(01-02-2022, 05:22 PM)jeffster Wrote: Problem is that many topics go 'off topic' quickly.
I think that's just the nature of the internet. Doesn't matter what format a discussion forum is - be it a forking format like Reddit, or a chronological format imageboard like 4chan - discussions just branch off into a million different things pretty quickly.
There is also the fact that this website uses a pretty archaic format itself - that is, MyBB type bulletin board systems. These kind of forums were popular in the early 2000s, but not so much today due to the format and how different people have come to interact with the internet. So, once a thread gets derailed a bit and people reply to those posts, it throws a topic off topic until another post brings it back on topic. That said, I think it suits the forum pretty well. For what is discussed here, a Reddit format wouldn't work.
I suppose one thing that can change that is more heavy handed moderation, but eh...I'm never a fan of what is basically censorship on a discussion forum (unless it's extremely hostile stuff). Moving or deleting threads just gets confusing and quickly pisses off users who then may leave.
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Re: the OP post. Yeah the main page is pretty dated but again. I think when one lands on the domain, it should take you right to the forum itself, rather than the portal page. The website is obviously a discussion forum before anything else, so that should be emphasized as it'd draw more people into participating and exploring the threads. The portal page is kind of pointless since it's just a list to a few forum threads - most of which are dead anyway. All of the relevant stuff is buried in the forums and IMO the forums themselves are not really "obvious" because it isn't immediately apparent that that is where you want to click to find all of the good stuff.
The Twitter is also pretty dated as mentioned. I'm not sure who operates it (Spokes, I'm guessing?) but maybe it could be cooperatively operated? Its got a decent following so it could be used to spread news about what's happening in the region as well as generate more traffic to the rest of the website. Like, if I were running the account, I'd try to frequently post updates relevant to the forum and region...examples: when there is a new project or just more information/renderings/updates regarding one, I'd make a Tweet with a link to the thread. Or if there was, say, a new EngageWR campaign or upcoming community meeting about something (bike lanes, a new development etc), I'd want to share links to that. Sharing news articles relevant to the region is also a good idea. The thing with social media like Twitter is that you need to constantly post to maintain relevance.
You've also got to directly engage with your followers - that is, rather than retweet (nobody cares about retweets...ever), post your own new Tweet. Or generate discussions through polls or asking questions ("How are you guys liking the new downtown bike grid?"; "What sort of suggestions do you have to handle the opioid crisis?" etc) that will get your followers to engage, share things and interact with the website itself.
Yeah I don't know, day off so I'm lurking the forum today. I know I suggested a regional wiki and I believe someone started contributing to that. My idea was to offer a place for specific discussions on buildings or projects happening in the region. However, in retrospect, a wiki is probably not the most ideal thing (although it would be a great place for disseminating a collection of information without needing to wade through tens of pages of forum discussion). To grow the website, I think the easiest thing to do is to simply place more of an emphasis on the forums, which is where all the action is, which could be done by simply directing people to them. And then use the nearly 3500 followers on Twitter to draw in more curiosity, interest, discussion etc by having links to various threads here.
And yeah...maybe find a way to deal with the argumentative derailments that seem to happen, though they are always natural in an internet forum phenomenon you can't really avoid. Even this thread has already had some complaining that have nothing to do with the OPs post, just personal ego, which has no place here. It gets a little hard to deal with that on a more "classic" forum like this because you don't really have up/down votes to get a judge of a posters character history or have it trigger a flag where certain posts get muted for being off topic, like you can achieve on Reddit. And without an easy mode report feature like Reddit where you can just click a couple things to report a post for violating rule A or B, it's mostly up to the mods discretion. In any case, doesn't seem like anyone here truly hates each other, there's just disagreements, but seeing that sort of stuff can turn people off visiting a website when you don't have a downvote system that can simply hide a discussion thread that gets too off topic or heated.
Anyway, this is a great website and I appreciate everyone here who helps out! But I agree with OP, it feels outdated in the sense that it's an old school forum. But that format still works fine, you've just got to adapt to the fact this is 2022 and use social media clout to draw more people in. If your content is interesting enough, users aren't going to care you're using software initially released in 2002. It's all about who clicks what, in the end.