Michael D. Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 We would very much like to get our forums busier and to do that we need to know what you would like to see on the forums. Let us know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sremick Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Dynamic width! Fixed-width is the devil. More "depth" to the theme? Not a fan of "flat" themes. Is there a feature you can enable that allows you to mark support threads "solved" vs "unsolved"? I see this a lot on support forums. There are all sorts of things you could do to make your forum more-active but they'd be beyond the core purpose of them. As support forums for MDD Hosting, and with a humble client base (you're not Dreamhost), I'm not sure you're going to really see anything booming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Dynamic width! Fixed-width is the devil.This could probably be done - it's fixed width so that it matches the rest of the site currently but I could see expanding the forum software to the margins on the left and right. I'll play around with a test theme and if I like the results I'll make it happen. More "depth" to the theme? Not a fan of "flat" themes.Everything below the search bar and above the footer on the forum is the default IPBv3 theme. Personally I think it looks very sharp Is there a feature you can enable that allows you to mark support threads "solved" vs "unsolved"? I see this a lot on support forums.There may be a modification for that but I don't see why a mod couldn't just add [Resolved] to the subject line? There are all sorts of things you could do to make your forum more-active but they'd be beyond the core purpose of them. As support forums for MDD Hosting, and with a humble client base (you're not Dreamhost), I'm not sure you're going to really see anything booming. Nah, I'm not saying I want it to become extremely busy... I just don't want it to be desolate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnykins Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 A forums game section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 (edited) I created a "full width" version of the forum... Scroll to the bottom and load the skin "MDDHosting V2" and let me know if you like it. What do you think? Personally I like the fixed-width better. Edited April 2, 2010 by MikeDVB Updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnykins Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 I like version 2, I will use this one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 I like version 2, I will use this one .I think V2 feels "too wide" but then again I use a 1600x1200 monitor so .... The option is there so users can choose V1 or V2 based upon their preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnykins Posted April 3, 2010 Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 Mine is set to 1680 by 1050, I have one of those 19in wide screen monitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted April 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 I'm running 20.1" 1600x1200 (4:3)... They don't make this aspect ratio anymore but I hate widescreen displays... Most of my work is vertical these days uggh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnykins Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 I still would not mind seeing a forums game section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted April 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 I still would not mind seeing a forums game section.I'll have to look into that, I don't see how it would hurt and would definitely be "different" from other providers out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnykins Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Indeed very true. They are a lot of fun as well. I have one on my site. Seems that only the word association game gets played though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Tran Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 How about an Introductions forum/topic where we can greet each other, list what websites we own, and get to know eachother at a more personal/business level. I think a great web host company needs something like this, it keeps the community friendly and makes us feel like a tight-knit community. But then again, thats just my opinion! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted December 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 How about an Introductions forum/topic where we can greet each other, list what websites we own, and get to know eachother at a more personal/business level. I think a great web host company needs something like this, it keeps the community friendly and makes us feel like a tight-knit community. But then again, thats just my opinion! We could certainly already do that in the off-topic section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesplayer Posted December 8, 2010 Report Share Posted December 8, 2010 Jazz it up a bit with video / text tutorials. Loads of free videos on YouTube and elsewhere, or make your own. Make a tutorial section and display videos or text on stuff that webmasters will find useful. Not just webmasters come to think of it but anyone that is interesting in running a website. Normally there are easily installed mods for forums to make them able to show embedded videos so upgrading this particular one shouldn't be too hard. I just upgraded my own phpbb3 forum with an Advanced BBcode mod. The mod transforms my forum which is now able to do a multitude of new post edits including embedding videos from lots of different sites. I have also upgraded my own phpbb3 forum so that it now has a portal on the index page. Exploit what resources you have - an abundance of website creation and website/server knowledge - and make some of that knowledge available for viewing and discussion. I am sure it will attract lots of repeat visitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakEyez Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 Normally there