Seeking Ideas to improve CCTVForum for 2009

[larry 2]

Hello All,

 

November 2008, will mark CCTVForum.com's 5th Year Aniversary. We would not have made it without all the truly dedicated members and moderators we currently have. A special nod to Rory for being here since day one or two

 

Moving forward through, we'd like to grow the membership here and make the forum more sticky. What I mean by sticky, is the ability to retain members who visit.

 

So, I am asking for brain storming on how to improve CCTVForum.com going forward into the next 5 years. As with all brain storming sessions, there are no bad ideas so don't hold back.

 

So, Please share your ideas for improving the forum. What features, actions, changes do we need to add/make to attract and retain visitors?

Edited October 16, 2008 by Guest

[scorpion 0]

Perhaps a place to maintain info on IR codes for DVRs for those who do home theater, or IR experimentation?

[jhonovich 0]

Hi Larry,

 

I enjoy the forums a lot. A couple of ideas:

 

 

Updates on New Topics

 

One feature that would help me participate more is a way for new topics to be pushed to me. For instance, when a new blog is posted on a blog site, my RSS reader displays it to me, allowing me to stay informed without having to remember to visit the site. I would like a similar feed for sections on CCTVforum.

 

Do you already support such a feature?

 

 

Blog

 

A blog would be helpful for bringing people back. You and the other admins could discuss topical issues and reference active discussions that readers might find useful.

 

 

Top Active Topics List

 

One challenge I have is that the topics are divided into 20 different sections. It is time consuming to check each section. On the other hand, there may be a very interesting post that I may miss because I don't check each one.

 

If you could have a list of 'what's hot' across the forums this would help people find, read and participate in the best discussions.

 

 

Weekly Newsletter

 

I do not know if you have a newsletter but I have never received one. However, I assume you have thousands of e-mail addresses from the registered users.

 

A weekly newsletter would be a great way to keep people informed and engaged in the community. You could give an update, link to hot topics, etc. Marketing experts often recommend this as the number one tool in building engaged visitors.

 

 

I hope this help. Please let me know if I can provide more input.

 

Cheers,

 

John

[kensplace 0]

Think about upgrading to phpbb3, its reliable now, and has lots more features.

[D&C_ELECTRONICS 1]

I think that would be better if CCTVforum become a Portal instead of just a forum.

 

I think a 1st page with latest news about CCTV products (What’new) and Manufactures database with user comments about the products.

 

Of course keep the forum session.

[C7 in CA 0]

 

Please share your ideas for improving the forum. What features, actions, changes do we need to add/make to attract and retain visitors?

 

Larry, the only real complaint I see about the forum is the post count requirements for posting links and sending PM's.

 

Is there another way to do it? The current system seems to suggest the spammers won. Personally I would rather delete the occasional spam message from my inbox then see the new guys struggle with posting restrictions on the forum.

[Rebco 0]

well you asked for my opinion so here it goes. This is a great forum and helps me alot.

 

I agree with D&C_ELECTRONICS about having the latest news and think it would be a great idea.

Also have a place for just Seminars were anyone can post upcoming seminars.

another thing how about having a products page that we can comment on and rate the product kind of like consumer reports but for us.

how about a database of name brand dvr manuals.

Oh and the most important thing I don't mind people having a certain number of post before they can post links and picture i think that is a great idea and keeps the spammers out But having every tom dick and jane come here to sell there products is another problem we might want to address.....

 

I guess this will be the last time you ask for my opinion huh?? Oh and the last thing can we limit Scorpion to 100 post a day, I need my guys to work not be on the pc reading about when the florida meet is....

[scorpion 0]

5 posts are the ones that help the author of the post, and the other 95 are the ones where we talk about you behing your back.

 

I do not know how you found out about the other 95 posts! Who leaked it to you?

 

I did not think about a place to store manuals! That is a great idea!

A place to store remote software .exe in the dealer section would be nice.

