j_crazy;565820 wrote:for the last fucking time justin. dividing by 0 doesn't equal infinity.

Crap, I always forget that.

O-Trap;565795 wrote: It does, however, look like nobody is running any PPC for that search term. I don't know what your budget is, Justin, but you could probably get the only paid advertising spot on Google for that search term for like $0.01 per click (only applies to when people click your PPC link when searching that term in Google.).

$1.25 is the bid to get on the first page, it appears.

justincredible;565818 wrote:There is no budget. My cashflow is unlimited.

Haha. Might be worth hiring an SEO expert to help get the site optimized for a couple sensible keywords/keyphrases ("ohio sports," "ohio high school sports," "(insert ohio city here) sports," "ohio web board," etc.

justincredible;565833 wrote:$1.25 is the bid to get on the first page, it appears.

Gotcha. Didn't know if they had a base PPC.

2 more ideas

I rating system for posts. Sort of you can give someone a thumbs up or thumbs down for their posts. Then have consequences for those if negative ratings. I'm sure this could be abused though but I like the idea because 1 troll vote vs. 10 actual legit votes would make it void.

Another idea is a reward system for those with a high post count and/or high rating, if they have a high count, allow them to post more often than every 30 seconds.

Nate, there are other sites that do those kinds of things. "Thanks," "Reps," and post count tiers are part of other boards I've been on in the past.

O-Trap;566844 wrote:Nate, there are other sites that do those kinds of things. "Thanks," "Reps," and post count tiers are part of other boards I've been on in the past.

This. I've mentioned it in the past. Other sites I visits have similar things and then under a poster's username is their reputation which reflects the feedback they receive.

karen lotz;566848 wrote:This. I've mentioned it in the past. Other sites I visits have similar things and then under a poster's username is their reputation which reflects the feedback they receive.

You'd definitely have a negative review.

-Society-;566852 wrote:You'd definitely have a negative review.

Damn, good one! You are a valued contributor to the site.

Actually, one DOES allow for "neg reps." However, you have to have reached a certain plateau of posting yourself before being able to distribute them, and reps (+/-) cannot be given to the same person in a row.

Otherwise (and this was the reason they moved to that), someone creates 17 accounts and neg-reps the same person a bunch of times.

I actually was the recipient of the "rep-f***." He deserved the smartass reply, though.

Yeah, I've seen the negative rep as well. Just wanted to give him some instant feedback.

karen lotz;566873 wrote:Damn, good one! You are a valued contributor to the site.

Thank you.

This site is #3 for a reason just look at some of the topics in this forum.
The name calling allowed on this site is another of many things that contribute to this site being”minor league like”

Say what you want but the fact is #3 of the three bigger sites from Ohio and there are at least two other sites better for high schools sports than this site(Yes I know it was meant to be for high school sports)but it has discussed as far as getting more high school fans on here.

newarkcatholicfan;570099 wrote:This site is #3 for a reason just look at some of the topics in this forum.
The name calling allowed on this site is another of many things that contribute to this site being”minor league like”

Say what you want but the fact is #3 of the three bigger sites from Ohio and there are at least two other sites better for high schools sports than this site(Yes I know it was meant to be for high school sports)but it has discussed as far as getting more high school fans on here.

I don't think anyone cares nor do we think you have the mental capability to do anything of value when it comes to these types of things...so run along back to the trailer park where you and your brother practice martial arts yeah!

^^^what's up with the light blue ink? had to get my glasses to read that.

newarkcatholicfan;570099 wrote:This site is #3 for a reason just look at some of the topics in this forum.
The name calling allowed on this site is another of many things that contribute to this site being”minor league like”

Say what you want but the fact is #3 of the three bigger sites from Ohio and there are at least two other sites better for high schools sports than this site(Yes I know it was meant to be for high school sports)but it has discussed as far as getting more high school fans on here.

I'm sure you hate the name calling since you are a huge recipient of it...yet well deserved I might add.

As for the topics how many topics have you started here that are the same copy cat topics you've started at the major league forums.

I'm with ncf here...we need more 7th grade girls basketball threads. Those kind of topics will really bring this site some new and interesting members.

karen lotz;570119 wrote:I'm with ncf here...we need more 7th grade girls basketball threads. Those kind of topics will really bring this site some new and interesting members.

LOLz. And blue ink. Must have MORE blue fonts in our posts.

newarkcatholicfan;570099 wrote:This site is #3 for a reason just look at some of the topics in this forum.
The name calling allowed on this site is another of many things that contribute to this site being”minor league like”

Say what you want but the fact is #3 of the three bigger sites from Ohio and there are at least two other sites better for high schools sports than this site(Yes I know it was meant to be for high school sports)but it has discussed as far as getting more high school fans on here.

If there are at least four other sites better than this one why are you here? You don't like it because I don't protect you from insults. Bottom line.

Did not say I did not like it
Protectection from words by strangers on a web site that's funny.

The bottom line is 90% of those who name call in here would never act like that in real life the other 10% would only be laughed at.

