As much as love this forum, I have to admit it's a little slow at (most) times!

I find that (in my opinion) a lot of forum visitors either just read the posts and never join up as a member or join the forum just to ask a question, then never post again.

Unlike other forums I have been on, there doesn't seem to be any community spirit here.
In the end regular members like myself get fed up of this one way street and start to surf the net for other Porsche forums.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to turn this around?

I think that if everyone had to become a member and log in before even being allowed to read the posts, this may incourage people to reply to posts more often, as they are only one click away from replying. What are your views?

I think this forum has got real portential, but how can we make it more popular?

Could we try and join up with a independent Porsche club, incouraging there members to join in with our forum and incouraging our members to join their club?

Any comments (good or bad) would be welcome.

Regards, CTiggerPigglet![X(]

 

the problem is that if we make the whole forum "read only if member", then new members wont see how great the forum is...

 

That's true Patrick, but they never join in. (As I'm writing this, there are 117 viewing the site, but I'm the only one logged on!)

What about the idea of teaming up with a independent Porsche club? How many of these do you think there may be in the U.S.?

Do you have any ideas on how to get more members to post?

 

I agree with Patrick's comments about non-members being able to view posts. I also agree with these forums tending to be a bit slow. I have looked a bit at "autobahn" forum and "rennlist" forum but they don't seem that much busier.
As for ways to improve this site, I think a couple of issues are at play. First (and most important IMO) is to have a handful of knowledgeable, experienced people regularly posting on the site. I mean guys like Doc Wilen. Guys who know cars in general, Porsches specifically and generally know what the hell they're talking about. Otherwise it becomes a social forum and people eventually lose interest.
Second issue is that a lot of the people who own Porsches may not fit into the primary demographic for online forums. Professionals who are too busy, later generation people who may not be familiar with the concept of forums, etc.
Third problem is there seems to be a TON of Porsche forums out there. When I began a search for Porsche froums a couple of weeks ago, I found so many it made it difficult to pick one.
Finally (here's the hard part), as for increasing membership, there's a lot of possibilities. I think your idea of pairing up with PCA chapters is great. Simple word-of-mouth could help too. Maybe some sort of promotional stuff at Dealers for new Porsche owners? The possibilities are limited only by your imagination!
As for me, a little background. I currently do not own a Porsche but am seriously considering moving up to a 996 turbo. I currently have a modified Mitsubishi Evo (285 whp). The comraderie in my community is pretty high (I pretty much know or have met all of the 10 or so Evo owners around here and we all post on the Evo forum(s). That's what we need more of regarding Porsches to increase membership. Sorry for the rambling, I'll stop now.

 

Hmm, well maybe get a few more mods (Pay for them) and get the place more professional, better advertised. Maybe even get a advertisement on a huge Porsche website, depending on your finances.

I am here to stay though, no questions yet!

 

Good on you Dentshop! If only we had a lot more members like you!

 

Thanks

The forum itself is pretty cool, it is just getting the word out that is the hard part especially when all car forums mostly are the same, maybe tweak this and add special features like DESIGN YOUR DREAM CAR and make your garage a place where you can do that.

Thats a really cool idea I think :P

Anyway, I will be here

 

most forums i visit have a admin/mod team whos job it is to keep the forum flowing, welcome new members, answer questions or point people in the right direction for an answer. and organise/encourage events.

 

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Helen Goff



most forums i visit have a admin/mod team whos job it is to keep the forum flowing, welcome new members, answer questions or point people in the right direction for an answer. and organise/encourage events.

Hi Helen, yes it's no different here, but without very regular visitors it's hard to find people who want to be moderators & the admin don't visit as often as they should in my view.

 

i'd be happy to help but being a brit i'm not sure how usful i would be.