Investment Forum - Comments on Forum Structure

On behalf of Pat Bourne (Shareworld Member)

Having recently joined and looked at the forum may I give my opinion on the site?

Here goes anyway - I would think that you get quite a few visitors to your site who are quite possibly put off by a number of things. One of the first things I noticed was how out of date a lot of the threads appear to be so giving the appearance that few people bother to keep looking.

It is not readily apparent that they are welcome to join free of charge and then to post any questions they may have for others to post replies to. May I dare to suggest that older and out of date posts are removed after say 6 months if no replies are posted in that time so giving the site a more up to date image?

If posts remain valid by the comments received these could be filtered and posted under perhaps a "frequently asked questions" type section to maintain the interest of "new arrivals"? Would be interested to hear your views.

In further follow up, how about the moderators posting replies at a set interval to any old threads to say they will be deleted after a certain time if no further replies are forthcoming? At least then all post would show up to date activity to new visitors and hopefully retain their interest?

With regard to out of date threads, I’m not sure what to do here. Generally speaking I would say that once someone has an answer, or

Once someone has confirmed an answer, they may not necessarily be any more posts – in these cases people will read what has been discussed and

Perhaps find the answer without a need to post. In contrast for example the thread about Renato is visited over and again, as people haven’t really resolved their issues.

I think the main solution to this would be when the forum is a lot busier, old posts will automatically get “pushed out of view” – as new threads always go to the top.

If its not apparent people can join free of charge, I need to sort that out. I will put something in large lettering to let everyone know that this is the case – Il do that ASAP.

Let me know if you have any additions to that, or if there’s anything else you would suggest.

I think what a lot of forums do is "lock" the posts rather than deleting them.

Do you think this would be acceptable? As I'd be worried about deleting threads completely - Although something's appear dormant, you'd be surprised what people search for, and what information is read by people on a day to day basis.

Its quite interesting really that any particular bit of information on Shareworld does actually get at least some views on a regular basis, and in fact over its life will actually bring an endless supply of visitors - ie it doesn’t matter how old information is, there's always someone searching for it...

-For example, we keep all of our "market News" which is just a run-down of FTSE price etc, published every day.

We had a search the other day for market news, February 24th or something similar - an obscure search, and that particular item is probably useless information to almost anyone, but that particular person was looking for exactly that!!

How about the possibility of creating a thread list so that any one who has posted any comment could be advised  by email of any further posted updates. This may encourage people to make more return visits and then produce more input?

JO8PNB when you start a post, or reply to a post, you will see a tick-box labeled "Notify me of replies to this Topic".

If you tick this box, then you will be emailed with every future reply to that thread.

Is that what you mean?

Probably yes but, thinking laterally' if someone doesn't do it then they won't get the notification. How about an "untick" box so it becomes automatic unless they request otherwise?

Funnily enough I was just thinking that the other day!!...Watch this space

Done

Great! But perhaps the line should include an invite to "unselect" if no replies are required as a courtesy issue?

Firstly, I have just read this thread! I think forums do have difficult structures anyway, by their nature. Sometimes I look at a forum just to catch up on old threads and I have difficulty finding the ones I was previously interested in. This maybe because sometimes the thread/post title does not always describe the content. Furthermore threads do not usually go out of date, except maybe ones about a particular share and some topical newsflow. On the other hand it can be interesting re-visiting an old subject to put the present situation in perspective.
I suppose it is usually when you receive an email about a new post/reply that rekindles interest.
The forum has attracted quite a few members and it is really up to those members to get their forum going. There must be myriads of questions you all need to ask and we will generally reply but we need everyone to join in. Perhaps we should make it compulsory that every member posts at least daily! LOL!

I have noticed that on many topics some "Posts" digress to other topics. How about the Moderators selecting such digressions and making them into separate subjects of "New Posts" then this would widen the variety of Posts for discussions? I know what I mean but I hope you can understand what I am getting at?

Good idea, but beyond the capabilities of the forum at the moment, and a little bit tricky to achieve really.

Forum Mods can move entire threads to different sections of the forum, but not parts there of - I think this would get too confusing for everyone.

Perhaps a solution in reality would be that Moderators could advise people to start a new thread, or in fact close the thread from further discussion - although this might be a bit too restrictive.

Having now experienced the Auto Notifications for a few weeks I find this is a great way to keep up to speed with other peoples views on the subjects looked at. I am frequently surprised by how quickly views are noted on any topic posted. There are obviously lots of people looking even if they are not joining in - shame really.

I think you tend to get this in forums generally: lots of people looking (sometimes here there are 16 guests viewing) but not many post. It takes time for a forum to build up. In the meantime we hope you like Eavesdropper and Dan's contributions.

Has our clock gone to pot again - Just posted at approx 1642 and site says posted at 1623?