Looking for Feedback/Suggestions

[jamespayne]

Hi,

At the beginning of the week we announced the exciting news that the Developer Shed network had been purchased by Jim Boykin. For those that don't know, Jim is a long-time fan of the communities that compromise the network (he was literally the second member of SEO Chat) and wants to make these communities great once more.

We can't do that without you guys though, so we are looking for any suggestions or feedback you guys might have to help the process along. That is what this thread is for. We want to know the best way that we can serve you, the community.

Are there any features you would like to see here in the forums? How about on the publishing site (www.seochat.com)?

Anything you hate about the forums? Anything you can't live without or want more of?

[KernelPanic]

If you don't change anything, these forums will rock. It is far and away the best place for up to date SEO information on the planet. The reason it works is that answers are given by volunteers who want to give back to the community, not by someone who wants to give an answer that will encourage you to buy their products or services. Sometimes a new SEO will have to work to find the answer, but it's here.

James, you have helped me out a few times when I have had a problem. Thank you for the help.

With that said...

Give experienced SEO people the ability to lock a thread once the question has been answered fully. I see the same answer given over and over again.

Fix the top poster feature

Kill sig links

Allow those with enough posts to have a profile page with a bio and a link. Make it hard to get.

I don't know how to do this but if there is any way to reduce the spam posts and nonsense questions it would be great.

That's it for me, again, I appreciate the forums and the work people do to keep them going.

[wheel]

KP makes some interesting points. Particularly, I like the idea of allowing people here to promote their services (it's important to some, and interesting to others), but not doing so through sig links. Perhaps that will help decrease spam. While I have no interest in promoting services to the community or readers here I do find it interesting to read what others are doing.

I would submit a counter view on newb questions though. I prefer the ability for beginners to ask the same questions repeatedly, and I am happy assisting them as best I can. I run counter to the idea that newbs need to read an extensive FAQ or a thread. All they want is a direct answer to their particular question (even if their question is vague). And I think it makes for a better community to welcome newbs like that. Appreciably, there's two schools of thought on this, and I'm not sure either one is right. I do know that if I answer the same questoin enough times I'm bound to get it right eventually.

I also find there to be way too many forums here. Chop and merge to maybe a third or half as many as there are now. There's a forum on link building, one on SEO, and one on Google. There's a lot of overlap amongst those three for example and I think it waters it down a bit.

Other than that, as a newb myself here, it seems like there's enough drive by's and enough helpful, friendly and experienced pros helping out, that with Jim at the help, I think the site has some serious potential to grow.

[JohnFrank]

... communities that compromise the network ...

Hopefully this should read 'compose' or 'comprise' not 'compromise'

[Test-ok]

Here's a suggestion as another way to handle the folks here just trying to get a link. Example
It's better spider food than banning or warning them.
But we would need to lock it right then and there so the rest of the heard don't follow along...you know how they do. A no follow ya might say

I would also suggest giving the top members who check the forum frequently the ability to lock a thread. It's the people that have SEO chat on their list as a place to get follow links, they aren't hard to spot...Ya know the places selling 500 links for $50... Lets turn the tables and let them help us build content, answer them like I did...then lock the door. Good for everyone...oh except the link spammers.

You might want to add to the moderator staff, because if it catches on , which I'm sure it will, you'll start seeing the new members (the kind we want here) following suite. Some ones going to need to lock the doors.

just a thought

added: Here's another one...Here But this one needs to the url edited and locked...We could slap em up side the head with the ban site too.

[jsteele823]

I'd like to see a related threads/articles widget.

It wouldn't necessarily be helpful to senior members, but could most definitely be for those newer to SEO.

[wheel]

From the category of 'general user complaint/whine', I find in some forums there are so many sticky threads that I have to scroll down to get to the current threads. 1-2 stickies would seem to be a reasonable number, not 8....?

I guess scrolling down isn't the end of the world. It is an ongoing small annoyance though.

