Pony99CA
03-14-2004, 04:39 AM
NOTE: This thread is in response to one that was started over in the "Fastest Fingers Friday - InnoPocket iPAQ 4100 Metal Case" thread (http://www.pocketnow.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15343), but is more appropriate here.
Originally posted by BlazerW
I do agree that having a vibrant forum is a difficult and tricky thing to accomplish, but I some thoughts on the matter:
1) PocketNow's already does great reviews, with plenty of content and screenshots, and the quantity / quality of these reviews already surpasses the other sites, but when, for example, pocketpcthoughts publishes a review, it is a front page item, but it seems that here it is relegated to the side bar. IMHO, new reviews should also be included in the center "main" content area. I believe this will drive more people to read the reviews, and perhaps comment on them.
I agree with that. I know that I've missed reviews because they're stuck over on the side (at least until I saw a thread about the reviews in the forums). I'd keep the older reviews in the sidebar for easy access, though.
If reviews are mentioned in the news area, though, that would make my suggestion to increase the number of posts visible on the home page more important.
Originally posted by BlazerW
It'd also be a good idea if the reviewers answered or commented on posts made about the review, as time permits.
Many do. I've asked questions about some reviews and gotten decent responses.
Unfortunately, reviewers don't post their own reviews, and so may not know when they were posted. As a lot of reviews are being published, if the reviewer doesn't visit the home page for a few days, he could miss that his review was published (unless he's really looking and checks the Reviews section or the forums).
Perhaps the automatic E-mail notification feature could be turned on when the review was posted so the reviewer would get E-mail when a question was posted about the review. That wouldn't work in all cases, though, as I've noticed some reviews get posted under a generic screen name. (For example, see Tim Adams' BoxWave review (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=344) and Rick Jacobo's GameBox Asia review (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=343), both of which appear in the forums as being posted by pocketnow.)
Given that, I'd suggest a process change. When a review is posted, the review coordinator should E-mail the reviewer with a link to the review. The reviewer could then go into the discussion and subscribe to get new comments. That would ensure that reviewers were notified when somebody posted a question.
Originally posted by BlazerW
2) Perhaps some sort of forum reorganization ? I would think the main focus areas should be on "General PocketPC Discussion", and the device specific forums should come after that. Also, considering the traffic some of the forums are getting, I think consolidating "Pocket PC Hacks and Modifications", "Pocket PC Hardware", "Pocket PC OS Chatter", and "Pocket PC Software " into one "General Discussion" would be a good idea. Also this forum should be at the top of the list. The "Smartphone Devices" and "Pocket PC Phone Edition Devices" have little to no traffic and could be combined into one.. I don't if its just me, but I find it disorienting to see so many sub forums. It makes it difficult for the users to find out exactly where to divert their attention, especially when the forums that should be getting the most posts (the general forums) are hidden in the middle of the list.
I suspect the hardware-specific forums are listed first to ensure questions about specific devices go there. If the general forums came first, people might not scroll down and see the device-specific ones and post their questions in the general forum.
I would not support combining all of the forums. If the board activity does pick up, you might find that they'd need to be split again to keep the general board from getting too big.
Other than that, I think those were all good suggestions, though.
Steve
Originally posted by BlazerW
I do agree that having a vibrant forum is a difficult and tricky thing to accomplish, but I some thoughts on the matter:
1) PocketNow's already does great reviews, with plenty of content and screenshots, and the quantity / quality of these reviews already surpasses the other sites, but when, for example, pocketpcthoughts publishes a review, it is a front page item, but it seems that here it is relegated to the side bar. IMHO, new reviews should also be included in the center "main" content area. I believe this will drive more people to read the reviews, and perhaps comment on them.
I agree with that. I know that I've missed reviews because they're stuck over on the side (at least until I saw a thread about the reviews in the forums). I'd keep the older reviews in the sidebar for easy access, though.
If reviews are mentioned in the news area, though, that would make my suggestion to increase the number of posts visible on the home page more important.
Originally posted by BlazerW
It'd also be a good idea if the reviewers answered or commented on posts made about the review, as time permits.
Many do. I've asked questions about some reviews and gotten decent responses.
Unfortunately, reviewers don't post their own reviews, and so may not know when they were posted. As a lot of reviews are being published, if the reviewer doesn't visit the home page for a few days, he could miss that his review was published (unless he's really looking and checks the Reviews section or the forums).
Perhaps the automatic E-mail notification feature could be turned on when the review was posted so the reviewer would get E-mail when a question was posted about the review. That wouldn't work in all cases, though, as I've noticed some reviews get posted under a generic screen name. (For example, see Tim Adams' BoxWave review (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=344) and Rick Jacobo's GameBox Asia review (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=343), both of which appear in the forums as being posted by pocketnow.)
Given that, I'd suggest a process change. When a review is posted, the review coordinator should E-mail the reviewer with a link to the review. The reviewer could then go into the discussion and subscribe to get new comments. That would ensure that reviewers were notified when somebody posted a question.
Originally posted by BlazerW
2) Perhaps some sort of forum reorganization ? I would think the main focus areas should be on "General PocketPC Discussion", and the device specific forums should come after that. Also, considering the traffic some of the forums are getting, I think consolidating "Pocket PC Hacks and Modifications", "Pocket PC Hardware", "Pocket PC OS Chatter", and "Pocket PC Software " into one "General Discussion" would be a good idea. Also this forum should be at the top of the list. The "Smartphone Devices" and "Pocket PC Phone Edition Devices" have little to no traffic and could be combined into one.. I don't if its just me, but I find it disorienting to see so many sub forums. It makes it difficult for the users to find out exactly where to divert their attention, especially when the forums that should be getting the most posts (the general forums) are hidden in the middle of the list.
I suspect the hardware-specific forums are listed first to ensure questions about specific devices go there. If the general forums came first, people might not scroll down and see the device-specific ones and post their questions in the general forum.
I would not support combining all of the forums. If the board activity does pick up, you might find that they'd need to be split again to keep the general board from getting too big.
Other than that, I think those were all good suggestions, though.
Steve