Suggestions and ideas for the forum

[spicyayam]

I am still in the process of taking over the forum from Bert, but I have been thinking a bit about the future of the forum and how to improve on the fantastic community Bert started.

I would like to migrate the forum from the current system to vbulletin which I have more experience using and is more powerful and has more interesting features, like the ability for people to have their own blog and the ability for people to upload pictures, create albums etc.
Vbulletin is also better at handling spammers.

So, what do you think can be improved? What do you want to remain the same? What features/forum categories would you like to see added?

 

[Jimbo]

No change from me. No idea about Forum software so cannot comment on that but I do stick to the maxin Ïf it aint broke dont fix it

 

[Markit]

Good question. Um would suggest that since Bali is so "visual" we get rid of the shitbrown coloring and maybe find a way to include pictures more easily in our posts.

Many websites had a facility for viewers/readers to vote for the idea/suggestion/argument/etc. placed in any particular post. Along the lines of "did you find this helpful" kind of thing. Followed by a number of choices with check boxes. This allows readers the chance to state their opinions without going to all the "work" of writing an answer. Since many threads have hundreds of "views" but often only 2 answers that might increase the interactivity and motivate more people to take part? What do you think? Might also have the opposite effect, many just check the boxes but say nothing more - but with the bunch of opinionated people here I kind of doubt that.... :lol:

 

[bolli]

I think there are way too many different areas of this forum. Nearly 30? and not really utilised.:shock:
I like a forum that is simple yet functional.

I like to read others ,thoughts, opinions, heated discussions, funny stories, relevant information, but am not interested in too many pictures, blogs JBR's etc.on a forum such as this. There is a place for those and I think a link would suffice.
I may not post much but I do read as I'm sure many do.
I agree about the layout and colour. It stinks ha ha . :lol: :lol:

 

[chickchili]

A go straight to first unread post feature would be good.

 

[ronb]

I hadn't heard of vBulletin, so checked some sites - for anyone interested here are a few
:arrow: http://www.hystersisters.com/ - hysterectomy support - the forums are a subsection of this site
:arrow: http://www.girlsgetgoing.com/ - browse around this one
:arrow: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/ - large number of posts
:arrow: http://forum.doom9.org/ - a geeky place about DVD conversions

My impression is that from a forum user's viewpoint - it seems to have similar functionality to the current balipod.com - (maybe I'm missing something). But very likely, to you the forum manager, it makes your job easier - if that's the case, go for it.

Then, thinking of your more general call for suggestions - I think the assets of balipod.com are the archive, which is a mine of information and entertainment, and the current posters who are the life-blood. So as long as you protect these assets through the change we should be in good shape.

To improve balipod, we need more posts, so this means we need more active members. So can we make it more appealing to newcomers? Probably we can, but I don't have any concrete suggestions right now.

 

[noodles]

See if it's possible to add regular activities for forum members, like BBQ or Bintang/cocktail parties

 

[gilbert de jong]

I agree with Jimbo...if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[eas]

Suggestions..
I see that your other website is a joomla site..why not use joomla with a phpbb - Joomla! Integration and add in jomsocial. then U will get a great social community with all the stuff U need for the future and for make some bucks ..Jomsocial has blog,album,grups,videos and chat solutions .just ask if U have some questions about it, I have some experience in joomla, addons and jomsocial.

 

[mimpimanis]

One nice thing would be for the admin to respond to PMs, especially when the member is passing on messages for him. Spicy is the only person who has not responded to me on PM here - even Markit had better manners

 

[tintin]

Hi eas,

Did you write this one in English?

 

[eas]

tintin
maybe that the main problem here..regard more members...
If u not native english speaking person...U get some stupid comments from arrogant members..
Have U problem Understand it? even a new president don`t helps...

 

[spicyayam]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. About not changing anything that is also an option. vbulletin is regarded as the best forum software on the net, which is why I am leaning towards changing it and I like the new features available in the new software.

Giving the option for anyone to write their own blog here, might help start interesting discussions. Vbulletin has a good feature for photo albums. I think that feature could become popular here.

I want to eventually try and attract some advertisers to the site and I think the current design is looking a little dated.

