Gary Lewis Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Oops! Wasn't done. Chris/ckuske has been slaving away on working through our to-be joining process on InVision, which is a good thing as it looks like we are moving two weeks from today, the 15th. And Jeff and I've been testing. Thanks, guys! Remember that we said that we want the newbies to have to create an introduction in the New Members Start Here folder? Well, that isn't as easily done as typed, but Chris got it done. Now we need to think about whether or not we really want it to work that way. I say that because it takes quite a few steps to make it happen: 1 - Signup: They get a screen, shown below, to fill out with their screen name, email address, etc. And they are shown the guidelines and are required to agree to them. 2 - Validate Email: Then they get a screen that tells them they have an email with a link they must click to confirm it is theirs. 3 - Complete Your Profile: . Once they've validated their email they are shown the screen Complete Your Profile where they are to create their signature. A page like this is required in order for the next step to happen, and they can put anything in and it becomes their signature. 4 - NMSH: Once they click Next on the signature page they are taken to the New Members Start Here folder where the instructions tell them they are going to have to create an introduction before they can do anything else so they need to click Start New Topic. 5 - Introduction: As soon as they click Start New Topic they are on the screen where they need to create their introduction. Screen shots of those steps are below, but we need to decide if this is what we want. If we don't really care that they introduce themselves then we could take the signature and introduction steps out and they'd just have to fill out the signup form wherein they agree to the guidelines and then confirm their email and they are in. That probably means we'll get more people who just want to ask one question, but we need to weigh that vs the potential of running people off with all the requirements. COMMENTS, PLEASE! http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/waving_orig.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 .... If we don't really care that they introduce themselves then we could take the signature and introduction steps out and they'd just have to fill out the signup form wherein they agree to the guidelines and then confirm their email and they are in. That probably means we'll get more people who just want to ask one question, but we need to weigh that vs the potential of running people off with all the requirements.... I don't have a strong feeling, but I lean toward this approach. Personally I don't care if someone joins just to ask on question. It doesn't hurt me at all, and if we can help someone just that little amount, why not? My only concern would be if a lot of "people" got on who were really just phishing. One board I was on a long time ago had to ban several new members each week who were just advertising for male enhancement products. And of course quite a few others that were there for other less obnoxious but no less valid reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Gary, it's really not much worse than some I have been a member of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 .... If we don't really care that they introduce themselves then we could take the signature and introduction steps out and they'd just have to fill out the signup form wherein they agree to the guidelines and then confirm their email and they are in. That probably means we'll get more people who just want to ask one question, but we need to weigh that vs the potential of running people off with all the requirements.... I don't have a strong feeling, but I lean toward this approach. Personally I don't care if someone joins just to ask on question. It doesn't hurt me at all, and if we can help someone just that little amount, why not? My only concern would be if a lot of "people" got on who were really just phishing. One board I was on a long time ago had to ban several new members each week who were just advertising for male enhancement products. And of course quite a few others that were there for other less obnoxious but no less valid reasons. Yes I agree with that. I'm of the opinion that the easier it is to join (But not too easy to keep out spammers) the more people we will find asking questions, even if its just small help for that person... but the solutions that will linger forever on cyberspace will help many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisler Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Yes I agree with that. I'm of the opinion that the easier it is to join (But not too easy to keep out spammers) the more people we will find asking questions, even if its just small help for that person... but the solutions that will linger forever on cyberspace will help many others. Please remember many people who enjoy these old Fords are older themselves (like me) and not too computer savvy (like me). Make it too complicated and they may just move on. Keep it as simple as fulfills your requirements. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ifitaintbroke Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 My $0.02. The easier the better. Yes we will have people coming on to ask a question or two, but those threads, short though they may be, might very well end up leading others to the forum via search engines like Google. Many times I've clicked on a thread that popped up on Google, only to find it had no replies. But guess what? It got me to that forum. And, to address the "lack of community" concern, those of us who make up the community here will stay, and continue posting. Whether or not others will join, time will tell. We live in a rapidly changing age. I mention the forum to most customer I help with bullnoses, and I've yet to see one join. Usually they don't display much interest. Guess this kind of thing is only for us weirdos. 🤷 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ifitaintbroke Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 My $0.02. The easier the better. Yes we will have people coming on to ask a question or two, but those threads, short though they may be, might very well end up leading others to the forum via search engines like Google. Many times I've clicked on a thread that popped up on Google, only to find it had no replies. But guess what? It got me to that forum. And, to address the "lack of community" concern, those of us who make up the community here will stay, and continue posting. Whether or not others will join, time will tell. We live in a rapidly changing age. I mention the forum to most customer I help with bullnoses, and I've yet to see one join. Usually they don't display much interest. Guess this kind of thing is only for us weirdos. 🤷 Another thing. The more registered members a forum has, the more likely it will be to turn up in a search. That's why "the forum that shall not be named" usually comes up before us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 4 Author Share Posted September 4 Another thing. The more registered members a forum has, the more likely it will be to turn up in a search. That's why "the forum that shall not be named" usually comes up before us. I forgot to say that this doesn't have to be a permanent decision. We might try it "easy" and see if we like it and tighten it up later if we don't. But Chris has worked out what it takes so we are ready. Keep those cards and letters coming in, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 I forgot to say that this doesn't have to be a permanent decision. We might try it "easy" and see if we like it and tighten it up later if we don't. But Chris has worked out what it takes so we are ready. Keep those cards and letters coming in, please. I always considered that the NMSH requirement was in place to assure that new members read and agreed to the TOU/guidelines, but I was here long before the joining process got borked.... I 100% agree that it shouldn't be technically complicated to join, but don't think that asking "tell us a little about yourself, your truck and where (about) you're from" is onerous. People in the desert are going to have different problems than those in Maine or Wisconsin or someone from the Gulf Coast. I know I'm always informed by and have different considerations when answering someone depending on climate/altitude/whatever... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 I'm kinda surprised to say it, but I stand in favor of keeping the introduce yourself first policy. The more I've thought about it, I believe that may be why this site seems (to me) to have higher quality posts and conversations than others I've visited. While I don't have any issue with people jumping in to ask a question and leave, my worry is more about people jumping in to ANSWER question and then leave. This site has been invaluable to us in working on our truck, and while some of that is the great documentation, it has been just as much finding people's past threads about their trucks, and the shared knowledge of you guys. I have come to realize that I trust the consensus we get here more than any other sites, because the users here are invested, and it's not overrun with bad answers. I do think having a minor hoop to jump through to show that you are serious before posting to the main forums is a good thing because it makes you stop and consider whether you actually want to be a part of the community or if you're just throwing your two cents in on some random forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts