Potential forum engagement boost

[Visitor from Bound Anna]

And also on the tidiness front, would it be possible to remove the defunct buttons from the top bar?

My forum has the same issue, a "shyness" reluctance to post replies at times. I encourage the author to check the view counter to determine interest.

[PlayfulGuy]

Hello, I know I'm new here but I've been around enough to witness the unfortunate event of people coming in, making one post, and leaving since there were barely any replies. Would it be possible to add some sort of smaller engagement metric to forum posts, like a simple thumbs system or something similar?

Also after looking some stuff over, it'd be nice for some filtering rules to clean up the place a bit user side.

I know this is a small team, I appreciate the community you allow here, but some small tweaks could make it a bit easier to approach from the outside.

I agree this would be a good addition to the site. There have been times a new user has made their first post, but I didn't have the time and energy to make the reply I thought the post deserved. Later (to be fair, often days later) when I went back to reply I found not only the post, but the user had vanished.

And I totally agree about the little cleanup things too, like getting rid of the dead buttons, and how come there isn't a handy link to the EOS editor anywhere?

PG

[Visitor from Bound Anna]

My forum has the same issue, a "shyness" reluctance to post replies at times. I encourage the author to check the view counter to determine interest.

Combination of shyness, and people wanting validation fast. so figured a few thumb sprinkles would fill that validation need. But I do agree, replying is a daunting task that can be mortifying.

That's the other thing, some weird sense of urgency or need for instant gratification by the person posting. My job has me reading every post in my forum, scanning for posting violations. I can do this usually without immersing myself into what I am reading. I don't always have the time to really dive into it, and respond, or may not want the distraction. I do try to encourage, especially new users, so if there was a way to do this with a "like" button, then I would. But only if I genuinely believe what I am "liking". I will not become one of those "likes everything" people. (I really "hate" them)

[Magenta0285]

I agree; privacy concern is the main thing that has stopped be being particularly active (or even signing in most of the time!), but a simple 'like' option would be a nice addition to give some feedback or acknowledgement.

[Visitor from Bound Anna]

My forum also uses phpBB software. It does not have "like" buttons. Not sure if I ever did see a phpBB forum that has this system.
But back to your point, encouragement is a good thing. It just can't be an automatic thing. For now, I suppose just posting a short reply after reading the thread is the best way to go. Let people know their ideas and thoughts are received. It's more or less what I do now.

[HereforStim]

i would be shocked if there were any updates or additions to this site
years ago under a lost account, and returning again - nothing changes

the site admin is mostly absentee, outages are less frequent, but i have a hard time believing they're interested in continuing to develop this site or spending more time or money than they have to

it's not a shot at admin or anything - its a great resource but its a massive expectation to think someone will be so deeply invested after so much time (20 years) and no tangible reward or return

ive seen it posted elsewhere on here before - if people want to be adding features or making changes, it means cost, which means ads, subscriptions, or other method of monetizing

forums all reach a point where use plateaus, as other outlets and novel sites appear
discord ate a lot of forums and kink spaces - maybe the id bullshit theyre up to will migrate people back, or another app crops up, attracts users, then gets sold off to make someone a lot of money from our use

i do appreciate milovana not following that pattern, even if it means we don't have new fancy shit

[Visitor from Bound Anna]

My forum just turned 20, and the admin is also mostly absentee. But it is also free to be a member. Me and my lieutenants are happy to run the day to day operations, and are thankful that it remains open.
We, and many members have volunteered to donate money for maintenance, but she won't hear of it.

[j3rry]

Later (to be fair, often days later) when I went back to reply I found not only the post, but the user had vanished.

Weird… why did those users disappear? Miss Lilith too — I don’t get it.