Forums or no forums? Sound off
Just a quick bit of housekeeping here. Not a week goes by of late where either James or I (or both of us) are asked about starting up some jkOnTheRun forums. Truth be told, I think there are already some great platform-based forums out there. Howard Forums, Pocket PC Thoughts and Gotta Be Mobile come to mind for cellphone, Windows Mobile and Tablet PC communities. Having a jkOnTheRun forum almost seems redundant with what’s already out there in my mind.But I’m not the community. You are. And James made a great point during a conversation we had this afternoon. Sometimes a post will generate upwards of 20 more comments; wouldn’t it be nice to have that information categorized and easy to find in a forum? I can’t argue with that, but we certainly don’t want to reinvent the wheel as it were. So, the floor is open. Share your thoughts in the comments on this one and we’ll see what the community wants. We’ve got other site changes in the works as well (like our new menu buttons, next page navigation at the bottom of the main page, plus more items TBA), so let us know if we should add forums on our “to do” list. Thanks!
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I spend the majority of my time on Hofo, but I could probably squeeze you guys in.
I guess my only question would be, do you guys have the traffic to support an active forum? I’m not expecting an answer (it’s none of my business), just a thought for you and James to discuss.
Regardless, if there’s a jkOnTheRun forum, I’ll be there. You guys are a good read. I’d assume the discussion would be entertaining.
I gotta be honest, I think you’d be better off partnering with GottaBeMobile for forums. :)
You definitely don’t want to reinvent the wheel as it were. You want to reinvent it as it will be.
I’d prefer you to concentrate on h/w reviews , software reviews and improving the navigation and searching of the existing site first. I do find the existing site hard to search and find things
Even though I am a member of the GBM forums, I don’t really frequent them unless it is specifically pointed out that a topic continues in the forum. So I would vote no.
The only time I use forums is if I have a question that I think someone on the forum can answer. But, for general reading, a chuckle or two, and information, I tend to stick to the main page and comments.
I don’t think you guys need a forum.
Before you start a forum, you need to ask yourselves this: Do you guys have the time or inclination to be forum moderators? If not, then who would you ask to do it for you?
I second the GottaBeMobile suggestion.
Nah… I couldnt swing it here. Right now things are very hard to find on JKONTHERUN as the front page currently is very busy.This site isnt a forum type of site that I would consider posting. I normally will spend 2-3 min a day reading your 3 stories a day you poat and then I am off…..
Its like engadget doesnt need forums…
Better to add threaded blog comments (and improved search) I think. That’s what I want to do on my blog anyway…
I vote no forums. The use of threaded comments is a good idea though.
I also vote for not adding forums.