Maico Shark checking in...

[Maico Shark]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

my Edit button is gone after 24 hours

I feel that is adequate...anything over that just ask a mod & they'll help you.

[Maico Shark]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

nice intro...you sound very knowledgeable and maybe more importantly it seems like you have a very proactive stance...havn't had an Admin like that around here in ages...looking forward to your presence and hard work

Thank you for the kind welcome. Yes I've helped turn a couple sites around in the past. Wonder if a calendar contest would catch on here? Photos of working rigs both beauty and functionality...maybe some gamer rigs & other classes. I haven't seen too many photos here though. Any opinion?

[Maico Shark]

Originally Posted by PeterT

And, yes, nice intro.

Thank you Peter I appreciate the welcome

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

Thank you for the kind welcome. Yes I've helped turn a couple sites around in the past. Wonder if a calendar contest would catch on here? Photos of working rigs both beauty and functionality...maybe some gamer rigs & other classes. I haven't seen too many photos here though. Any opinion?

sounds good...trust me absolutely ANYTHING you implement would be an improvement...but I do fear that all the best ideas in the world might not be enough with the current user base here...after all you can't make members post pics or anything else for that matter...it's like the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

attracting new members is the key...most of the people here are complacent and stuck in their ways and don't embrace change...hopefully the changes you implement will attract a new member base here...that's the only way this site will ever get good again

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

sounds good...trust me absolutely ANYTHING you implement would be an improvement...but I do fear that all the best ideas in the world might not be enough with the current user base here...after all you can't make members post pics or anything else for that matter...it's like the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

attracting new members is the key...most of the people here are complacent and stuck in their ways and don't embrace change...hopefully the changes you implement will attract a new member base here...that's the only way this site will ever get good again

OK---let me rephrase a little what my illustrious colleague has said....

Maico----to truly get better----we have to attract some new membership....it's that simple.

A good start is to get the coding done to FIX the front page with the suggestions already put forth.

That----added---with ideas like yours can get the ball rolling.....but if we start out with a bunch of ideas whilst "our house has been built on a bed of sand" so to speak----I don't see us attracting new blood...

We need to get that front page FIXED so it makes sense, shows current and interesting topics, has a common sense way to navigate and login----and is actually useful....

If we don't do that----I just don't see us ever getting back to where we used to be....

My 2 cents.....

And Poly----this statement of yours is just plain utter nonsense---"most of the people here are complacent and stuck in their ways and don't embrace change"

It's OK to have an opinion----but to say "MOST people" just leaves yourself wide open....

Perhaps better to say "there are several people".....

or "there are a lot of people"....

But I take umbrage with your statement of MOST people....as I have not found that the case at all....

But then again----maybe you see me as one of the types of people that you are speaking of....

But I frankly don't see myself that way at all.

Perceptions, perceptions......

[Sir Skully]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

OK---let me rephrase a little what my illustrious colleague has said....

Maico----to truly get better----we have to attract some new membership....it's that simple.

A good start is to get the coding done to FIX the front page with the suggestions already put forth.

That----added---with ideas like yours can get the ball rolling.....but if we start out with a bunch of ideas whilst "our house has been built on a bed of sand" so to speak----I don't see us attracting new blood...

We need to get that front page FIXED so it makes sense, shows current and interesting topics, has a common sense way to navigate and login----and is actually useful....

If we don't do that----I just don't see us ever getting back to where we used to be....

My 2 cents.....

And Poly----this statement of yours is just plain utter nonsense---"most of the people here are complacent and stuck in their ways and don't embrace change"

It's OK to have an opinion----but to say "MOST people" just leaves yourself wide open....

Perhaps better to say "there are several people".....

or "there are a lot of people"....

But I take umbrage with your statement of MOST people....as I have not found that the case at all....

But then again----maybe you see me as one of the types of people that you are speaking of....

But I frankly don't see myself that way at all.

Perceptions, perceptions......

