Where Has Everyone Gone???

[johnrr6]

To me.....and remember that I'm just a simple old soldier....

The key to a restart is the Front Page....

EVERYTHING rests on it.....

If we don't have an easy to understand front page with the latest "grab you"
news articles....

and a list of the latest posts by members....

No one "visiting" will take the time again....

Fix it and they will come----and stay.....

I'm convinced the forum which provides decent technical advice----will sell itself.....

To also have some big name overclockers and tech savy folks would be GREAT!!!

But one look at our front page and WHY would they want to participate??

WE can fix one thing immediately!!

I've noticed that our front page articles are few and far between again....my fault as much as anyones----you get busy with real life and the forum suffers.

We need a new news item EVERY DAY!!! It's one of the reasons I used to check the front page!!! To stay current on the "latest".

We can't keep doing this haphazard "post when you get a chance" way of doing things.

We need a CALENDAR----a PLAN-----for the news team: John posts on Mondays, Zap on Tuesdays, CT on Wednesdays, XJ on Thursdays, Poly on Fridays, etc. etc.

A member of the news team will be responsible for his particular days----if he can't post----vacation, work, out of town, whatever----he gets another member to fill in....

It's the ONLY WAY TO GET A STEADY DIET OF NEW NEWS!

When we got all fired up and brought in some new members to the news team, we were posting new news 3 and 4 times a day. Heck I posted one article that was replaced within minutes. Kind of a waste of effort.....

What say you all??

Lets develop a "Plan" for keeping the latest news current.

I can do once a week----just assign me a day!

Maico---Oz----perhaps this is something you'd like to jump in on and coordinate.

Again---this only fixes one small thing----but it is something that I think easily done.

5 Ps

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Or at least that is what Sergeant Major Crawford drilled into my dim brain as a young Lieutenant that he had taken pity on----and taken under his wing.....

[rjs735]

The front page is pretty. Most of the real tech heavies have moved on. The reason probably many fold. They had a need and an interest their jobs which brought a wealth of news and activity due to their jobs as well as their contacts.

There are a few techies left. By and large there is little of interest and most of the tech problems are pretty banal and if the poster would take the time they are already in some posting on this site.

Most of the software has improved as well as the hardware to the point that unless you are on the bleeding edge mostly goes in painlessly.

I for one can't afford the current prices of the bleeding edge/leading edge hardware ( up to $1000 for I7 up to $300 for an x58 MOBO to support it. So it's going to be a while before another build.

It used to be that I would try to keep up with both Intel and AMD processor. It's too much so I for one focus on Intel and let it go at that.

Most of the activity is in the media ( audio video mobile ) there is very little activity here on those. Even Raid has very little activity.

In the past there would be posters shouting the benefits of ( equivilant of ) ddr2 vs ddr3 bang for the buck also the benefits of I7 vs Core 2 duo / Duo core . There's very little in the Celeron arena.
Even the netbooks which are pretty hot. There are no postings of relative comparisons vs price to laptops.

Wireless printers and other wireless attachable devices no activity there. Should I go on.

I am here most because I have a web page open on my browser and check once a day out of habit ( used to check more often and even was looking forward due to the activity ). Other than that I have pretty much lost intrest in this site . More out of habit and that in the rare time that I might need to research a particular topic I would just close the web page on my browser and disappear like the rest. No even be a lurker.

Sign of the times maybe. But even the battle royals that went on kept people involved. THis site has gone thru a transition from a close knit group of very tech savy people. Once the website was sold it was no longer a family it was like being put in a foster care system. The family and love was gone. We weren't really abused but like what used to be fun and exiting was turned into a vehicle of commercial enterprised. Like we were expected to work for our keep as it were.

Once the fun and excite,ment and family feeling was gone why stay and do.

Just my thought and my .02.

[SRTDodge05]

I come and go now and then. Im not crazy about the homepage at all and its a total turn off to me. I cant tell whats going on anymore.

[PeterT]

trav, zap & john all made very good points. focus on members and keep the news current. front page, front page, front page... the current version is "pretty", but it has no soul. ABXZone is still my homepage, but it's in spite of the front page, not because of it.

[traveler]

....

[traveler]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

We will be drawing new members soon but that won't help if we don't correct the problems that have depopulated this community. Do we need more cutting edge material? What?

It has been said.

Delete the current Front Page. Total remake needed. And now you know.

But ... at this point in time, ... I'm not really sure how to revive that unique ABX culture that once was.

You new owners/admins/mods just don't know what made ABX great. It wasn't just another site/forum on the net. Part of the ABX culture was the members telling the admins/owners what was to be on the Front Page. And it happened. Take a look. The old Front Page discussion threads are still here somewhere. There were always great discussions between the 20 to 50 main members and the 10 or so admins/mods about everything ABX. Today: Nothing.

The Front Page was the focus of discussions and member activity ... once upon a time.

Today, I have to search for the Who's Online section. And when I find it, it says "Currently Active Users: 65(4 members and 61 guests)". That is quite the change from the old days.

