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Dubai Expat Forum - Suggestions

Too many forums....


craigindubai At least one reason why it's so S....L....O...W around here.... Time to ditch at least 15 of the some 25 forums listed here. Seriously, if you want to see some action in ANY of the forums, start pushing people into a smaller room..... And yes, I do realise there is a suggestion forum but no one is ever going to go there!
St.Lucifer Agree to it. mrs Robinson oh absolutely agree....5 or 6 would be more than enough arniegang Considering there are a few posters about at the moment being quite vocal about the forums in a negative way, its quite surprising no one has bothered to put their opinions in Suggestions re finding some new Mods. mrs Robinson
it's not being negative for the sake of it...it's trying to find ways to make the forum more attractive and lively....which it surely has the potential to..but somehow it seems not to be working (bearing in mind that I have only been viewing since last week)...and reducing the number of forums might be one way to achieve this... sage & onion
Reducing or increasing the number of forums will not really make any difference, what would make a difference is if people would use the correct forum. arniegang
DF attracted you here, averaging 20 posts a day. The number of forums obviously didnt put you off, even though you were posting your opinions within the first 10 posts.
People come and go on forums - thats how it is. I dont believe for 1 second that altering the number will open the flood gates to a batch of new regulars. mrs Robinson
agreed...but I am used to forums so I sort of know my way round...for a totally new forum user it must be very daunting to look at the index...
are all the forums frequently used then....or are there ones that hardly get posted on...
from experience, I'd say a general chat one, an advice one, a classifieds one, and a newbie welcome one would be enough...then maybe one or two specialist ones and that's it...
also...is the Fight Club not taking interesting interaction away from the main General Chat forum....if that's where 'all the action' is, then it could work against the forum and it's livelyness....
cause be fair....it is very quiet, there seem quite a lot of people that 'lurk' as guest, but not many people that actually post...
anyway...I am a newcomer, so I am just telling you about my initial findings...from a 'fresh' viewpoint... godsent I agree with craig. There are way too many forums. I have had the pleasure of reading some insightful posts on dubai here and the many character assainations that go along with the info for the past 1 month. Nevertheless, there are too many forums. Once again I am a freshie when it comes to forums so I may not be the best to judge...and in a way mrs. robinson is right but daunting wound't be the word. Just not used to the interface. Thats my two cents worth arniegang [quote="mrs Robinson

Lets start with "Lurkers". I am in the UK and often on any evening here when you lot are all asleep, i am the only registered user with anything upto 40-50 "guests". Its pointless discussing the why's and wherefore's regarding why these people "lurk". It has always been the same at least since i joined in late 2005. I would like to think these lurkers are enjoying reading the content of DF and hopefully using it a a vital source of information. Whether or not these lurkers would sign up and register if there were less Forums would be a futile debate.
FC has been in existence since the year dot. It serves a real purpose in allowing threads to continue away from Open forum where foul language and rudeness is not appropriate. It also allows us moderators a place to split a thread when it becomes abusive, thus keeping the original thread in open forum.
With regards forums not visited much, yep that the case. Take "black list". Little used i agree, but it still is a valuble forum if one gets crappy service in Dubai and the user wants to vent off.
Overall, many many valuble posts would be lost and not easy to reference if we didnt have the setup that we have now.
Maybe liken DF to a reference book about Dubai. A book has chapters and sections, DF has Forums. If people are daunted by reading an index and translating that into their reason for their visit to DF then maybe they should have tried harder at School.

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mrs Robinson so Godsent what do you think...will you be hanging around and start posting frequently or are you not sure about it...in other words, do you feel you could be at home here...just curious mrs Robinson
Lets start with "Lurkers". I am in the UK and often on any evening here when you lot are all asleep, i am the only registered user with anything upto 40-50 "guests". Its pointless discussing the why's and wherefore's regarding why these people "lurk". It has always been the same at least since i joined in late 2005. I would like to think these lurkers are enjoying reading the content of DF and hopefully using it a a vital source of information. Whether or not these lurkers would sign up and register if there were less Forums would be a futile debate.
