Hi Doug,
If I look at the "Who's online today" figures (150 for the last 24Hrs) and the number of views of posts rather than just member visits, the figures are reasonably high.
This indicates to me that the forum is read by a lot of people who are not necessarily members.
The forum is a great resource for our community and you have done a fantastic job over the years.
Would love to see it continue.
Happy to help being a moderator if required.
Well I am not yet convinced that it should stay, nor have I been flooded with volunteers as possible Moderators.
I do not really care how many 'guests' visit the forum as many are repeat search engines and casual browsers and I don't actually run the forum for them.
The number that is important to me is the 'members details' - they are tangible and quantifiable. Guests can't post, members can.
This forum runs a "honeypot" process and there are scam/spam applications to join every day. Sometimes one gets through the process but these are found quickly and removed only through in-person-oversight. Hence the requirement for every-day checks on new posts and going through a process before activating new 'members' - again a manual procedure.
I do not see liking/dis-liking forums as being an old folks thing, or a young persons thing. The most obvious difference to me is that the younger group spend more time on true social media while the older folk seem to have more time to find answers to problems, and thus are more likely to use a forum when no suitable answers can be found through Google-ing. That's a case of me-also.
Some of the other things consuming my time will be made apparent via this forum very shortly, and possibly of greater importance to some of the VK AR community than the forum seems to be. Stay tuned !
Doug, admin
Hello Doug,
if I make the cut, I would like to volunteer my time, as they say put your money where you mouth is. I work in I.T and find I have time to kill between waiting for scripts to complete their tasks, what better way to use the time than keeping the forum in good health.
The domain name renewal date is imminent and it will be renewed for another year, so one year at a time. It will be reviewed again in another year, but without fanfare, - it may simply disappear around the 7th July 2023.
It is up to all of you - like the old saying about our amateur bands : 'Use them or lose them' holds just as true for this forum. Encourage others to join, post.. That could make the difference.
There are now two moderators who can undertake some of the housekeeping tasks on an as-required basis and that is the only reason it is being renewed. Without these two volunteers, renewal would not be a considered option.
It is my opinion that there is not enough 'real' usage to warrant the forum continuing - not enough new posts, not enough member visitors because it is for the members that the forum operates, and not the visitors.
I am not talking real 'stats numbers' here, but the impression I get when I look at the details at the bottom of the main menu page usually each day. I do not particularly care about the magnitude of the casual visitor numbers. If the 'visitors' are interested enough and find relevant-enough data on the site, they should register - and be counted.
Use it - or lose it !!