It's not the fault of the new owners/admins/mods. The seeds of the decline started about, I think, 2006 when there were a few "in power" people who tried to make ABX something that it wasn't. They "pruned" a few members and that started the ball of discontentment rolling.

It's difficult to explain the social and tech balance that made the original ABX culture. But all the Buds who have been members for about 5 years or more know. The sun was always shining on an active ABX member somewhere.



__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

[BoWevil_abx]

Traveler pretty much hit the nail on the head. For a time ABXzone was ruled by a few mods who exercised absolute control absolutely and were very vindictive toward anyone who questioned their actions. They did not hesitate to ban someone who questioned their methods or their authority and as a result the board lost many of the very people that made ABXzone the success that it once was. Unfortunately, the actions taken in the past that destroyed the best technical board on the net cannot be undone or put right.

Today ABXzone is a mere shell of what it once was and is just plain boring. The members who made ABXzone the exciting place that it was have moved on to other boards and the loss of such an exciting venue makes me sad beyond description.

[Wingit]

The front page used to be a living thing that constantly evolved with current posts, both on and off topic. It is now as alive as a corkboard in a coin laundry. This is in no way the fault of the remaining hard working ABX news guys, please be clear on that. It is a matter of format and the lack of traffic to support a fast moving visible post synopsis. The residual effects of the site meltdown that everyone refers to are amazingly still a tender subject, a testimony to what ABX once was in the member's personal lives, more than a mere tech site. I'm not posting to critique new ownership or anyone at all, I think that from the standpoint of a commercial venture they have been quite flexible and reasonably supportive. It's got to be a bit frustrating for them as well, with old members citing the "golden years" and yet being unable to suggest how to regain the knowledge base, personality and sheer post count alluded to. The short answer is....the past can't be revived. What can be done is to make something new and that can start with the frontpage format getting livelier, getting members to engage one another in discussion again and hoping for a large dose of internet VooDoo to happen. Trav's prior post is 100% correct.

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by traveler

It has been said.

Delete the current Front Page. Total remake needed. And now you know.

But ... at this point in time, ... I'm not really sure how to revive that unique ABX culture that once was.

You new owners/admins/mods just don't know what made ABX great. It wasn't just another site/forum on the net. Part of the ABX culture was the members telling the admins/owners what was to be on the Front Page. And it happened. Take a look. The old Front Page discussion threads are still here somewhere. There were always great discussions between the 20 to 50 main members and the 10 or so admins/mods about everything ABX. Today: Nothing.

The Front Page was the focus of discussions and member activity ... once upon a time.

Today, I have to search for the Who's Online section. And when I find it, it says "Currently Active Users: 65(4 members and 61 guests)". That is quite the change from the old days.

It's not the fault of the new owners/admins/mods. The seeds of the decline started about, I think, 2006 when there were a few "in power" people who tried to make ABX something that it wasn't. They "pruned" a few members and that started the ball of discontentment rolling.

It's difficult to explain the social and tech balance that made the original ABX culture. But all the Buds who have been members for about 5 years or more know. The sun was always shining on an active ABX member somewhere.



__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

Very well said, I come by to check out the place a couple of times a day, and the first place I go to is the 'New Post" section, to see whats happening, I really don't bother with the front page, I sure to miss the old place and if it wasn't for some of the old timers it would just be another dead site...I've been over at AVS and a new Hidef site lately, where there's always something going on, that new site was started by some guys that where on AVS and got banned (sound familiar)...If you like Hidef TV and sound you might come by and check it out, a real friendly place and say what you want and have a good time!

http://www.gangofidiots.com

I've been on another site (arcade site Invision Arcade Games - Unreal Portal ), and they have a shout box, on the front page where you can go and make short shouts to your friends and carry on without making a post on a thread, and its usually really active....just a idea!

[yamawho]

Hi Guys

Trav's last post sums it up for me.

I rememeber a time if I left for a few days, it would take me a whole evening to catch up on the posts I missed ...

These days a month goes by and not much happens.

[Maico Shark]

Being a new admin here & all and to be nearly computer illiterate to boot I certainly can't argue about what once made ABX great. I just know admin stuff, like for instance when a member posts about a site being practically dead (I won't argue that) and suggests those members still checking in go somewhere else "where stuff is always going on" and helpfully provides links...that's when you enter my area of expertise. That sort of conduct is rude and disrespectful to the staff and members still trying to rebuild ABX. There are still people on board who can be counted on for good advice if you've hit a snag...and people who can point you in the right direction for hardware or software. So long as ABX has those members (of which you fellows are among) we have the basis for growth. I've only been here 2 months but I'll get the front page issue resolved and I already know the quality of the staff here, of the news team, and of those loyal & long time senior members. So don't write ABX off, don't give up on us...and please don't ask our members to go someplace else, we need them here

