Moderator1 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I think all those use this forum regularly think it is a great thing. We seem to get very few new members which I think is in part because no one knows it is here. I challenge the regular users to go out and get at least one of your friends to sign up and start using this forum by the end of the month.Please help them through the registration process and let me know if you/they have any problems. We do have the anti spammers security measures turned up pretty high. We still get Russian spammers trying to get on almost every day.I have been told that these type forums are old fashion compared to things like Instagram, but to me this seems the best format to share detailed information. Help prove me right. So link it on whatever other sites you play on, phone your friends and let's try to add some good active members.Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Great idea!The forum format is great for finding information again, on Facebook etc and even the Yahoo groups these days it is difficult to find any info again, I like that I can easily go back on the forum and read a topic again when I wonder about something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator1 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Good Elga, so how do we convince others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Been asking that question myself for a long time...I think...most of us who do post regularly do this full time, it is our passion, we sleep, breathe and think about miniatures almost 24/7...well, I do in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miraclechicken Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Even though I'm not wild about the software/site I totally agree that it is great to reference back to previous threads and great info. Facebook is * now* looking up past stuff is a lot of backpedaling and yahoo groups are a nightmare since all the horrid changes. So yes we need to capitalize on this opportunity. I don't have people to reach out to and post the link, sorry, I am not in any circles that we all are not already in. As far as know, Instagram is Facebook but with only pictures. Surely there is no comparison with a real live forum where information is freely exchanged (?), but I have no idea. My nephew set up my Ipod for Instagram but I never did anything with it. Wish I could do more--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator1 Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 We do seem to be having problems with new registrations..... So contact me or anyone on here, or the guild office to forward a message to me. Then I will go in and manually approve them.Sorry, but we are working on this.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tine Krijnen Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 This is my first time as a new visitor/member. What I have seen and read so far I think is is a good forum. And to be able to be able to browse in a earlier topic is wonderful.I am a bookbinder, a paper, cardboard and thin leather person. I have a website and I am on facebook. That is to say, my son does the work because it takes to much time. Like this interesting forum, as soon as you start reading, you can't stop. Maybe a good idea to launch this forum in the Dolls House Magazines, or tell about it on Fairs. At least I became a member today, Tine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miraclechicken Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Welcome, good to see you here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Ronan Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I am sure there are a lot of visitors here that have just never become members or made a comment. I wonder if anyone can be coaxed into doing anything that takes a bit of effort anymore. Recently it was mentioned by a forum member that certain posts have been viewed many times (well over 100) but no one was leaving comments. I have had a blog for over five years, looking at my stats I can see how many views a post has had. People don't take the time to comment in blogs anymore either (even my close friends). I have wondered if it is the result of what I call the Facebook mentality. The 'LIKE' button has saved everyone from having to bother to exercise there fingers with a few typed words. Maybe it is a lazy thing, a spin off of the texting generation/mentality. c u @ 4 vs See you at four o'clock. The only online miniature venue that seems to be thriving is Facebook The odd thing is... People who have blogs have virtually abandoned them but are sharing their miniature work (and photos of it) on Facebook. I am mystified! PS... Over the past five years I have collected over 140 blogs that I 'Follow'. Out of that number there are about 6-7 that are still active. It is not that I think that the interest in miniatures has diminished but the online interest sure has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 For me personally I have switched from posting on my blog to posting on the forum...why, because on here I can ask questions about tools and techniques that I can't ask on my blog. And when I post my work here I get more intelligent responses because the people here realize much more just the amount of work and effort that I put into creating a furniture piece. Also since sharing how I make stuff has always been important to me too...I just feel there are probably more people here on the forum that really want to learn and can benefit from tutorial type posts. And as I only have so many hours in a day, the forum wins every time when I have to decide where I am going to post.And I do post on Facebook a lot...why...it is quick and easy, takes only a minute while writing a blog post can easily take me 30 minutes to an hour. Plus I generate many more sales from my FaceBook posts than I ever did from my blog, the teaching trip to Scandinavia was also a direct result of one of the Swedish people seeing my work on FaceBook, she thought I would be a good teacher and talked to the people in charge of the Swedish Guild...technology keeps on changing as does the way people interact with one another and I guess we need to keep up with it, especially if making miniatures is also our livelihood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator1 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Great comments everyone, it is interesting how the online world changes so fast and what is "in" and what is old fashision. Facebook is quick and easy and we can't compete with that. What we stress here is good and detailed content. I agree we need to advertise the forum better and do something about the sign in process, maybe we need to make it manual as in where they send a email to a person who signs up their registration. Also a number of peoples problem is they forgot their password or exact sign in, it is case sensitive, then they try to re registrar and it won't let them because their email address is already in use. If this is the case, just let me know and I can go in a change your password, then you can sign in and change it back.Anyway, like anything this is a work in progress.Btw, here are some stats as to what is popular, still at any given time there are about 10 x more readers than members on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Ronan Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Elga, Everyone can see what a tremendous effort you have put into this forum. Your contributions have been valuable! Since you and I have spoken of this before, I hoped you would not think this was in anyway directed at you. The comment I made was made in regard to the whole. Meaning that collectively, blogs have died down over the years. There also was another very popular forum that has all but disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I didn't think that at all Catherine :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 >Still, at any given time there are 10x more readers then members on the forum... Referencing this comment above, do we need to log-in for the stats to improve? I log in if I am going to post; but I do not log in to read. I have enjoyed access to the forum; it is great to have some discussion about tools and techniques, as so many of you have a lot more machining experience then I do. Tamra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElgaKoster Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I have ticked the box that says remember me on the log in page, so every time I go to the forum's website I am logged in automatically...which I prefer as it is easy to see all the new posts since my last visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator1 Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Tamra, no you don't. As a matter of fact I never thought some of the guest may just be not logged in members. On my I pad, it opens with me logged in so I just assumed others were set that way. This is really not about getting the stats higher, it is about getting more people to use this. Forums work better when there are more active people posting both question and answers and that is our goal.Thank you for all you do on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Well, forums and research/shopping, and of course emails are the extent of my life on-line as it relates to non-work... but I do think hits on a website may drive traffic in browsers... but I admit that in my working life I don't pay attention to website traffic stats. If the stats record all hits, not members only, then logging in would not be needed. So... once the Holidays are over for everyone - perhaps we will get some progress updates on the site for what miniaturists are working on. If miniaturists are not posting I hope it is because they are in a prolific artistic place - making progress on their projects. I always look forward to the New Year - I'm perpetually optimistic that I might finish something that I had started. Tamra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejuliana Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I posted it on the IGMA Facebook page again... we are up to over 3000 members. Please let me know if there are any special topics... anything to entice people to join and I will post...Thanks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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