FC has been in existence since the year dot. It serves a real purpose in allowing threads to continue away from Open forum where foul language and rudeness is not appropriate. It also allows us moderators a place to split a thread when it becomes abusive, thus keeping the original thread in open forum.
With regards forums not visited much, yep that the case. Take "black list". Little used i agree, but it still is a valuble forum if one gets crappy service in Dubai and the user wants to vent off.
Overall, many many valuble posts would be lost and not easy to reference if we didnt have the setup that we have now.
Maybe liken DF to a reference book about Dubai. A book has chapters and sections, DF has Forums. If people are daunted by reading an index and translating that into their reason for their visit to DF then maybe they should have tried harder at School.
ok...again...I am just thinking out loud...looking at an unknown forum that has everything but still seems pretty quiet...or am I wrong in saying that and is everybody else thinking it isn't....cause then all is well...lol
I know the whole lurker thing is a given...you can ask them to join, or even just to make 1 post to tell us why they are in fact lurking and not posting, and no one will respond...
Anyway...it's an interesting subject mrs Robinson and what is wrong with the quotes....argghhhhhhhhhh arniegang As i previously stated the numbers of forums in my opinion bears no relation to the number of active posters. mrs Robinson
yes, I realise that...but it was more a general observation, thinking about things that might make it more dynamic around here...maybe we can move away from the actual number of forums and make it a more general thing... arniegang
General forum is what it is, if users do not wish to engage in expat issue, accomodation, religion, jobs, travel etc etc then they dont have too.
Many posters enjoy and post in the less used forums and not in general and vise versa.
DF exists to serve all not the elite few. I for one do not wish to trawl through many posts in general that are specific. For example Music, Events, Romance, High tech, Arabic and Culture have very little interest to me and as such i do not post there. godsent The term lurker does sound kind of derogatory...like a voyeur who has a fetish for posts or a peeping tom. With all due respect to the guests I would like to call them the passive audience. As in they frequent often (like me since the past 4 weeks) but choose not to write anything. A bit like a party where some are the vocal audience and others passive or mono syllabic ones. I think thats a complement to the forum that there are tonnes of "passive guests" viewing it. You mods tried to make money on amking this a proper advertising channel and then incentivising passive folk to join up for a Dubai forum annual get together or something since I am assumin you'll will be an NPO? Mrs Robinson I can assure you I am not a "lurker" by far ma'am... Curiosity kills the cat... but in terms of whether I will be posting...que sara sara mrs Robinson
ok....by your response I can tell I am not able to bring across what I am trying to say...but nevermind...lol
It's nice to have people speaking their minds about the forum. godsent MRS ROBINSON WROTE: ok....by your response I can tell I am not able to bring across what I am trying to say...but nevermind...lol It's nice to have people speaking their minds about the forum. :lol: Sound diplomacy always bades well. Direct translation to most people reading throught the curt message : You do not get my point and continue whining like a hormone induced teenager
mrs Robinson
oh...hmmmm....I am afraid to ask...but just to be clear....who is the whining teenager? arniegang
I do hope my comments re lurkers have not been taken out of context. Indeed i welcome them, it tells me that they are using DF as a valuble resource.
On a point of your comment re: Mods, we have no finacial interest in DF, we Moderate here because we enjoy it, nothing more, nothing less.
