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I was discussing with NBF how I want to raise participation rates here on DaniWeb, and she pointed me to the following blog entry that she found:

She said it reminded her of me. So ... what do you guys think? Valid points or just BS?

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Good thread — ’s note about new-member intimidation and ’s point about balance between strict Q&A and open discussion are the right tensions to focus on. ’s reminder that there are many valid approaches matters too. Below are concise, practical steps that keep signal high while making the forum genuinely inviting.

  • Make the first step easy. Add a short, visible “how to ask” checklist for first-time posters (title + short problem statement, exact error/output, environment, and what was tried). Keep it a one-paragraph hint so it’s not off-putting.
  • Use a friendly, scripted first-reply for new posters rather than silence or correction. One short, polite prompt that asks for missing details works better than an immediate close or rebuke.
  • Turn moderation into triage, not removal. Edit for clarity when possible, move truly off-topic chat to a designated social area, and mark posts “needs info” rather than deleting them outright.
  • Protect space for discussion. A small “meta/social” subforum encourages rapport (as suggests) without contaminating technical threads.

Encouragement and low-friction reward matter: highlight solved threads weekly, give simple recognition to users who leave at least one helpful welcome/clarifying comment, and make it easy for OPs to mark solutions. A short volunteer rota (people who check new posts once a day) scales better than heavy-handed rules.

Example moderator-first-reply (one line, copyable):

Welcome — thanks for posting. To help solve this faster, please add OS/version, exact error text, and the short steps you used (minimal reproducible example if possible).

Small, consistent habits like this reduce intimidation, increase quick interaction, and preserve the focused, high-quality answers that drew people here in the first place.

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Member Avatar for happygeek

That's a very interesting posting you link to Dani, and one which makes some very valid points.

Certainly my experience has been, with regard to community building in particular, that strictly limiting forum response to answers alone, at the expense of discussion, is a bad thing. Yes, a moderatorial slow hand is required to prevent off-topic rambling and to ensure the original question gets answered (critical to a tech support forum, needless to say). But allowing discussion of the question, and discussion of the answer, positively encourages forum growth by imparting a feeling of value to participants and empowering a sense of real community.

It is, as in all things, a question of balance. Never easy to achieve, but essential that we strive to achieve it nonetheless.

Member Avatar for noppid

One of my favorite sayings is, there's more then one way to skin a cat. However, I found myself guilty of some things in that article.

I'm real glad ya posted that and I read it.

Thanks

Member Avatar for Dani

I think the most important thing I took away from the article was the intimidation factor - a lot of times us regular members don't realize how overwhelmed new members can be with a new community.

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