How do you rate the WNU forums?

The Welcome subgroup is already the first on the list of the JC mainpage (Favorites notwithstanding), so there's not much else to do. Unless it's possible to link to the Welcome Forum on the registration page or something, but I haven't registered in a long time, so I don't even remember what it looks like or if there already is a link there. But a quick check through the System Stats shows that of most users who register, very few post in here. Of course, many of them are socks, and many are also likely just people who want to lurk. And even more still are probably people who don't wish to "demean" themselves by posting in here.


You shouldnt see this place as a nessecity. Users can go into the forums and figure it our for themselves, however coming here just makes it easier (You make a friend (Adoptions) and you get a bunch of important links in your welcome thread)

I Personally didnt come here first, I came later, and I kinda turned out alright

 

You shouldnt see this place as a nessecity.

I'm not saying it's a necessity, but I'm sure there are people who desperately need it, but don't utilize it. And some of those people don't utilize it because they don't know it's here. I was just throwing out suggestions on how to make it more visible to newbies, seeing as how it's a whole forum just for them.

Amazing.

 

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[i]and it helps when Morgaine has the best icon in the history of the JCC. [/i][hr][/blockquote] Thanks, Sam! ;)

[blockquote][hr][i]I was refering to the fact that I dont see any links to it in most forums or people directing others too it.[/i][hr][/blockquote] Well, most forum headers are already very crowded, and I understand that the mods find it more important to link to their own threads, and not to a different forum.
I've occasionally seen people re-directing a newbie to the welcome forum, but not very often, that's true. Which goes back to the problem that many people don't even know it exists, I guess.

[blockquote][hr][i]I will help, but I have the same problem. Time is short this time of year...Im trying to revise my map, with some colors and more info about each place, and include a few fan force stoofs, but I keep getting away from the computer. Ill see what I can do, but Im not sure what else you want me to do.[/i][hr][/blockquote] There's a few things you can do, but I think this doesn't really belong to this thread. I'll address this issue in a new thread as soon as I can. :)

[blockquote][hr][i]The Welcome subgroup is already the first on the list of the JC mainpage (Favorites notwithstanding), so there's not much else to do. Unless it's possible to link to the Welcome Forum on the registration page or something, but I haven't registered in a long time, so I don't even remember what it looks like or if there already is a link there. But a quick check through the System Stats shows that of most users who register, very few post in here. Of course, many of them are socks, and many are also likely just people who want to lurk. And even more still are probably people who don't wish to "demean" themselves by posting in here. [/i][hr][/blockquote] It's been suggested to add WNU to the 'favourite boards' listing by default, but I believe that can't be done, due to the zerosleep factor. :(
[For those who don't know, we don't have access to the source code of the boards and therefore can make only very few changes. zerosleep is the only person who could, but he doesn't work for IGN (the site that hosts us) anymore. So coding updates are rare at best.]

There are no links on the registration page or in the e-mail with your password, but the Terms of Service, which [i]should[/i] be read by all users before posting, states [i]"Also, we encourage all new users to visit the [link=http://boards.theforce.net/board.asp?brd=10181]Welcome Forum[/link]."[/i]

I don't know if it's possible to put a link directly on the registration page, but we can ask Gand... Raven. ;)


//edit: I forgot to mention the 'clique' problem earlier. I do have a few ideas, we'll see how effective they are... anyway, I will discuss them with the members of the clique at first, I think it would be a bit off-topic in this thread. But suggestions are of course always welcome.
(And I love having unlimited editing time. :p)

 

I'm not saying it's a necessity, but I'm sure there are people who desperately need it, but don't utilize it. And some of those people don't utilize it because they don't know it's here. I was just throwing out suggestions on how to make it more visible to newbies, seeing as how it's a whole forum just for them.

This is a valid point. When I first joined the JC, I didn't even realize that there was a Welcome New Users Forum. To be honest, I didn't know it existed until a month or so after I joined.

On the drop down menu of forums, I saw the "+ Welcome", I didn't think it was an actual forum, I figured it was a list of mod contacts, another page for the TOS and FAQs with tutorials for new users. It wasn't until I clicked on it that I realized what it really was, and by then I already knew my way around here.

 

It's excellent!

