One post wonders

I was always impressed by welcome PMs. However, I have to admit that it never made me post more. It just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

One of the best ways (I think) to get rid of 1-post wonders is to remove their ability to link. Most are just in it to get a link back to their site or whatever they're promoting. So, turning off the ability to use the URL BBCode until a person hits 5 (or 50!) posts is useful. Same with the ability to add your own URL to your profile & signature.

For me personally, I find that 5 to 15 is an OK number. I've had sites where I couldn't link or use a sig until 25 posts (hey, maybe that's even DaniWeb, I really don't remember what being a new user on here was like), and sometimes, if the site is worth it, it motivates me to make some good posts and get over the hump, so I can use all the features. However, there are also some sites where the number is WAY too high. I think on devshed you need 50 or 100 posts before you unlock things like sigs. That felt too burdensome. I think I made 30 or 40 posts before dropping out.

I'm going strong on DaniWeb, v7, sitepoint, etc. It's a balancing act -- limit features enough to draw people in, but don't set the bar so high that people walk away from the community.

(Yes, I do use every community to get linkage to my sites. But I get that linkage by making good posts, hopefully this one qualifies. I think it's a fair exchange -- I try to post well, and maybe get a visitor or two in return. Sites that don't honor that bargain don't get my posts.)

-Tony

We used to have a 10 post minimum before you could use signatures or post in the Webmaster Marketplace or ask for a Site Review. It ended up being a lot more trouble than it was worth. People would just create "fake" signatures at the end of all their posts. Since they couldn't post in the marketplace, they would just spam the rest of the site to death instead. It turned out to just be way too much work for moderators to constantly have to move and delete things. In the end, I think it stifled traffic more than it helped.

Since getting rid of the minimum, I instantly noticed people posting in the appropriate forum (even if it was just the marketplace on their first visit). But, hey, the way I look at it now ... maybe if we can find someone who has a good experience in our marketplace, that will be their incentive to stick around longer. Give them what they want and they'll be back, eh? versus the mentality of make them earn what they want. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but in retrospect, I think that it turned posting onto the site into more of a chore ... a means to an end ... instead of out of enjoyment. And in a community atmosphere, you begin to notice when people don't really want to be there.

I think the option isn't keeping 1 post wonders out, but I think a time limit of inactivity of people with an extremely low post count would work. Hotmail, for example, will discontinue your account if it's not been logged into in a certain amount of time.... now while I don't agree with this behavior for people who have shown significant time investment into Daniweb, (I know that I have had to take a lengthy leave of absence, with all intention of return), but I think someone who has a post count of 1, and hasn't logged back in for 30 days.... well, I think scraping the account should be justified.

What benefit will that have? The only benefit in doing so is when file space is a concern and you want to prune the database to save space. IMO pruning members with posts is a terrible idea because as soon as you delete the user, they get unlinked from their posts, and you lose valuable information about them which could come in handy if any situation arises (email address, IP address, etc). I think the #1 reason though is that I'm sure that there are a lot of other people like me .... long time lurkers on forums. I will find myself registering on a site just to download attachments or subscribe to threads, and just don't feel comfortable speaking up or just don't find myself having anything to add. It doesn't mean that I don't utilize the site ... I'm just not the type of person who feels comfortable openly participating in online communities ... at least that's how I was until DaniWeb :) And to think what I've been missing out on all that time ;)

Well, if the ideas mentioned won't work, that may just be a difference in size -- your almost 70K membership causes issues that those of us with 5K memberships don't experience. That's OK. But maybe that means that one of your own other topics is onto your solution -- your topic about email newsletters. Use email to provoke return visits. Maybe if you can't block 1-post wonders, you can excite them or interest them in doing more.

My only suggestion there would be to keep the email short. I was working on my first email, and I had piled a year's worth of updates into one message. It was HUGE. Then I got (just yesterday) an email from talkfreelance.com, and their message was short, simple, and effective. They mentioned the thing they were promoting, provided a link, and ended the email. I saw that & immediately decided to rewrite the email I was working on. I could tell theirs was going to work.

-Tony

Thank you for your feedback. Not everything works for everyone ... which is why we have a no site specific policy in this forum. This way everyone can benefit from others and share honest discussions without giving the specifics of our own particular business.

