TechTalk site

da4i's

Hi all, im just after launching my TechTalk website.

I was wondering if anyone could give me any comments about it

py2006

Just joined!

Rollo Tamasi

cheap shot at getting members

da4i's

thanks py2006

Ok Rollo; if you think its a cheapshot; how would you get visitors to a site that you cannot afford to advertise on sites and who ppl are not interested in a banner swap??

Dave

Gordon

Ten euro a month can give you some adwordizing surely?

da4i's

wah??? You mean a descent prize?? Ye i will through in a CD-ROM and a 6Gig Hard Drive aswell

Rollo Tamasi

well i wouldn't post up a link to a forum when you're looking for a critique on a website for starters

da4i's

fair enough... good point. I see what you mean.

But ive done it now lol.

What do you think of the layout Rollo?

Dave

Gordon

Oh, as for comments, it's a bit too black for my liking. It's as black as priest's socks.

da4i's

Black is the only colour i can really work with.

Would you refuse to join a forum because of its colours???

Dave

Rollo Tamasi

da4i's wrote:

What do you think of the layout Rollo?

not much, i don't mean to be getting on your case but all you have done is install vbulletin and install a template from best-board.com which insn't a very nice template

i don't think there is much more to say really

da4i's

ive been dissed lol. If thats what you think fair enough. I will get another template... Im planning on making my own one soon. I just need to get used to things first.

Dave

misterq

you might not refuse to join a forum, but you might find your eyes get tired trying to read a lot of white on black text and find yourself gravitating to other forums where it is easier to read the text.

Boards isn't that beautiful, but it is easy to read the posts with such neutral colours.

My 2c

da4i's

misterq wrote:

you might not refuse to join a forum, but you might find your eyes get tired trying to read a lot of white on black text and find yourself gravitating to other forums where it is easier to read the text.

Boards isn't that beautiful, but it is easy to read the posts with such neutral colours.

My 2c

Now i understand. Thanks I dont think that black really hurts eyes though. Unless im a freak it doesnt hurt my eyes lol

Rollo Tamasi

da4i's wrote:

ive been dissed lol. If thats what you think fair enough. I will get another template...

i'd wait for more feedback....

da4i's

i gaurantee everyone will say the same thing. What the first person says other people mainly follow... We'll see lol:rolleyes:

aidan_walsh

da4i's wrote:

i gaurantee everyone will say the same thing. What the first person says other people mainly follow... We'll see lol:rolleyes:

Nice.

Anyhoo, what I will say is that "Its all I can work with" is not an acceptable excuse. If you're serious about putting a site out, and can't design it properly, get someone who can. By all means, try away, but if you can't do anything people find appealing consider getting professional help.

Gordon

da4i's wrote:

Black is the only colour i can really work with.

Would you refuse to join a forum because of its colours???

Dave

It's very possible yes.

da4i's

ok im starting to understand where yez are coming from now.

I will try and get a nice different template

mneylon

The colour scheme is hard on the eyes. Why do so many forum templates insist on using awkward colour combinations?

Zascar

Hi Da4i,

I know lots of people on boards HATE anyone doing any sort of self promotion, but as long as its relevant I have absolutely no problem with it. Yes you definitely need to change the template, as simple as possible.

Its probably going to take a while to get going, starting is the hardest, but my advice is start with just a few broader catagory topics and redefine later.
But what differentiates your site from all the other thousands of tech forums out there? Is it specifically Irish? Do you have any resources to add to the site? People usually post on forums to get answers and opinions from people in the know. If I had a question there are many other tech sites which would use... See what I mean? Work on getting somehting extra for your visitors. hope this helps

da4i's

Well despite all the comments; ive managed to get myself 25 members in 10 days since the launch of my http://irishtechtalk.com/ domain was set up.

mneylon

Getting members is one thing.. keeping them active is another

Rollo Tamasi

I still don't think there is anything unique on your site that would make me sign up. I have 350 members on my forum but only about 25 are active at the moment, you will see a big drop off in activity. Approx only 15% of all members are retained imo.