I concur with johnrr6. And as for me, one of my mottoes just happens to be,
" One needs to become a friend of change, for change is most certain "
Now that we have Maico Shark, he is here to get the ABXzone show back on the road. I think this negative talk and in-fighting should stop...
Lets all pull together. Lets help Maico Shark succeed. In his efforts, of getting ABXzone back in the spot light once again.

[Maico Shark]

As for the front page....that will be viewed mainly by the newbies. Most regular members will just hit "FORUM" on the top bar & go straight to the forums. I'm a bit surprised regulars care much what's displayed there but will pass everything on. sanjay asks that such service requests for the engineers be specific otherwise they get frustrated. He is promising help for our tech problems. Getting new members will not be a problem...keeping them interested in participating on a regular basis will be the trick.

[johnrr6]

Fix it....

and they will come......

Don't...

and they won't....

But I totally agree with you that the challenge will be to get new members to stay once they have visited. With good topics, inciteful prose and expert advice----how can we lose??

You are also correct in that old members don't/won't pay THAT much attention to the front page....

But it's so bad right now we don't pay ANY attention to the front page.

And neither will a first time visiter or surfer....

Maico---appreciate your help and glad you are interested----do you have enough specifics to pass on.

Do we need to get more specifical??? LOL

[Ozzie]

I think we do...I recall someone saying something to the effect of emptying your pockets...LOL

We certainly don't need three columns of news in various forms on that front page.
It isn't very inviting - new members, potential members, or to the old coots we have around here...
Have at least one column of a dozen or so current threads so we look like more than a news regurgitation site.

[zsaz1029]

Ozzie, you've read my mind. I don't think new visitors would even know this is a forum-based site. It does give the impression of trying to be a tech news portal.

And Maico, I think part of why the 'older' members here care about the front page so much is because it used to fit the site perfectly, and be useful! (gasp)

I hope it can be again. I used to have the front page bookmarked and everything I wanted was there. Now, it's the New Posts page I bookmark.

[Dread]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

Hello fellow members. I'm an old dude from the days of punch cards, Timex Sinclair, and the Commodore Vic-20. I hope to get up to speed with the newest technology and will be reading many of the posts throughout the site. I live in the deep woods of central Pennsylvania in a log cabin with a trout stream outside my door (no kidding). I am currently a magazine editor and also have been employed by Crowdgather for some time as a website administrator. Anyone with ideas or suggestions about our site please reach out to me. I will be working hard to grow our active membership and will be greeting those who take the time to introduce themselves. I hope, through discussions, to get to know many of you... I look forward to that.

Welcome!

Nice teeth

[Maico Shark]

Thanks for the welcome Dread. We only had a little over 100 different members post in the past month. That's not good but I'll never forget when my first site hit 100. It's meager but not flat-lined. I expect the month of September to be at least double that figure and things get exponential after that.

[johnrr6]

Maico----while we are fixing things....

here's another.....

when you click on the front page centerpiece news article....

Then scroll down the comments----at the bottom there is a whole bunch of broken grapics links.....

Looks horrible an unprofessional.....

Is there any way to fix that???

[Dread]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

Thanks for the welcome Dread. We only had a little over 100 different members post in the past month. That's not good but I'll never forget when my first site hit 100. It's meager but not flat-lined. I expect the month of September to be at least double that figure and things get exponential after that.

Wow, 100 different member posts in the last month? Yikes, I knew things were slow but I didnt realize it was that slow. This place used to be so busy you literally had to continously reload your browser to keep up with new posts. Hopefully with some new members and some minor fixes this place can come back to life. Out of all the tech related sites I've frequented, the members here are exceptional. Everyone treats each other with respect.
One thing I'm really glad to see that hasnt changed is the forum motto - "Supporting Computers, Building Friendships"

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

Thanks for the welcome Dread. We only had a little over 100 different members post in the past month

that many?...I'm surprised the number is that high actually...probably a good portion of that was spam-bots and 1 post members...once all that is filtered out the number will probably be a lot lower