Forum Speed, Features and New Forum Idea

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  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8429
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    Forum Speed, Features and New Forum Idea

    I like the new features and especially the speed/response of the new forum.

    THANKS!

    With the speed of the forum greatly improved, and wanting to bring in fresh blood - I have been thinking about a new forum here (as I mentioned to a few recently) Cordless or Battery Tools forum. Cordless would best describe it but so are hand planes, hand saws, etc. etc.

    Anyone have a good name for such a forum?

    Also anyone good with organization? (I'm not) What is the criteria? All battery tools in on one forum?
    Each Thread start with the brand and then the tool for easier to find? Am I going in the wrong direction? Does it matter?

    Cordless (battery powered) is really gaining traction and is being ignored on most forums as a special niche.

    Opinions?
    Last edited by leehljp; 01-07-2021, 09:36 PM.
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!
  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    #2
    A couple car forums I'm on have subforums for different generations of the same model. Rather than a different folder/forum just for cordless tools, can this software support subforums?

    Maybe you could put it under Tool Talk and call it "Cordless Tools" (or something catchier). That way you don't take away from the Tools Talk section and if it's posted under Tool Talk and not under the Cordless Tools subforum, it isn't a big deal.

    Comment

    • leehljp
      Just me
      • Dec 2002
      • 8429
      • Tunica, MS
      • BT3000/3100

      #3
      SubForums! Sounds great.

      "Tool Talk" covers it somewhat, but I think "Cordless tools" will draw more people in, if they are doing searches. At the least "Cordless" in the title will bring more hits from google searches than "Tool Talk". Key words are the key to getting google to point people to this forum.
      Hank Lee

      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

      Comment

      • twistsol
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2002
        • 2893
        • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
        • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

        #4
        The software does support subforums but thinks look a little different on the front page. Tool Talk with Power tools( The existing Tool Talk forum), Hand Tools, Cordless Tools as subforums. Then the question becomes would the other tablesaws section move in there as well and the BT3000 forum?

        I made these changes on the development site and below is what it looks like. This makes the initial screen more compact but a lot of information is hidden using subforums unless you drill into the header forum.

        Click image for larger version

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        After clicking on the Tools forum, you then see the details of that forum but no others.

        Click image for larger version

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        Chr's
        __________
        An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
        A moral man does it.

        Comment

        • leehljp
          Just me
          • Dec 2002
          • 8429
          • Tunica, MS
          • BT3000/3100

          #5

          After thinking about this and talking with my search savvy daughter who does some consulting along these lines - here is what she/we have come up with:

          The key thing will be how many hits from Google will result. KEY WORDS are important. "Tool Talk" will get very few hits if any at all. People are not looking for tool talk. People are searching for specifics. "Tool Talk" is a great name, but is somewhat out of touch with todays young people getting started. That name is NOT what people are looking for in a Google search. The most used generic terms will be "Cordless Tools" and "Battery powered tools". In general older people will search for battery powered tools while new to woodworking or younger people use the term Cordless more often.

          IF we are serious about drawing new people, it is going to start with Google searches and pointing to us. I know that specific searches might point to specific topics, but putting cordless under Tool Talk will be in effect hiding it. We Know where it is (will be), but new people will not. Just a couple of misses to people coming to our sight and we will loose a few. Cordless / Battery tools will need to be out where all can see. . . . That is if we want to tap into the up and coming tool direction of the future.

          I am not sure if it WILL work, but it is worth a try.

          IF we go this direction, we "might" be possible to pick up a few new ad sponsors. I am seeing more and more space dedicated to cordless tools in HD, Lowes and Menards as well as Ace and even Walmart.

          Fellows, I am open to all of your opinions and if they disagree with mine, don't worry about me. We need all kinds of opinions and thoughts.
          Last edited by leehljp; 01-08-2021, 06:07 PM.
          Hank Lee

          Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

          Comment


          • woodturner
            woodturner commented
            Editing a comment
            Google is one search provider, Bing is the other major search provider, but the others in aggregate have a significant share of the market.

            To be effective, one should optimize for Google and Bing, the two dominant search engines, and the other smaller ones will generally follow the protocols for one of the two.
        • cwsmith
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 2737
          • NY Southern Tier, USA.
          • BT3100-1

          #6
          "Cordless Tools" work for me, but won't that just draw inquirers from those who are seeking to purchase, rather than advice and participation? And, won't it also draw more spammers who are looking to sell or lead us to their preferred retailers and outlets? Perhaps that's not a problem, but I thought it should be mentioned.

