How not to run a forum
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-08-24 19:23:05 - Graham EllisI'm willing to invest time and energy into something I believe in, but I want to make sure that it's worth my while .... that I'm not wasting my time.
I came across a local forum ... quite quiet, but nevertheless a useful and targeted spot onto which to post a message about a local issue; I filled in the sign up form ... and submitted it. I pressed the "new post button" an up came a posting window. Great ... wrote my post, and spent quite a while getting my intro and wording just right. Submitted my post. Guess what? An otherwise blank screen with the two words members only in tiny text in the top left corner.
Guess I should tell them that they've got a problem? Guess I WOULD tell them if there was an obvious contact box!
When I get frustrated about something that I feel is very poor like this ... I console myself by thinking that if everyone knew how to do it well, I wouldn't be kept busy training people to write better code. And I'm reminded that if I do a halfway passable job, it'll be streets ahead of the cowboys!