@mimpimanis point taken and thanks for referring a new member.

@eas Vbulletin is adding CMS features and while I like Joomla, I want to try and just have one piece of software to manage. I don't think tintin was commenting on your English style, but more the fact it contained a lot of stuff he isn't familiar with

@ron I definitely agree we need more members. If anyone has any suggestions on how to promote the forum that would be much appreciated.

@noodles Forum events/parties is an idea. I vote the first one should be at Markit's new place.

Adding new forum sections has the potential to stimulate new discussions. If the right one's aren't created though, they can just flop. Some of the ideas I had include: technology, a section for NGOs/non-profit organizations, DIY...

 

[mimpimanis]

That's okay

However onemore was not a referral from me he was someone who was trying to register and not able to, so contacted me via my link/website to ask for help.

Thanks for the PM b the way 8)

 

[Dasha]

I’m with you Daniel – what sort of a comment is this….

“tintin
maybe that the main problem here..regard more members...
If u not native english speaking person...U get some stupid comments from arrogant members..
Have U problem Understand it? even a new president don`t helps...”

EAS speak English of hold your tongue/keyboard mate!

Spice, if you are going to attempt to get this place in shape, may I suggest that you get down on your hands and knees and get Roy T back in as soon as you can – get as much advice from him on how to run an interesting forum (like he used to – 4000 posts I think!) and maybe just maybe you might get the likes of Freo girl, Bali life, Tracey, Lou from Ubud, Jamie from Bergen USA, Jogry, DCC and the other great contributors that made this forum what it was years ago. As far as blogs go…. well just take a look at the one that is here and how many people actually use it. Jimbo tried a while ago I think but in the end he got as bored with it as the rest of us did. This aint the place for blogs IMHO.

And here is the best advice of all…. don’t dare fall into the trap of pulling posts the way Bert did (via the fake Teddy) cos you will piss people off , as in the way when everyone bailed mid last year.

Good luck Spicy I hope you have more luck than BV did in keeping the new contributors coming and the current members entertained in recent times. Not sure if you have access to Bert’s servers and equipment but the last time I saw it all, you needed a shovel for the ciggy trays and general mess that surrounded the office. My hat will be off if you get it in shape cos it has been pretty poor value wise for over a year now. I hope you can do it and do yourself and us another big favor by asking Johny Cool about how to run this thing.

My 2 cents as a poster who has seen it all here for along time now. :mrgreen:

 

[Dasha]

Oh yeah - have to agree with Markit - get rid of the shit brown. BV owned a Canon 5 Mk 2 (top of the range camera) but chose to shoot with an Iphone. There in lies his skill regarding presentation.

And bring back the rolling latest news feature when you log in so you don't have to trawl through every thread to see what's changed gossip wise.

Areeferderchy!

 

[mimpimanis]

Dasha said

EAS speak English of hold your tongue/keyboard mate!

Well then maybe you should make it the native english speaker expat forum.

All expats should be welcome and encouraged to post, not only those that have perfect English. I would rather see the a post in broken english than the ones above using the words shit piss and wanker.

 

[spicyayam]

A go straight to first unread post feature would be good.

After you log in you should see a link to "View new posts".

 

[gilbert de jong]

for people who wanna blog....there's blogspot and many many more.
for people who wanna chat...msn or yahoo.
pic albums...same as blogs.

I have taken a look at links posted by ronb, to see how those sites look and capabilities...very confusing and all over the place.
Balipod is in my opinion very clear-cut, maybe doesn't look that fancy but hey it works doesn't it. Changing the color might be a good idea as long is it aint pink on purple or something like that.
As for making it commercial viable by getting advertiser on here...ain't the links below enough? and the links bewteen posts? But hey you bought this forum and are free to do as you wish. I just hope it's already enough like it is now.

@dasha....nah no comment, is a waist of my breath (keyboard).

 

[mimpimanis]

I am not interested in starting or reading blogs. Those that have them have links to them which for me is enough. You can post pics on here if you want to - or links to pics on other sites. Bert had a Gallery on here that members could add photos to for a while but it didn't seem to be used that much. I even quite like the brown - better than the blue that so many forums have