 

IT IS THE BEST FORUM FOR NEWBIES!!!

 

And I love having unlimited editing time.

ABUSE OF MOD POWER!

Well, I think school and work have alot of people tied up this time of year...and with the holiday sason around the corner, everyone is even busier. I think its best just to wait until after the new year to start anything major. people just have too much to do, besides bib, but he has no life other then the JC

I seriously dought that many people read the TOS, though your supposed to. even if some of them do, they probably just skim and miss that part. I havent seen noobs directed here very often, and when they are, its after people bash them for being new (especially at the JCC, such an evil place if you dont know what your doing) But there isnt much we can do for people linking to us, for there isnt much more we have the option of doing. what we have right now is enough, but not enough to get every noobs attetion.

BTW, though I never met zero while he was here, but I read many of his posts. does anybody else miss him?

 

I voted for the one no one voted for yet.

 

I agree that certain people's posts were hardly readable anymore , but the problem with the markup codes has been addressed before, and I believe it's a lot better now that it used to be.
And this forum is meant to be a "testing ground", so what would be a better place to try out all the markups? I know I used them quite a bit myself when I was new.


I understand the testing ground, but people that shall not be named coughstridariouspadawanskywalkerandawholebunchotherscough know exactly how to use markups, and in almost every n00b thread, they post the same thing, with the same markup codes. Now, I dont see this as testing mark-ups.

 

Sorry to let this sink down, I'm having some technical difficulties at the moment.

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[i]This is a valid point. When I first joined the JC, I didn't even realize that there was a Welcome New Users Forum. To be honest, I didn't know it existed until a month or so after I joined.

On the drop down menu of forums, I saw the "+ Welcome", I didn't think it was an actual forum, I figured it was a list of mod contacts, another page for the TOS and FAQs with tutorials for new users. It wasn't until I clicked on it that I realized what it really was, and by then I already knew my way around here.[/i][hr][/blockquote] It seems that this is happening to many people. Maybe a simple name change or adding a category description would help? ?:| But what would be more inviting?

[blockquote][hr][i]I havent seen noobs directed here very often, and when they are, its after people bash them for being new [...] But there isnt much we can do for people linking to us, for there isnt much more we have the option of doing. what we have right now is enough, but not enough to get every noobs attetion.[/i][hr][/blockquote] That is my experience as well. I still don't know how to get around this problem, though... any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[blockquote][hr][i]Well, I think school and work have alot of people tied up this time of year...and with the holiday sason around the corner, everyone is even busier. I think its best just to wait until after the new year to start anything major. people just have too much to do[/i][hr][/blockquote] You're probably right. :) I'll prepare things as good as I can, but it might be a good idea to wait until the holiday season is over before I start the major discussion on Informational Threads in here.

[blockquote][hr][i]BTW, though I never met zero while he was here, but I read many of his posts. does anybody else miss him?[/i][hr][/blockquote] I think we all do. :(

[blockquote][hr][i]I understand the testing ground, but people that shall not be named coughstridariouspadawanskywalkerandawholebunchotherscough know exactly how to use markups, and in almost every n00b thread, they post the same thing, with the same markup codes. Now, I dont see this as testing mark-ups. [/i][hr][/blockquote] Oh, me neither. But I believe "too many markups" and "copy&pasted greetings" are two different issues, even if it's mostly the same people doing both.

The problem with copy&pasted welcomes has been addressed with a group of WNU regulars in private very recently. We'll see if it helped any. :)

Just out of curiosity, do you think that this post has too many markups already?
I'm imitating the "quote" option of other board systems, as I feel it makes quotes stand out from my own text better than italics or a blockquote alone would, but I'm beginning to realize that some people don't seem to like markups at all.

 

Just out of curiosity, do you think that this post has too many markups already?
I'm imitating the "quote" option of other board systems, as I feel it makes quotes stand out from my own text better than italics or a blockquote alone would, but I'm beginning to realize that some people don't seem to like markups at all.

Using markups to make a post more readable is one thing. Using markups to highlight seemingly random words by making them different colors often seemed to me to be extremely condescending, even though I sincerely doubt that was the intention. Bolding a user's name, using italics or the block quote to identify quoted posts, even smilies (as much as I hate most of them) can add to a post. Changing the color of every other word is really just plain unnecessary. But your post was hardly an example of excessive markupping.