The only person that owns and benefits from the flash ads on here is Andyba (admin) arniegang A good example is now 3 registered me, godsent and 1 other. 2 hidden - Chocs and Mrs R and................................. 29 guests. I call that a good result personally. Ot of interest Mrs R, why have you chosen to be hidden?, that is quite unusual for a newbie and too an extent is contradictory in an "open forum" which you would like to see more people take part. godsent arrivederci people my purchase order for a couple of Strongbows are due... arniegang - good man! Its nice to know that mods are philantrophic with their time which does equal to money to many. Spoke like a through civic minded citizen. The Director of CSR (corporate social responsibility post at Dubai Holding is waiting for you next) mrs robinson that was my morbid sense of humour...excuse me Peace folks arniegang TY Godsent, please do come back and contribute to DF soon. I do hope your invitation is not a job offer as i really don't do work unless of course you want to make a very generous package with 50 weeks a year holiday entitlement :lol: :lol: sage & onion
That's my boy :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: craigindubai Reducing the number of forums = Increasing the interaction between forum members. Plain and simple. Besides that, doesn't having to "jump" between forums take up a lotr of your bandwidth? A fast site = A good site (Well not always but it doesn't hurt). The point I was making was why have multiple consumer, business, culture and expat forums??? These can surely be classified into more broader subjects. And just think about this... When was teh last time any thread, on any forum, on any web site, anywhere in the world, really, truly, stayed on topic? If people see active threads (And they are more likely to when the forums are more generic and fewer in number), they are more likely to participate or have some information/input to share. mrs Robinson
I hide cause I'm a bit shy... mrs Robinson
agreed...much better worded than I ever could...lol scarlet I was a lurker for two months before I joined, and used this site as one of of my avenues for making a decision whether or not to move to Dubai. for that reason the EXPAT forum was most beneficial and people that were experts in living here generally only posted/looked there i.e DBXsoul and chocs and Kanelli and DKNight, and GABS etc Anyway the number of forums suits the topics. When S&O started posting all of his games in General it pissed some people off but then others enjoyed it, so it made sense to make a games forum. If I have a particular question about cars then I go to Auto, some people that are only interested in cars look in that section so they can answer a query straight away without searching through the BS that goes into General. Different subject forums make sense. Categorisation is an indication of a well organised mind. dubaidog
Well said. I, too used the forum when deciding and the people were very helpful. I have tried to replay that through various PMs I received. There are a few categories that are not real "hotspots", but looking at "blacklist" made me recall a crappy pet store someone mentioned when we were looking for supplies, so I was able to refer back to that. Every little morsel helps, right? craigindubai In that case... perhaps we should add more forums then?? That should slow things fown a whole lot more and reduce teh interaction even further. But at least then we'll all have well organised minds... scarlet Have you got a chip on your shoulder Criag? Which part of Oz are you from? craigindubai Rather than piss and moan about how bad it is with the overdose on forums, here's my suggestions;
Dubai Classifieds
For Sale, Wanted to buy, Accomodation, Jobs, etc.
Dubai now
Services (Good and bad), events, information, maps, tours
Dubai and beyond
Travel, culture, history, Arabic learning
Nerd central
Multimedia, games, internet, technology, multimedia
General
Wher you just want to interact and have live conversations...
Dubai Life
Romance, Expat advice, Local politics, customs and laws.
DF help
Newbies, suggestions, feedback, testing... craigindubai I find having a chip on each shoulder gives me a for more balanced perspective.... arniegang
Interesting comment Craig
Out of your 174 post count, 97% of your posts have been in General. You seem to have "interacted very well i would have said. So if there were fewer forums how would this have affected you???
:lol: :lol: mrs Robinson
errrr....he's been interacting with himself mostely....that's the whole point...too many forums, too much diversity, not enough interaction...fewer forum would mean more people in there, so more a more concentrated interaction, thus the chance for a more lively forum.... arniegang your logic is flawed mrs r. people come here for their own reasons. For example there are regular posters who like Religion/politics and in the main only post there. They have no wish to interact in General. Likewise if Craig wishes to discuss politics/religion then he is more than welcome to interact in there. Same in Auto, Hi- tec etc I'll say it again this forum exists for all, this include the minority. There is a huge number of minority posters here, who do not wish to be involved in the daily banter. mrs Robinson
lol....you are mr R aren't you.... craigindubai
Because there are so many forums, there's no point posting anywhere else..... The only place that sees any traffic is the general forum.... arniegang
You are not Mrs R
:P arniegang
Really ????
