendships and feel free to make posts that are deep, personal, silly, and/or crazy, make playful insults and edgy jokes at each other's expense, and engage in heated debates and harshly criticize each other, without a lot of site staff intervention or bans of long-term members.

**Second Chance** · 08-04-08, 09:46 AM

I haven't been around too long, but was the radio music or scanners?. Either way it would be nice, I prefer music myself. Also the idea of being able to see who is in the chat room before logging in, which I forgot the log in, but that would be nice as well.

**Jenna** · 08-04-08, 11:15 AM

Maybe if you're trying to decide between two or more features that cost about the same, you could do a poll asking members which feature is preferable if the site can only afford one.

**JAYBIRD33081** · 08-04-08, 11:24 AM

well i am pretty new to forums but this one is by far my fav. I come one here every night and on and off during the day. I dont know what you could do to make it better i already think its pretty awsome. as far as boosting activity i think ya just need to advertise more i guess. I try to tell all the other LE students at school about it. Just gotta get more ppl to spread the word about it.

**luckyme** · 08-04-08, 12:13 PM

I just posted in the feedback forum, but I would like to see the forum work better with Firefox. ( though it might be a problem with me. lol)

**Buttercup** · 08-04-08, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by luckyme

I just posted in the feedback forum, but I would like to see the forum work better with Firefox. ( though it might be a problem with me. lol)

I use Firefox and I haven't had any problems with the site.

**Ivory** · 08-04-08, 01:23 PM

MAke it an option to choose what color we want....I want to change the color to pink or something

**Terminator** · 08-04-08, 01:49 PM

I'm definitely going to work on the radio after the new skin is in place. We ran into some legal issues with the radio being re-implemented. Whiny musicians want money everytime there song is played. But I'm going to make it work.

P.S.- Luckyme, the site works fine with Firefox. It's an issue on your end.

**OfficerResource.com** · 08-04-08, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by JAYBIRD33081

well i am pretty new to forums but this one is by far my fav. I come one here every night and on and off during the day. I dont know what you could do to make it better i already think its pretty awsome. as far as boosting activity i think ya just need to advertise more i guess. I try to tell all the other LE students at school about it. Just gotta get more ppl to spread the word about it.

Jaybird,

Thank you for the kind post. We take a lot of pride in this site. This site would not be what it is with out the hard work of our staff members. The staff here puts in a lot of time and makes this site run very smooth. The members are also what is all about. We are constantly getting emails, and private messages from member on what they would like to see added to the site. This site started years ago as a simple forum. This site has truly evolved into a great site that I call home.

Thanks to all the site staff and to all the members for making O/R what it is today.