          CWS
          Think it Through Before You Do!

          Comment

          • leehljp
            Just me
            • Dec 2002
            • 8429
            • Tunica, MS
            • BT3000/3100

            #7
            Woodturner. Agreed. I do not know the parameters for each but in general, the primary word(s) for one will generally pop up equally on the others.

            CWS: The larger one gets, the more chances of spammers; Containing the spammers will be a dual software and moderator operation. The alternative is no growth and eventual slide into oblivion.

            I got interested in sign making through Loring's post recently and also got into looking for router templates. That led me to a search for router sites. There were two or three and one with lots of information. Then I noticed there was very very little recent posts. At one time it was very active, but now hardly anything. About this same time, there was discussion here in another thread noting the same thing with other wood working forums.

            I personally do not think that "Cordless" will necessarily bring a good number of regulars but it will probably bring a few. It will more than likely bring a continual number of short term members passing through that are just looking for reviews and questions about purchases. The IAP has a huge number of members. There are probably about 100 regular members (daily to weekly) with 30,000+ members. Most are "pass-through" or short term - in terms of interaction (posting), But the continual draw adds about 2 - 3 regulars per month. The average active membership (daily - weekly - monthly) runs about 2 to 3 years and then most members tire out from pen making and drop by the wayside. A few will come back after a year or so.

            The IAP site usage has not waned, but it has a high turn over rate and a high draw on new pen turners. That is OK and the forum stays very viable doing that.

            I see a forum like "Cordless" tools as a draw, maybe not nearly as high as the IAP, but enough to keep some additions.

            What brought my attention to Cordless tools was reading the reviews on HD and Lowes for their tools and particular cordless tools. On many, you can see/read LOTS/MANY reviews. People want to know, and in many there are questions that are not being answered by their searches. When one does a search of a particular cordless tool (or other tool) through Google or Bing, there are 2 to 5 "reviews" by professionals or magazines and they do not necessarily hit the needs or questions that people seem to be asking.
            "Why was it reviewed this way?
            "Did you (reviewer) benefit from this review?
            "Will it do this . . .?
            "Could you put this in layman's terms?
            etc.

            Professional reviewing works for people like you and me somewhat. It gives us a foundation to make a decision. But I still like to know what others think that have used it. Lowes and HD have plenty for the most part, but there is not interactive discussion.

            This May or May Not draw more people in, but it is where I have been doing a lot of research on my own lately. I do read review, but would really like to see interactive discussions.
            Hank Lee

            Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

            Comment


            • cwsmith
              cwsmith commented
              Editing a comment
              i agree with your perspective and you certainly make some good points.

              Thanks,

              CWS
          • twistsol
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2002
            • 2893
            • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
            • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

            #8
            Based on some of the comments above, I went and did some google searches.

            "BT3x00 related discussions" an exact match for our fourm title, we were first on the list on google. BT3x00 however is shorthand used only here and if I were someone looking for help, that isn't how I'd search.
            "Tool Talk" I got tired of scrolling through listings and never found sawdustzone.
            "BT3000" Lumberjocks and Fine woodworking were in the first 5 pages ... we weren't listed in the first 10
            "Ryobi BT3100 manual" We were listed as item 4 (We have an article with all those words in the title"
            "Ryobi BT3000 Repair Help" We were listed as item 3

            The indexing crawlers scan every word type here ... and everywhere else on the web. In the lower left corner of the first post on every thread you can add tags as shown from the first post of this thread. (I haven't looked at the security settings to see if this is just moderators or regular members can add them as well) These tags are basically keywords the search engines are looking for in addition to titles and headings. Click on the reddish tags link and you can either click from popular tags or type in your own.


            Click image for larger version

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            Here are the tags I just added to the sommerfeld router table review in tool reviews articles

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            In some ways, we also may be too helpful. We have typically a couple of hundred people online at any one time some percentage of which are bots and about 100 or so are "regulars". Nearly 20,000 people have reigstered here over the years and 100 stuck around. The biggest profile for members come here, ask a question, get it answered and stay around for a few days or weeks and are then never heard from again.
            Chr's
            __________
            An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
            A moral man does it.

            Comment

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