Patrons please respond to poll

[Black wallnut]

In some forums patrons have access to a private forum. Is this something you as a patron desire? In the past our thought was that everything should be viewable to all members because the purpose of the forum is to share knowledge as well as promote a sense of community.

[pelligrini]

With as much traffic as we get now, I don't see the need for a private forum. Another site I read regulary has quite a bit of traffic and it's private forum isn't used a whole lot.

[Dal300]

As Pelligrini says.

I can't see a need for it except for moderators and admins., in which case the users should never have any input on day to day operations.

I moderate a couple of small forums (not my clients), and am IT & Admin for a couple of others that are my web clients.

Two of those forums have a private section that non members cannot see. It seems to cause strife and discontent when the members make mention of a private joke or post.

I'm not sure disenfranchising part of the viewers is productive and as small as this forum is, can only lead to users leaving.

I will try to do my best to contribute every month, but some of us can't afford to make that commitment. Maybe that's why I cut my own lumber instead of buying it, LOL.

[Bruce Cohen]

Having a "Private paid forum" sends a message to those of us who either can't or won't spend the extra money that they become a second class citizen.
I have strong feelings about this kind of division of the members.
Those of you who wnat to converse with each other outside the eyes of the rest of us are more than welcome to use PMs or the member's email address.

Mark, good in theory, totally crappy in reality.

There's enough class division in this country already, and I sure as heck don't want it here.

Bruce

[greenacres2]

What they said...i've never felt the need on any of the boards i visit. For "personal conversations" there's the PM or e-mail.

earl

[BobSch]

What they said...i've never felt the need on any of the boards i visit. For "personal conversations" there's the PM or e-mail.

earl

My thoughts, too.

[Black wallnut]

Actually on the other forums I am a member of the paid forum does not get any traffic. My reason for asking is I wish to discover what perks patrons want as we'll as what perks will lead to more buying a patronage subscription.

[tommyt654]

I have noticed free booze and food generally gets a lot of folks interested in anything, but I agree with all above regarding a private forum

[chopnhack]

Ditto what has said above this post, including the booze and food....

What drives traffic? Content, photos of completed work, tutorials, classes whether live or "do and come and discuss" formats, contests.

Members inviting others to become members, but there has to be a draw, something of interest to keep new members here.

[Pappy]

I see no reason to have a private forum for patrons. One of the long standing staples of BT3Central has been putting forth a friendly atmosphere for ALL who join or visit.

[frumper64]

One more vote for keeping everything open for everyone

Jim

[dbhost]

I am a bit uncomfortable voting on this due to my involvement in the site, but since I am also a paying patron here, as well as a couple of other sites (One of them is an open source project, the other is a truck forum). One of those sites has a special forum just for paying members, the most recent post there is 3 years old...

I just don't see a need for a private / hidden forum aside from fast communications for forum staff when the site is easy to get to, but email isn't (phone comes to mind).... But even then, seems like a bit overkill...

[LinuxRandal]

Depends on how you want to go on with the forum. If you would like to add a private forum for politics or religion (not allowed now), then I have no problem with it. Otherwise, I could only see the point to stop low post count (hit and run resellers) from targeting the classifieds.

[Knottscott]

Like others have said, there's not much need, and there's always the concern of feeling like the "haves" and the "have nots". Another wwing forum has such "perks" as access to the classifieds and other sections... and it's not a feature of the forum that I have much regard for.

Perhaps there are other "rewards" for heavy contributors like a pen, hat, t-shirt, coffee mug, bumper sticker, etc., or simply some tag or frame around our avatar indicating who the contributors are.

[Turaj]

Another vote for no change. I think the value of any forum in its content and the relationship between members.

One perk that can be interesting for some members, is extra space for saving pictures and creating galleries (although I think there are several places that one can create galleries anyway).