ᐅ What do you think of the new design of the house building forum?

In der Ruine schrieb:
I don’t understand why so many experienced members still post here.

I already answered this in post #82:

11ant schrieb:
The original Blue forum actually has very low activity, because search engines, for some reason, love this forum. The Green forum only has the advantage that it doesn’t exclude newcomers from private messages. However, it has a completely invisible admin and a rough tone maintained here mainly by the "Pforzheimer," reminiscent of Beavis & Butt-Head; unfortunately, it could be renamed to something like "Can we knock down the wall to the pantry forum," and the self-designed CAD planners there are even more detached from reality than here.

I simply respond where my readers come to ask questions. The comment section on my builder info blog is still very underused; hardly anyone “wanders” into the original Blue forum, in the Green forum people bore me with the endless Groundhog Day-like questions about whether they can knock down their pantry wall (while others misuse the bug that grants thread starters deletion rights), and here I have the most effective opportunity to answer questions. Naturally, I prefer to wait here rather than in dead-end places where no one shows up. Among the blind, the one-eyed is king—or only the good is the enemy of the bad.

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Of course, there are complaints and demands. In case you didn’t know, the users here do all the work, provide content, and keep the forum alive.

A little behind-the-scenes insight:
About 9-10 years ago the forum was in a similar situation. The forum was changed, flooded with advertising, features were disabled or significantly restricted (e.g., private messaging), and any criticism was deleted (which is why there are no general discussion areas anymore). The main moderator (now renamed as "Construction Experts") had a falling out with the operator and founded a separate forum (without advertising), and many experienced members as well as part of the moderator team left with her. The house building forum was considered dead by many. None of this helped. New house builders continued to join, and new experienced members came together to help.
The spin-off forum, on the other hand, lacked the influx of new house builders and gradually faded away.

What the admin does well is ensuring the forum continues to attract new members and ranks well online.
The forum lives on former house builders who continue to help. When you stop sharing your "contributions," new ones will arrive. The operator doesn’t care who answers here, as long as the forum generates revenue.

Musketier schrieb:
What the admin does well is keeping the forum continuously attracting new users and making it easy to find online.

That is also the main responsibility of the forum operator, if you look at the company. The forum exists solely as a source of income. I have started writing a few posts again because it has improved. And because currently there is no advertising. If the annoying ads come back, I will stop completely. But overall, the traffic in the forum has DECLINED significantly. It is noticeable. And I don’t see any "new" users coming, at least not over the past few years. Rather, there is a gradual loss.

Musketier schrieb:
What the admin does well is that the forum constantly attracts new members and is easily found online.

However, this is not the credit of the site operator. With the domain, it basically runs itself.

I still clearly remember that the forum could be accessed via the Tapatalk platform 14 years ago. It was ad-free. Then there was the first change. Before reading the experience report by @Musketier Do you currently have any advertisements?

ypg schrieb:
Are you currently advertising?

Fortunately, none at all... Don’t call out for it too loudly.