 

 

It appears that 90% of the people that sign up, have just this one problem, and they get resolution, and then they have no other reason to come back as they are not installers, or retailers.

[Soundy 1]

Second the suggestion to upgrade to phpbb3! I just did this for another site I help administer, and there are SO many more features, especially for the administration! Much more control over site permissions and functions, as well. Takes a little learning and a little more time to tweak up, but it's worth it in the long run.

 

There's a great portal that can be added as well, that will display things like top posts, most recent posts, most active threads... a calendar, statistics, etc.

 

One cool addition, too, is the ability to create custom bbcode tags... for such things as easy YouTube embedding, something that would be useful for a video-oriented site

[larry 2]

Hey,

 

So far some very good ideas. Keep them coming!

 

Also to C7 in CA, the mods were getting overrun by all the link spam. Thats why the post restrictions were introduced. We can consider lowering the count though.

[Soundy 1]

Where is the spam coming from - actual users, or bots? phpBB3 integrates a CAPTCHA to the registration process, which on the site I'm running has eliminated any bot signups (so far, anyway). We had a real problem with them on the phpBB2 system, to the point that one of the admins banned all new signups from gmail.com addresses...

[Thomas 0]

Where is the spam coming from - actual users, or bots? phpBB3 integrates a CAPTCHA to the registration process, which on the site I'm running has eliminated any bot signups (so far, anyway). We had a real problem with them on the phpBB2 system, to the point that one of the admins banned all new signups from gmail.com addresses...

 

For the most part Bots. We also tend to get a lot of flybys from Manufacturers from a certain country.

[Soundy 1]

Well I dunno about v2, but v3 also supports IP bans...

[rory 0]

Well I dunno about v2, but v3 also supports IP bans...

 

But IP bans can also block "good" users from that same locale. There really is no effective way to ban people, they would just come back using proxies, which many of the spammers use anyway.

 

The forum was overrun with spammers at one point, IMO they were mostly just users signing up to promote their business. When Larry implemented the post count thing for links and PMs, all the spam basically halted right away, ofcourse they got a little smarter and learned to just post more nonsense to get to that post count, but not many go to that extent.

 

Rory

[Soundy 1]

Well I dunno about v2, but v3 also supports IP bans...

 

But IP bans can also block "good" users from that same locale.

 

Only if you wildcard your pattern. If it's a specific company, you'd probably only need to block one, maybe two IPs to cut them out. If others there have a legitimate reason to access the site, it might encourage them to have a "chat" with the offending over-zealous employees...

 

There really is no effective way to ban people, they would just come back using proxies, which many of the spammers use anyway.

 

Yes, but at least it forces them to work for it.

 

If you're getting spam from random salesdroids at various offshore companies, they likely aren't internet-savvy enough to work around the blocks, and even if they are, it's probably not worth their time.

 

The forum was overrun with spammers at one point, IMO they were mostly just users signing up to promote their business. When Larry implemented the post count thing for links and PMs, all the spam basically halted right away, ofcourse they got a little smarter and learned to just post more nonsense to get to that post count, but not many go to that extent.

 

Rory

 

Well, obviously nothing is 100%, but every bit helps. Do you "de-implement" the post count thing now, because some spammers find a way around it? Or is it still effective at HELPING to reduce the problem? Similarly, do you not bother moving to a CAPTCHA for signup and IP bans for offenders, just because some people will be able to work around them?

 

Anyway, the point is, they're there in the upgraded version... they CAN be used, if desired, but they're certainly not forced on the admin(s). There are plenty of other reasons to upgrade, those are just a couple more that may be attractive.

[rory 0]

Only if you wildcard your pattern. If it's a specific company, you'd probably only need to block one, maybe two IPs to cut them out. If others there have a legitimate reason to access the site, it might encourage them to have a "chat" with the offending over-zealous employees...