Amazing.

 

Thanks for the answer.


RE: "Out of 10 newbies per month, what do you people think is the average number that stay and post?",

here's a little statistics:

I just finished pruning a set of old welcome threads that had been inactive for more than three months. The registration dates of the thread creators vary from July 24 to August 17.

Out of these 30 newbies,

• five people visited the JC just that one time
• four persons stayed less than a week
• six stayed more than a week, but less than a month
• nine logged in more than a month after their first visit, but are seemingly not around anymore
  and
• six people actually logged on within the last week.

Now I can't say if this group is good as representatives for all newbies, but my guess is that the percentages will always be similar. I thought/hoped more people would stay around.

For the record, if there were any locked threads from that time period, they have been deleted long ago and are therefore not part of the statistics presented. Also, I saved registration dates, last login and last post dates as well as post count of these people; if anyone is interested in additional numbers, I'll be happy to provide them.

 

Now I can't say if this group is good as representatives for all newbies, but my guess is that the percentages will always be similar. I thought/hoped more people would stay around.

I hardly think that's a fault of the Welcome Forum, though. Well over 100 people sign up every day, I doubt many of them stay for any significant length of time. When I signed up, I only logged in the first time and didn't come back until a year later, when I started posting regularly. People are going to stay depending on their impressions of the forums they visit their first time here and there's not much anyone can do about that.

Amazing.

 

"People are going to stay depending on their impressions of the forums they visit their first time here"

Exactly, and I'm wondering what a first impression in WNU looks like? Is it good enough to make people stay, or does it have be improved? I believe the forum is quite friendly - that's our strong side, but it's a bit... unorganized.


Anyway, to get back to the issue of people not noticing the forum in the first place - do you believe a simple name change could help? The category is named "Welcome", which people sometimes mistake for a simple greeting. Maybe "New User Forums" or something like that would be more useful?

 

A name change would help, perhaps 'New Users' or 'Starting Out Forum'.
Though I do think the WNU forum should be more organised. I mean, if a newbie's getting lost, the last thing they want is to come to a Welcome Forum where they can't find their way around.

 

Though I do think the WNU forum should be more organised. I mean, if a newbie's getting lost, the last thing they want is to come to a Welcome Forum where they can't find their way around.

Good point. Any suggestions on how to make it better / more organized? What's missing the most, in your opinion?

 

I don't much see how a name change would help. It's called "Welcome New Users." Unless there's some e-equivalent (e-quivalent?) of big neon signs, I don't know what else can be done in that arena.

And I really don't think there's anything missing or that it's terribly disorganized. There are more polls floating around right now than usual and I've never cared for polls because I've always felt you can reach the same ends, only with better discussion, in a real thread. But that's just a pet peeve of mine. There's about half a dozen longer threads, each with its own purpose, none of which is really out of place. It's not like the JCC where thousand-post threads dominate the top of the first page and push other threads down and it doesn't move so fast that you're likely to miss a thread. The only thing a newbie might miss are the threads linked in the header, but that's easily corrected so long as people point it out to them if they start an "I'm new" thread.

Amazing.

 

"I don't much see how a name change would help. It's called "Welcome New Users." Unless there's some e-equivalent (e-quivalent?) of big neon signs, I don't know what else can be done in that arena."

Just for clarification, I'm not referring to the name of the forum, but the entire category.

It's simply called "Welcome" right now, and it seems that some people mistake that for a greeting when they see it on the front page.


//edit: I'm not a huge fan of polls either, but since this forum is meant to be a 'testing ground', I decided not to disable them. (I asked for regular user's input on this a while ago, and most people voted for 'keep them'.) I do lock threads that belong to another forum (which includes everything SW-related), but polls that are about this forum or the JC in general are fine by me.

 

RE: Organization

I don't think it's really necessary for more organization in this forum, simply because most of the other forums are not. I always viewed this place as not only a welcome forum but a sort of place to introduce the JC as a whole to newbies ... so if this place is incredibly structured and nice, if they went to say, 3SA, they'd get a huge shock and have to adjust all over again.

Just my $0.02

 

Hey, that's an interesting point. I never looked at it that way... I guess you're right.