As far as the name calling goes I have such a big ignore list I miss 99% of those who do that stuff.

newarkcatholicfan;570290 wrote:Did not say I did not like it
Protectection from words by strangers on a web site that's funny.

The bottom line is 90% of those who name call in here would never act like that in real life the other 10% would only be laughed at.

As far as the name calling goes I have such a big ignore list I miss 99% of those who do that stuff.

lol you edited your post and you still couldn't spell protection. If you are so down on this site, then you shouldn't have over 3000 posts. Nice fail. Also its not just strangers on the internet throwing insults about you.

http://www.ohiochatter.com/forum/threads/19406-Douchebag-Of-The-Year-Award!!!?p=569168&viewfull=1#post569168

newarkcatholicfan;570290 wrote:As far as the name calling goes I have such a big ignore list I miss 99% of those who do that stuff.

In that case, you're not reading many posts. No wonder you like the other sites better ... even though you're here.

I read a lot of post there are not as many of those wanna be mean people posting on here.

I pray for those on my list every night even though each day GOD sends me an e-mail telling me to quit wasting his time.

What's God's email address? I wanna write him and ask him what the fuck he was smoking when he created you.

I sent him an e-mail and ask him what it was he was smoking and he said some shit your mom sold him.

I used to be on a message board that broke away from a popular site after nazi regimes took over. We grew from a community of twenty to a community of 140, but we couldn't grow much bigger than that and after about four years, we recently collapsed. The site was a TV Discussion/Online Reality Game site, and it was alright, but we ran into a couple problems, most of which we couldn't solve. Online Reality Games, btw, are reality shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race in an online format. Our problems were as follows:

1) Community- We were a close knit community, but we were criticized for having too many inside jokes. It was too hard for an outsider to feel welcome because the website felt like it was its very own clique. Every once in a while, a newcomer would be able to find their way, but a lot of people were ostracized. This hurt our expansionary period as it caused us to gain a couple new members each month instead of the steady flow we had hoped. We'd be nice to each newcomer their first couple days, but often times, that was like a trial period where we "decided" whether to welcome the new person or not...

2) Focus- Every website needs a focus, and we couldn't find our focus point. We started as more of a discussion site, which was good, but we succumbed to losing a focus. We shifted our focus to our games, which was a bad idea. Too many people in the online gaming community were play a game and find a new one. There was no stability in that choice, so we had people come play our games but wouldn't stay for the discussion because we didn't have any. Our focus was on a faulty point, which in the end, killed us. We had too much of a transitory audience instead of a permanent audience.

3) Looks- To be honest, to attract people, a site needs a good look, and it comes down to a variety of things. I think Ohio Chatter is an attractive forum looks wise, but there is another thing in play here. People view forums based on the amount of discussion on it. We made too many forums, and it killed us. We had a "General Discussion" forum, but we also had a books, video games, sports, and other forums. Unfortunately, we did not have much discussion on our more specific forums, so the most recent topic was usually a month or two old. This is bad for two reasons, it means that is shown on the front page, and people can see the lack of discussion. Plus, when people see lack of discussion, they are less likely to post a topic in that forum because they know it'll just go to waste. If there is not that much activity on a forum, I highly suggest you consolidate or else it looks bad. There are a few boards that should be allowed to stay on its own even for lack of discussion, one of which is a technical forum, but there isn't much else you should allow just sit there.

4) Marketing- You don't need to constantly market or advertise the forum, but if no one mentions it to anyone else, how can a forum grow? With any good marketing campaign, you need to know your demographics. People who love musicals but not sports aren't going to like this forum because it isn't geared towards that. While discussing with a friend, one should always mention the good banter that goes on here. Never sell the website short, as it's up to the people to decide whether this forum is for them or not. You can warn them about the language or such, but don't mention all the trolls. Stay as positive as you can when telling your friends. Lastly, I found that if you bug people, it doesn't work. Our forum was horrible in this aspect, so it made it hard to expand past our boundaries. I don't know, but I think this is important.

5) Staff- For any forum to work, a staff must care about it; you can have the best discussion in the world, but without a dedicated staff, the site won't work. The staff must care about the site and moderate effectively. I've been on forums that have been dictatorships, it doesn't work because there are no freedoms. This is the internet not the work field. However, one must make sure the forum isn't a bash everything free for all, and so far, I think Ohio Chatter has done a good job at staying in between the two. Also, a staff must have heirs in waiting for when they're done. The major problem about our site is that our staff was basically washed up, they were done with the site, but there was no one to take over. No one likes a moderator who overstays his time, so if you're done moderating, just resign. I resigned when my interest in the site waned because I felt someone who really cared could do better. If you just stay on to keep the power, you're hurting the site. Also, you need heirs that know what to do because when new moderators are added, they kinda need to know what to do. A lot of times, new mods would let the power go to their heads or be too lackadaisical. They need to know their job and do it well. Groom people to be future mods, as when we had an exodus of staff leaving, the site died because all there was left was people that didn't know how to moderate or admin a forum. The site effectively died.

I'm not sure how all these apply to Ohio Chatter, but in my times on forums, these strategies, I believe, are essential to keep a forum afloat.