Sparky

blacknight wrote:

Getting members is one thing.. keeping them active is another

Oh its heartache at times.

Joseph

at site is "OK". The only thing that would put me off is the logo

da4i's

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

I still don't think there is anything unique on your site that would make me sign up. I have 350 members on my forum but only about 25 are active at the moment, you will see a big drop off in activity. Approx only 15% of all members are retained imo.

8 of my visitors are active practically everyday. another 3 are active every 2 days so dont say im not doing well.

Deaddude wrote:

at site is "OK". The only thing that would put me off is the logo

Well then why dont you join?? Logo is only temp anyway

blacknight wrote:

Getting members is one thing.. keeping them active is another

Amazing the way most members keep returning.

Rollo Tamasi

you never do yourself any favours do you....
i wonder how many members you will have after 6months?

you should aspire to techimo.com

da4i's

I have to say your site doesnt have anythin anything better than mine and ur probs a hell of a lot older than me. If i can do this at my age now; keep an eye out for me wen im older

Ph3n0m

da4i's wrote:

I have to say your site doesnt have anythin anything better than mine and ur probs a hell of a lot older than me. If i can do this at my age now; keep an eye out for me wen im older

actually techimo.com has something you are sadly lacking - content

da4i's

any more personal attacks - and I dont care how offended you are - banned for a month!

Ph3n0m

da4i's you better explain your previous post or I am handing out a banning

Who exactly is an "asshole"

da4i's

i am sorry i just get affended when i put alot of work into somethin and its just thrown back at me

Gordon

Jaysis da4, no need to be so defensive, people are just giving you constructive criticism.

To try and lighten the tone, here's a great quote from Spinal Tap:

Nigel Tufnel: It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.

Ph3n0m

I dont care how offended you get - personal attacks are a big Neddy no-no.

My advice - apologise right now (directly to the user you called an a--hole), and I will let it slide

As for getting content - there is plenty of information out there - from rss feeds from the bbc to other tech sites over in the states - you could use them for some nice free and relevant content

aidan_walsh

1) The dark skin is awful. Lose it.

2) There are way too many boards for such a small user base. Get rid of some of them, and let your users guide you as to whats needed. Otherwise you're just going to have a lot of empty/inactive boards.

2.1) Lose the irrelevant boards like you FS section, and the general chat. Are you trying to be a support site, or boardsie lite? Its a bit obvious where you're modeling after.

2.2) If you insist on keeping the OT stuff, at least move the general topic chat below the tech topics. It should be a bonus for your other users, not the overall focus of the site.

3) Get content, and lots of it. If your board supports RSS robots for pulling headlines, use them. Don't rely on users to create content at the beginning, you'll have to submit as much as you can yourself.

Sparky

aidan_walsh wrote:

3) Get content, and lots of it. If your board supports RSS robots for pulling headlines, use them. Don't rely on users to create content at the beginning, you'll have to submit as much as you can yourself.

As much as I hate the idea of using the RSS robots, I found I, myself had to use them, but they do not display on the frontpage as they would flood over the proper posts.

You do have to put a load of effort into your site to keep users attached.

It's no easy task.

Rollo Tamasi

I don't know sparky, da4i's obviously knows what is he doing. I have faith in him, wait till you see him in a few years when he is older. By god the pedigree of this chap is outstanding. A Ronaldo of the internet if you will.

democrates

Yes black backgrounds are usually for arty sites trying to look mysterious and deep.
The most popular sites have light backgrounds as they have found users prefer this, I can't think of any exception.

Fair play to you doing this as you're young, and don't be disheartened if people give criticism, any feedback may be a chance to learn and improve things, that's value for free and fair play to people for offering their views.

As a mod on your own site, mark what happened here. If someone makes a rude personal attack (playing the man rather than the ball), you need to warn them or the threads will descend into slagging matches between total strangers(!).

Discourse with IT people can sometimes be like playing snap with a nest of giant scorpions, and I'm slagging myself in that. I've mellowed somewhat with age, but don't expect all posters to be politically correct all the time. If it's to have value like boards you can't be a nazi as that will drive people away in short form.