One of the best ways (I think) to get rid of 1-post wonders is to remove their ability to link. Most are just in it to get a link back to their site or whatever they're promoting. So, turning off the ability to use the URL BBCode until a person hits 5 (or 50!) posts is useful. Same with the ability to add your own URL to your profile & signature.

See I actually kind of like this stuff, even from a member perspective. It's like a value-added for contributing to the community.

I've found that I actually get more involved in forums like that.

Although anytime I register at a new forum I always try to contribute as much as possible if I plan to have links anyways. It's kind of like a partnership/win-win type ordeal to me.

I've tried PM'ing new folks who didn't take part in the forum, and I've seen others who I didn't PM end up being pretty big posters... lol.

Hmm. How about taking some of the latest blog posts and including them in an email? Kind of like someone else does that spams me, but I didnt block them because some of the info actually interested me. Might generate some return visits.

I would like to comment some of the opinions that you gave here.

First I think that deactivating signatures or any solution like this can cause only problems.

The objective is not to get rid of 1 post members, but to make those members feel good enough to continue posting. Let me give you an example. I found this forum through another site, and I thought it would be fine to post here one of my php articles to promote my site. If the forum wasn't so attractive I wouldn't continue to post.

Now about lurkers, I have found two categories of them. The one is the category spammers. They sign up, create a signature with a link (which will be on their profile page) and leave. It seems that there are bots doing this also.
The other category is the people who actually like the content of your forum, and they register to have the abillity of browsing the site better (check unread posts, etc.)

The only way that I found to make those folks post, are contests. Whenever I create a new contest I send a pm to all the members, and every time some lurkers are starting to post.

Let me give you an example. I found this forum through another site, and I thought it would be fine to post here one of my php articles to promote my site. If the forum wasn't so attractive I wouldn't continue to post.

I'm sorry about that. Your article wasn't deleted. It was just moved to the PHP Tutorials section of the site: http://www.daniweb.com/tutorials/tutorial41688.html

Members registering and putting their URL in their profiles without posting isn't really a problem here. Member profiles are only accessible to guests, so profiles won't be spidered by search engines. Additionally, it would be nearly impossible to find the profile of a member who has never posted.

Those people who register but don't post for other reasons though ... huge problem around here.

It seems that there are bots doing this also.

if they never post at all, then I'm not sure how to help. but one feature I LOVE is "instant email notification" I personally think that should be default on all forums.

I activate it everytime I register on a new forum because I know otherwise I'd forget it even existed.

Yes, we use that as default here. However, I'm not a fan of it myself except on my favorite forums because I am a member and post on so many, I don't like my mailbox to be flooded with emails like "remember that thread you posted in on that new forum a month ago? ... someone finally replied to ya" Well, kinda.

one feature I LOVE is "instant email notification" I personally think that should be default on all forums.

Yes, I love that too. In fact, I wrote the mod for phpBB that switches the default to "enabled." However, oddly, it's about the least-downloaded mod I've got. I think forum admins might not understand that it really helps to make your site "sticky."

-Tony

I don't like my mailbox to be flooded with emails like "remember that thread you posted in on that new forum a month ago? ... someone finally replied to ya"

Really? That's primarily what I like it for. It's perfect for the obscure old threads that I'll never remember to check, unless there is a reminder.

But I do have a strategy for managing the big influx of email. About a third of the time, instead of clicking the link to view the new post, I click the link underneath it to "unsubscribe." This will still show me the new posts, but I won't be bothered/emailed again. And if the new posts are good that they provoke a reply from me, well, I'll get subscribed again. So it helps to kill off uninteresting reminders, but keep alive the reminders for topics I participate in.

-Tony

If daniweb is facing this problem too, then I can be more relaxed. I have noticed that too. I do have some people come and post once and vanish. Some return and become serious members, others just let it as it is. Some join the forums to promote their sites and use the market place. But seeing you need 20 posts to be able to actualy write something there makes some turn away. In the end it's good. I don't need advertising posts, I want real content ...

When I was starting out with my forums (under 200 members) I would PM members who posted and then left for awhile. I would tell them about contents, offers, or just remind them about the forum. I'd say about 20 percent of the members came back and are now atleast weekly posters. :)