 

Example is here in the Bahamas, my IP changes all the time, so if my IP was to be blocked, then it changes, that would mean if joe blow who i dont even know, ok i should but there are 300,000+ people here LOL, if he gets that IP and comes here, he is then blocked. Also, with DSL here, everyone has the same IP, so basically the entire country using DSL would then be banned - not something most forum owners want to do.

 

Yes, but at least it forces them to work for it.

 

If you're getting spam from random salesdroids at various offshore companies, they likely aren't internet-savvy enough to work around the blocks, and even if they are, it's probably not worth their time.

 

No need to be internet-savvy to google anonymiser.

 

In fact they only need to clone the mac on a router using their own custom mac then reset, new IP assigned. The Forum Posting software probably already has an auto feature for that as well.

 

Do you "de-implement" the post count thing now, because some spammers find a way around it? Or is it still effective at HELPING to reduce the problem?

 

It still helps considerably, we were dealing with literally hundreds of spammers, now it is just the odd one once in a while that bothers to hang around long enough.

 

Similarly, do you not bother moving to a CAPTCHA for signup and IP bans for offenders, just because some people will be able to work around them?

 

Im not sure if there is Captcha on this forum sign up or not, I would have thought there is. Though even with that, Forum Posting software is updated regularly to bypass that especially with PHP forum code. Besides that most spammers that come here are manual sign ups and not bots or forum posting software anyway, so they will easily complete the CAPTCHA.

 

Ofcourse there is also no need to upgrade for that, one can add that in themselves as I have done myself on other forums/contact forms (using ASP). Personally though I "do not bother" to do any of that here as Im not involved in that side of the forum, may need to direct that question to Larry.

 

Anyway, the point is, they're there in the upgraded version... they CAN be used, if desired, but they're certainly not forced on the admin(s). There are plenty of other reasons to upgrade, those are just a couple more that may be attractive.

 

That would be up to Larry to decide, I cant make that decision as Im not involved in that side of it.

[larry 2]

Upgrading to Phpbb3 is one of the planned changes. I just have to find someone to convert the current theme to the new platform or just get a new theme designed.

[Soundy 1]

Have you looked at some of the many ready-made themes available? On the board I did recently, I just downloaded one from here and made some minor tweaks to the colors and the banner.

 

This is the current phpBB3 board: http://bloodredmetalheads.com/phpbb3 ; this is the old phpBB2 board: http://forum.bloodredmetalheads.com/index.php

[larry 2]

That's a nice theme. I will consider just modifying a current theme.

[scorpion 0]

I kinda liked the idea of seeing the CCTV forum with splattered blood, and scantly clad, attractive ladys across the header!

[Helheim 0]

My only complaint is the site is very slow for me compared to others.

[Monitor Your Assets 0]

Gotta chime in too about the poor performance of the site.

 

It's bad. Real bad. From multiple, international locations too.

 

Will this be addressed anytime soon?

[Sawbones 0]

The forum has slowed considerably for domestic US users as well.

[Soundy 1]

BTW, for the above board that I administer, I've recently installed the latest update (3.0.4) and it contains a very nice anti-spam feature: you can set all new users so that their posts are placed in the mod queue until they have X number of approved posts. This gives us a chance to delete spammers before any of their posts appear to the public - they can post all they want, but only approved posts go toward the post count.

[TastyHuman 0]

If you're still looking for suggestions here are some from the perspective of a long time usenet user. There are some things that a good usenet news reader can do that a web forum can't and it would be nice to see some crossover of certain features into a web based forum. Here's my list.

 

1. Killfiles so that posts from certain individuals (spammers) are automatically deleted from a members view.

 

2. The ability to mark a thread ignored so new posts to the thread do not show up as unread posts.

 

3. The ability to only subscribe to those forums that are interesting to a member (i.e. customize a members home page so that only those forums of interest are displayed).

 

4. The ability to make forum threads sticky on a per-user basis. What is useful to one member may not be useful to another.

 

5. A one-click 'mark this forum read' button from a forums page that will mark all threads read and return to the main forum index.