are easily installed mods for forums to make them able to show embedded videos so upgrading this particular one shouldn't be too hard. I just upgraded my own phpbb3 forum with an Advanced BBcode mod. The mod transforms my forum which is now able to do a multitude of new post edits including embedding videos from lots of different sites. I have also upgraded my own phpbb3 forum so that it now has a portal on the index page. Exploit what resources you have - an abundance of website creation and website/server knowledge - and make some of that knowledge available for viewing and discussion. I am sure it will attract lots of repeat visitors. Blues, with him using IPB, users can use that feature. It's the second row of styles when you post, last item on the right (before alignment options). I will have to second Michael Tran's suggestion of a showcase section. Gives us a place to get feedback and exposure and gives you a way to showcase the services. Also, maybe integrating this into your site a little more so that when users get a new account the account is created for both their account login (eg; for support, etc.) and make it log into the forums as well. There are some options for IPB as well which I have been looking into for my own site including ones that link into email marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesplayer Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 Blues, with him using IPB, users can use that feature. It's the second row of styles when you post, last item on the right (before alignment options). Ah right. Not very noticeable but will do I suppose. Anyways I reckon the first video should be about 'how to make your forum more popular' - oh wait... Nah first - or firstish after creating a website that is - video should be about seo and how to get your website noticed and indexed. Am up for that. What exactly is it that Google looks for and finds interesting? What should a new site have as a prerequisite for getting the ****** site crawled and indexed? There you go. A question(s) to start a new section off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesplayer Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 You need a section that gives feedback. Everyone wants to post stuff relating to their own impressive website. Not sure exactly what section is required for this but maybe a section that has links to websites created on your servers requiring feedback on design and so on. Also linked to this should be a section on website coding issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesplayer Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 I tried to edit above but wan't able to? Here is what I tried to add: For instance I just created a shopping site. I first installed a number of wordpress sections for uk websites/offers, us websites/offers, software offers and ezine articles and so on. In all I installed 6 wordpress blogs to cover these. I then installed a phpbb3 forum with a rss feed mod that pulls all the latest entries from 3 of these blogs and auto-posts them into named forums. Why did I do this? Well the wordpress installs allow an unlimited number of categories so it gives me an option to send users to these blogs (made some javascript code that displays links on the forum depending on forum ids - very useful to any website designer but no-where to display and share it (hint)). The questions that arise in my mind are: 1. Design of this site - crap or wot?2. Duplicate content issues on same domain?3. How long before content gets crawled and indexed by Google and how to speed things up?4. How to keep developing it. Loads more questions need answering but where to get the answers? From where I host my sites forum really should be the answer to this. Makes sense to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted December 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 You need a section that gives feedback. Everyone wants to post stuff relating to their own impressive website. Not sure exactly what section is required for this but maybe a section that has links to websites created on your servers requiring feedback on design and so on. Also linked to this should be a section on website coding issues.There is already a feedback request section:http://forums.mddhosting.com/forum/16-website-reviews-get-feedback-and-free-traffic/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesplayer Posted December 28, 2010 Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 There is already a feedback request section:http://forums.mddhosting.com/forum/16-website-reviews-get-feedback-and-free-traffic/ Ah right. Trouble is with me I only seem to browse forums after having had a few, which means I tend to overlook the obvious . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSG Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Have some competition on the forum to win a month worth of hosting credit and stuffs like these. They never fail to attract people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted December 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Have some competition on the forum to win a month worth of hosting credit and stuffs like these. They never fail to attract people. Have done it in the past, but there weren't many actual forum members at the time. Will consider doing something similar in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSG Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Have done it in the past, but there weren't many actual forum members at the time. Will consider doing something similar in the future.InnoHosting does this from time to time and the response is actually pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael D. Posted December 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 InnoHosting does this from time to time and the response is actually pretty good. It would depend on how many forum users there are, and how many of them are active I would suppose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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