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by Maico Shark

Being a new admin here & all and to be nearly computer illiterate to boot I certainly can't argue about what once made ABX great. I just know admin stuff, like for instance when a member posts about a site being practically dead (I won't argue that) and suggests those members still checking in go somewhere else "where stuff is always going on" and helpfully provides links...that's when you enter my area of expertise. That sort of conduct is rude and disrespectful to the staff and members still trying to rebuild ABX. There are still people on board who can be counted on for good advice if you've hit a snag...and people who can point you in the right direction for hardware or software. So long as ABX has those members (of which you fellows are among) we have the basis for growth. I've only been here 2 months but I'll get the front page issue resolved and I already know the quality of the staff here, of the news team, and of those loyal & long time senior members. So don't write ABX off, don't give up on us...and please don't ask our members to go someplace else, we need them here

The sites I linked to have nothing to do with computers, I've been here 7 years, I am one of the senior members, just ask around and I've been a big supporter of this site....I didn't leave like the rest of the old timers, except for a few! Your barking down the wrong tree with me, I tried to give some input on using a shout box to get more people on here, but hey I've never been a administrator so what do I know....

People make suggestion and then get put down, well its your site ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[traveler]

Maico Shark: Don't fear any other sites. ABX has always had everything from unofficial sister sites (BleedinEdge is one of them) to frequently quoted other website forums (the OmegaDrivers website is an example). We, the members, all loved it and came here all the more to find out what was going on out there at other places. Members frequently had their own real nice sites going. Tweakhound was one of those. Check out his tweaks. Especially his game tweaks.


fvbounty: I visited HighDefJunkies. Nice Front Page! Needs a bit of polish, but it's got the elements. It needs a "Computer TV tuner" section.





__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

[sammy2066]

Originally Posted by traveler

It has been said.

Delete the current Front Page. Total remake needed. And now you know.

But ... at this point in time, ... I'm not really sure how to revive that unique ABX culture that once was.

You new owners/admins/mods just don't know what made ABX great. It wasn't just another site/forum on the net. Part of the ABX culture was the members telling the admins/owners what was to be on the Front Page. And it happened. Take a look. The old Front Page discussion threads are still here somewhere. There were always great discussions between the 20 to 50 main members and the 10 or so admins/mods about everything ABX. Today: Nothing.

The Front Page was the focus of discussions and member activity ... once upon a time.

Today, I have to search for the Who's Online section. And when I find it, it says "Currently Active Users: 65(4 members and 61 guests)". That is quite the change from the old days.

It's not the fault of the new owners/admins/mods. The seeds of the decline started about, I think, 2006 when there were a few "in power" people who tried to make ABX something that it wasn't. They "pruned" a few members and that started the ball of discontentment rolling.

It's difficult to explain the social and tech balance that made the original ABX culture. But all the Buds who have been members for about 5 years or more know. The sun was always shining on an active ABX member somewhere.



__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

Well said! I've already apologized for not being able to visit often. However that should change now.

The Apple section did not take off as I intended, but I plan on making some additions there.

YGPM traveler.

[Maico Shark]

Originally Posted by traveler

Maico Shark: Don't fear any other sites. ABX has always had everything from unofficial sister sites (BleedinEdge is one of them) to frequently quoted other website forums (the OmegaDrivers website is an example). We, the members, all loved it and came here all the more to find out what was going on out there at other places. Members frequently had their own real nice sites going. Tweakhound was one of those. Check out his tweaks. Especially his game tweaks.


fvbounty: I visited HighDefJunkies. Nice Front Page! Needs a bit of polish, but it's got the elements. It needs a "Computer TV tuner" section.

__________________
Asus X48 Rampage Formula / Intel Q9450 2.66 @ 3.2 / 2 x 2GB OCZ Reaper HPC PC2 8500 /
Asus Radeon HD4870X2 Tri-Fan 2GB graphics card / 24" DeLL Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor /
Western Digital Raptor X Hard Drive / Two Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5001ABYS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives /
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 / Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speaker System /
Lian Li 343B cube case / PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Crossfire Edition /
IOGEAR GCS1782 GCS1782 Dual-Link DVI KVMP switch with 7.1 audio

The OP is prophetic...Where have all the members gone? Your statement," We, the members, all loved it and came here all the more to find out what was going on out there at other places." accurately describes what is known to admins as a "link farm"... places that have no value in and of themselves except to serve as a source of links to other places. We will not be that here...and if that's the way it was, it explains what happened to this site.

"Members frequently had their own real nice sites going." is another way strong websites are undermined. Members may have their own websites but may not post links to them here. Staff, who are "nice guys" and allow such links are deluded. Links posted to help guide fellow members to needed goods & services are certainly allowed, but links posted to recruit members for competitive discussion sites cannot be tolerated by any community concerned with growth and self-preservation. Many of our past members will return but before that is arranged the holes through which they fell must be plugged. The value of this thread is (which would never have been allowed on some sites) incalculable.

I will read every post here and use this info to try & repair our problems. I've been around long enough to know that some members just move on, but also long enough to know that no one really ever forgets the discussion board where they made special friends, where they learned important things, where they helped newbies out, etc. Sooner or later they will check back in to have a look around. I can only hope we will still be here and be better than ever. I will do my best to make it so. I thank each of you for helping.