Here is the standard 'forum whining' thread.
I will start with 2 factors
1 - Manual Account approvals
Manual account approval is something that I absolutely had to have in. There is a reason you see zero spam on this forum compared to the green site and it has nothing to do with popularity. It is because when a new user signs up I do a few checks such as check their IP is in the UK and also their signup details match up correctly (Ie if you sign up with a Sky or Virgin IP address but have an email that is jon@iliveinfrance.fr something isn't right). If I am happy with everything then I approve their account. The software running the forum does a number of checks anyway before it even comes to me for account approval as it has access to a VERY large database of spam IPs and email addresses etc so kills them off straight away. Either way, manual account approvals are here to stay.
If you sign up after I have gone to bed - Then sorry, but I will approve your account in the morning
2 - More Members
Whats the point in having something to say if there is no one to read it?
Driving users to a new site (much less a forum) is a thankless task. For every 5 people I convince to take a look you might only get 1 who signs up and posts. I haven't spent any money on advertising and the contests that we run here are an 'acceptable loss' for me in regards to exposing the site out to more people. I am advertising the site through a number of different channels but it is not going to be an overnight thing (If you think this only really got going in January so we are doing quite well really)
We are also competing against a super giant site who has a national TV person as its figurehead. That is not to say at all that our content is any less valid. I truly believe that when people find our site they are amazed already by the content on here and the community that is growing, it is just trying to get those people to 'stick' with the site and that is something I am working on constantly. More posts on this site = More pages for Google to index.
If any of you have access to any other forums around this area and wish to advertise the site that would be great as well. Word of mouth referral is ten times better than anything else and to be honest quite a few of our members have come via that method.
I may even make a 'Money Shed Champion' user group which would give you a nice gold star next to your name and deposit £5 into your PayPal account.*
*Paypal account thing may not happen
I will start with 2 factors
1 - Manual Account approvals
Manual account approval is something that I absolutely had to have in. There is a reason you see zero spam on this forum compared to the green site and it has nothing to do with popularity. It is because when a new user signs up I do a few checks such as check their IP is in the UK and also their signup details match up correctly (Ie if you sign up with a Sky or Virgin IP address but have an email that is jon@iliveinfrance.fr something isn't right). If I am happy with everything then I approve their account. The software running the forum does a number of checks anyway before it even comes to me for account approval as it has access to a VERY large database of spam IPs and email addresses etc so kills them off straight away. Either way, manual account approvals are here to stay.
If you sign up after I have gone to bed - Then sorry, but I will approve your account in the morning
2 - More Members
Whats the point in having something to say if there is no one to read it?
Driving users to a new site (much less a forum) is a thankless task. For every 5 people I convince to take a look you might only get 1 who signs up and posts. I haven't spent any money on advertising and the contests that we run here are an 'acceptable loss' for me in regards to exposing the site out to more people. I am advertising the site through a number of different channels but it is not going to be an overnight thing (If you think this only really got going in January so we are doing quite well really)
We are also competing against a super giant site who has a national TV person as its figurehead. That is not to say at all that our content is any less valid. I truly believe that when people find our site they are amazed already by the content on here and the community that is growing, it is just trying to get those people to 'stick' with the site and that is something I am working on constantly. More posts on this site = More pages for Google to index.
If any of you have access to any other forums around this area and wish to advertise the site that would be great as well. Word of mouth referral is ten times better than anything else and to be honest quite a few of our members have come via that method.
I may even make a 'Money Shed Champion' user group which would give you a nice gold star next to your name and deposit £5 into your PayPal account.*
*Paypal account thing may not happen