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Are you ready for the influx?

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This site was launched by Ted shortly before he took his summer break. He never really promoted it in his videos. I imagine he wants it to grow and will start promoting it heavily when he returns. With the number of YouTube subscribers he has this place is going to get real busy real fast. All summer it has felt like our little private club. 

Not sure why he went with a proprietary format instead of a proven forum format like XenForo that has feature like "go to last unread" etc..
Its gonna get hectic in here and I look forward to it. I just hope the software developers know they are in for a real challenge with all the feature requests they are about to be flooded with that they could have gotten with something like XenForo. I don't work for them and only know of them from another forum I participate in and it is solid.

The flood is coming. 



 
Oh we're ready. And you're right as soon as Ted announces our presence to his 250,000+ Youtube subscribers we do expect an influx. These first few months were sort of a test bed. We're already the 2nd most popular Airgunning forum in the world and we anticipate even greater things.

We went with Wordpress/Buddypress because of all of its customizable features. We gave our developers a break, but they'll be back at it soon. We have a list of requests including the possibility of a "go to last unread thread". But no promises because all of the changes and maintenance cost $$$.

 
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I don't think anyone mentioned this, but Ted has posted another video...well, sort of. His Facebook page has a link to an unboxing of the .25 and .22 FX Wildcat from June. I just realized that it was only on Facebook and not on the YouTube channel. I'm not sure if these links will work or not. You might need to have a Facebook account to see them.

https://www.facebook.com/TedsHoldOver/videos/vb.204812049644855/692497307542991/?type=2&theater

https://video-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xap1/v/t43.1792-2/11276285_692498380876217_412738329_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjIwMzcsInJsYSI6NDA5Nn0%3D&rl=2037&vabr=1358&oh=2874ed9d65a28d6f2b4da6706828c1aa&oe=55E761B7
 
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blackdieselMichael. I know Ted got a little discouraged by the negative comments from a few members and withdrew participating in discussions on this forum. Do you know if he plan to be more active in the future? I see he posts more on his FaceBook page than he do here.
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Thats the plan. Ted put so much effort into launching this forum that he didn't have any time to make videos. Unfortunately the forum can be like a drug & he needed to wean himself off. Word is he as a few videos in the works & he'll be back with a vengeance.
 
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This is a decent forum format, not the traditional Vbulletin style I am used to but I like its clean design. What really matters for the future is how easy it is to run, modify and monitor from the admin/mod side. I have a Vbulletin forum with over a million posts and over 30,000 members. I have kinda let it die off.....but at its peak, it was one of the largest RC (radio controlled car/truck) forums on the web and it was a HANDFUL to manage. 7 years ago, a baby boy entered the picture and I had to walk away from it....it is pretty dead, activity wise now. But it still offers a ton of RC info to anyone who wants to read all about it.

It is a LOT of work to run an active forum and even more work to make it a happy, friendly place for all to learn from. Kudos to the admins and mods here. If this takes off like it should, you will be putting in some serious time to make it all happen. Thanks for the efforts so far and keep up the good work. It will constantly evolve and change!

Something I would suggest as a next step would be to offer members a way to become a "Supporter". Call that what you will. Annual membership with some nice added features for the user. I did this on my forum and it was very successful. It paid for all my hosting and then some once the members started rolling in.

The site has different Supporter levels (basic, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, platinum plus, etc). You could do calibers (.177, .22, .25, .30 etc...or some other gun related theme). They started at $10 a year and went up to $50+ a year. Basic guys got one free, small decal in the mail, Platinum guys got a handful of various sized decals from our web site and our web site sponsors. Don't think that people won't pay good money to be a part of it all.  You never know who that member is....to many, $50 or more for their favorite web site is nothing to them. You'll be surprised...I sure was! At one time, I was giving away $400 up to $1000+ RC trucks, tool boxes, accessories, upgrades etc monthly to random members. in various contests etc. Once I paid for my hosting, I spent the rest on stuff to give to the members. It really turned out to be a home run. I never did it to make money, so that's why I always gave it all back. The amount of money coming in from memberships and ad revenue after a few years was truly amazing.

Here are some ideas that work for me on my forum. Maybe it will spark some ideas for you guys?

Supporter benefits:
  • ability to upload pics to your server (not have to be remotely hosted) in the new post or reply window. easier to add pics.
  • more inbox storage
  • a gallery where the user could upload pictures and it was linked under their profile
  • reduced advertisement exposure
  • access to a "supporters only" forum
  • ability to participate in Supporter only giveaways
  • Special % off discounts from manufacturers
  • membership level showed near their profile icon...showing what level of Supporter they are (recognition is huge)
  • access to special buy/sell/trade forums
  • supporters ability to have their own blog within the site
  • heck...we even did Secret Santa events in the Supporter group around Christmas time where Supporters bought each other gifts!
  • and that's all I can remember off the top of my head LOL
Again all the best to you guys and sorry for the extended rant. Just trying to share some experience with a big forum, which I am certain you are about to have on your hands!
 
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"ztirffritz"I believe the only MOD here is Michael. I'm pretty sure he doesn't sleep.
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I updated my post with some ideas as I have some experience with big forums.

They will need multiple mods as it grows. At 30,000 members, I have about 15 moderators stationed all over the world. There's an available time factor for any one given person and once it really starts taking off, you'll need multiple mods in multiple time zones, world wide to keep an eye on things at all hours of the day and night! :) Been there....

Oh yeah, and another thing that is REQUIRED for a big forum and as you add more moderators, give them their own forum only accessible to mods and admins so they can discuss problem members, topics, point out needed upgrades or flaws etc. It is INVALUABLE as the forum gets bigger. And you them have a permanent searchable place to check back on a members history if they have been a past problem etc. We also implemented an "infraction" system where we could subtract member rep points if they were causing trouble....if their points got too low, they lost access for a period of time or were banned OR they went into "miserable" mode where the forum would purposely load slowly, give page errors etc and essentially make them want to go away! Love that feature.....

Managing the "herd" becomes the biggest challenge as the forum gets huge. Mods will come and go. I always let me mods choose their peers. When it was time to add a new mod due to growth or someone retiring, I would suggest a few member names and let them decide who they would be working with. That really worked well!
 
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We have moderators in several different time zones (which we've chosen to keep anonymous) and we've got our eyes on a few others. The Accuracy & Flagging features have been instrumental in identifying undesirable content. We've already implemented many of your suggestions and we're waiting for the developers to add a few more. 

Thank you for your support
 
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"frambonian"Please don't take my posts as me being critical of what you have here. Just trying to share some of knowledge! I am looking forward to seeing it grow! Thanks.
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I did not, I sincerely appreciate your suggestions & support.

A prime example is this morning someone was Trolling about how much power he needed to knock someone unconscious with a blast of air to the head. Our awesome members were quick to Flag the topic (which automatically notified us) and then we revoked his privileges. We will not allow that kind of BS on here. There will be no second chance for that member because he obviously lacks common sense. 
 
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"Michael"
"frambonian"Please don't take my posts as me being critical of what you have here. Just trying to share some of knowledge! I am looking forward to seeing it grow! Thanks.
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I did not, I sincerely appreciate your suggestions & support.

A prime example is this morning someone was Trolling about how much power he needed to knock someone unconscious with a blast of air to the head. Our awesome members were quick to Flag the topic (which automatically notified us) and then we revoked his privileges. We will not allow that kind of BS on here. There will be no second chance for that member because he obviously lacks common sense.
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I think I was the first to flag that troll with some negative accuracy? Did anyone else flag him too?
 
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