[Test-ok]

From the category of 'general user complaint/whine', I find in some forums there are so many sticky threads that I have to scroll down to get to the current threads. 1-2 stickies would seem to be a reasonable number, not 8....?

I guess scrolling down isn't the end of the world. It is an ongoing small annoyance though.

Try opening the site with New Posts then you'll by pass anything that hasn't been commented on.
just a thought

[pressurewashing]

Im all for eliminating spammers who do not add any value to any of the threads, however do not believe in killing sig links either.
I believe that sig links should be earned and not come across easily however to kill them altogether is a little heavy handed. I am more active in my industry related forums, however I like to pop into SEO forums from time to time and read the threads and perhaps learn a little and even contribute.
I will probably never understand why some posters in here with thousands of post to their name choose not to have a link to any site at all. Many are what you would consider "SEO gurus" too. It is perplexing to me that they don't have a sig link when we all know back links are an important factor in SEO. Perhaps somebody with over a thousand posts to their name, who opts to have no signature can enlighten me? It is very admirable if the sole reason is for the rest of the community to respect you more for your absence of any ulterior motive.

[Test-ok]

How about a BS type category (Lounge) would be cool..A place to shoot the P00P, stuff not related to SEO.
just a thought

[europa]

Jim,

Always have loved your stuff and used your old company to hunt down some links for client a few years back. Glad to have someone who cares in charge.

I'm all for inviting folks like Fathom and others back who left for whatever reasons they left. There are still some great posters here but no one could blow up bull **** clearer and faster than Fathom. He actually participates in Google's Webmaster forums now.

I'm sure there are other long lost members we could track down and encourage to come back too. I for one just found the forums got a little boring over time. Of course that has changed a lot with Penguin other updates prancing around.

Cheers!

[fathom]

There are still some great posters here but no one could blow up bull **** clearer and faster than Fathom. He actually participates in Google's Webmaster forums now.!

That's just utter RUBBISH!

It's called "keeping friends close and your enemies closer"

[fathom]

Seriously Jim... you need to define this forum first. What exactly does it offer that you cannot get elsewhere?

Originally it was just another SEO hangout place, then when the great nofollow exodus occurred it actually started to become a no BS training venue. (IMHO)

I haven't been back much in the passed 1 1/2 years but then again SEO didn't change much until recently.

I enjoyed this place mostly because it was blackballed... none of the places that aggregated SEO information recognized SEOChat as anything remotely to do with SEO... They put politics before SEO which makes them all SEO dumb***** in my book!

There are more than enough lame SEO venues around... they are what they are and they will never be anything more and I (at one time) really wanted this place to differentiate itself.

I'm happy to participate but you really need to focus on a finite direction to start. You'll never be a premiere SEO anything unless the world says you are... and you really need to start over not just continue onward.

[Johnny Taylor]

I'm fairly new as a poster here, lurked for a while before joining up (not an SEO just someone looking for tips etc with their website)

Can you not put the new people on some kind of probation, say they can only do X amount of posts per day to cut down on spam? Would give Mods chance to kick spammers out before they make 20 odd posts or whatever.

Realisle it must be hard to keep track of the spammers though!

Another quick thing I would mention is some of the Stickies are quite old and it can be a spot tricky deciding if they are still relevent now or now (S'pose we beginners can always ask though).

Would also be good to have some kind of dictionary/glossary of SEO both good and bad with brief descriptions and whether item should be avoided etc (i.e. Link Wheels)

[localoptimizer]

I'm an old seo chat member that came back recently after I found out you purchased it.

One thing that grabs me is a little after I left and in general forums lost popularity as blogs got popular, and other vehicles for commentary and community replaced forums.

One of the most popular is seomoz without a doubt.

I'd sort of work through all little aspects of moz...sort of reverse engineer how it got so popular and try to replicate some of those elements that are replicable and appropriate for a forum.