:shock: craigindubai
But surely you can see that having a more lively "general" posting area would envourage more people to participate... Happy that there should be more specific areas, for specific discussions, but you don't have to proivide a forum for every sing special interest group do you??? Or am I talking to someone in the Bush administration? craigindubai
Yes really.....
Have a look at how many threads have been moved in the general section.
Have a look at the total posts in general compared to the rest of the board.
Your redirecting people to places where no one is looking! I wrote Craig, I agree with you. I noted in the "walk to london "thread some contradictions as the mods here seem to be saying that people are posting in the wrong forum but a thread clearly focused on travel has been kept in General by the mod (contradiction and helps your point). scarlet
[URL=http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brokenrecordxm4.jpg][/URL] craigindubai
Wow... That's pretty clever.... For you anyway... scarlet You'd be surprised fisherman craigindubai
I'd actually have to disagree with that one.. (If your post is serious)....
That thread should be here as it's more about raising money for charity than travel. But you do raise a point. If it HAD of been posted in travel, would it have been moved to general and therefore seen by more and more people thus increasing the profile of someones charitable efforts? craigindubai
I look fwd to you surprising me.
I'll let you know if and when it happens. arniegang
no we are not, we always leave a redirection link from where the post was transferred from. The poster can then continue posting in the known forum where it is placed or access it from General.
OR are you saying that people dont continue to post after the thread has been moved, because it has been moved ?
OR should we leave items in General that has no interest to anyone but the poster or is forum specific?? craigindubai [quote="arniegang"]
You may very well be leaving a link... but it doesn't update and then slides down the board and diappears into the ether. I know that's not you, it's the software, but the issue remains.
Well i think the very nature of the forums determine whether or not it is of interest to anyone. If there's no interest, it fades away. If there is interest, it stays at the top.... craigindubai Thanks for proving my point.... I seriously hope that it wasn't moved because you didn't think the suggestion warranted your consideration and should be dismissed carte blanche. scarlet Dear Craig, I am with you on the boring facet at the moment, but don't think the solution is adjusting the structure. There have been discussions like this in the past I found it again after you were moved to suggestions, (categorisation can be good). Now that the thread is in here it may get more lively. Failing that, drop your pants, and run around the pool table. Galactico If a thread is useful and it is moved into the relevant section cant you leave it has a sticky for a little while to prevent it from sliding down the board :?: arniegang
You have no point
This was tranferred to Suggestions because it is the appropriate forum period.
You know where it is, Scarlet knows where it is, Galactico knows where it is, i know where it is and i am sure the other 2 very regular Forum Advisors Mrs R and I Wrote will find it.
Also if you use the post search function on your own or other users names you will find it. But the 3 of you already know that :wink:
I think enough has been said on my part i have little or nothing further to add to the the views i have already expressed here.
Many thanks for your contributions and suggestions on this subject. mrs Robinson WOW...I am a Forum Advisor.... MC Didn't quite read through the whole thread but I have to agree. Being a new member here I did immediately realize the clutter on the forum. There are just way too many sections. For a forum with only 13000 members it is a little too much. Eh but what do I know.... I bet you this was said already :/ mrs Robinson
glad you agree....but it's an uphill battle it seems...something with not being logical or something...I didn't really get it...
still....keep on posting and you might become a Forum Advisor, like me.... MC I don't think this should only be looked at as a way of increasing the number of members on this site only, but also as way to keep the current members active and interested. I believe it would definitely be possible to condense some of the forums without losing the content. Basically they can merge some of the existing forums. But judging by their posts, I doubt they agree :) craigindubai
Oh... The old... This is the way it's always been why change it school of managemnt....
Since you put it like that, any discussion is clearly futile or beyond your comprehension so I'll go on about my own business and let's pretend this never happened.



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