Forum Publicity? Options

[Martyn Dale]

Is there anything that can be done to get this forum more active? Its linked to from an even more obscure location than on the last website, which is pretty obvious given how much quieter things are here these days than on the old website

I remember when things were nice and active back in EV1 times when there was a direct forum link on the main page.

Do et!

[markcausa]

I think you just said it all in your post... Too obscure.

[ajz4221]

ServerMatrix days were active too.

[markcausa]

So any ideas?

[ajz4221]

Getting a visible link on the home page and top right corner with network and legal would be a start.
I didn't even know where it was until a few seconds ago (under "why planet alpha?").

[JohnB]

From what I recall. When TP bought out EV1 and all the EV1 customers came to complain about the extreemly poor service, TP removed the forum from the lime light because it gave out a bad impression.

IMO, it resulted in an even poorer service and was basically a cover up.

[Starpoint]

From what I recall. When TP bought out EV1 and all the EV1 customers came to complain about the extreemly poor service, TP removed the forum from the lime light because it gave out a bad impression.

IMO, it resulted in an even poorer service and was basically a cover up.

"Even BAD publicity is STILL publicity" most the forums I am on (this one, netstumbler.org, Comcraptic.com and a few others) you get people who are negative about the service.

After 8 some odd years of helping users, in the ISP world and in corporate America, (and 3 years of it was right here at Ev1.net as a dialup/webhosting tech then senior supervisor over Tech dept.) I will say this, for every 10,000 calls of gripes you might get 1 call thanking you for a good job.

What I want to see is the old gang from EV1 back in here having a good time and taking pokes at each other.

[JohnB]

What I want to see is the old gang from EV1 back in here having a good time and taking pokes at each other.

While I'd like to see that too, its unlikely to ever happen. TP doesn't offer the same environment EV1 used to and seemed determined to upset every legacy customer they could. The community feel is lost forever.

My post seems too bashful against TP so I will say, service has improved since the merger, which is excellent and its good to see progress, but its sadly no where near as good as it was.

[markcausa]

Guys, let's try not to let this turn into an EV1 vs TP war.

Getting a visible link on the home page and top right corner with network and legal would be a start.

I agree. I mean, they took the link off because the forums were full of slander and stuff, but now it's ok, right?

[Jeff]

In the old days the Rackshack server guru customers posted so many tutorials in the EV1servers/Rackshack forums that there are still links from external sites like webhostingtalk -- it would be wonderful if even a fraction of that community could be recreated in the here and now.

I know there were some "simple" factors such as the forum software switch and broken links, etc. that alienated people. I suspect there were also more complicated factors like the perception of guru's help being needed and appreciated when the CEO and management posted in the old forums and when RS started off as a pioneer starting from scratch... what else is different now than then? Can it be recreated, even partially to make this community strong again?

[Martyn Dale]

Would be nice, while i wasnt an active poster back then, i have been "around" for years, its defiantly pretty differnt

[XGhozt]

Is TP embarrassed to show their forums? :o

[Tomy Durden]

Is TP embarrassed to show their forums? :o

If we were, we'd just shut them down.

There's links on both the Alpha page(Why Planet Alpha? menu and page) and the Corporate Page(About The Planet menu and page).

The current design doesn't really allow for the forums to be placed anywhere but the menus with semi-related information. The design of the pages were done using customer feedback and traffic studies.

I'd love to see more customers, evaluators, and even non-customer SME's, around here contributing to the community. Spread the word!

[XGhozt]

I think a great place to start, would be to add a link to the forums in the footer next to "Site Map".
Edit: Which is still a 404 by the way.

[Kevin Hazard]

Edit: Which is still a 404 by the way.

Good catch. When importing the footer from the main page design, the link was "/sitemap" instead of "http://www.theplanet.com/sitemap". Updated.

[Gorrdy]

Where is it? I have a saved direct link, but just went to TP's main page and couldnt dig through to find it anywhere.

No wonder its a ghost town here.

[Jeff]

It's on the bottom of the "About the Planet" dropdown menu - this seems findable to me.

Is TP embarrassed to show their forums? :o

As far as being embarrassed of their forums, look at competitor softlayer who won't let the public or potential customers see any issues posted on their forums. I don't know if they're hiding issues or just don't want non-customer chatter, but that's a real turnoff for me as a potential customer.

[Martyn Dale]

Yea, thats why i made a post about it. I knew where it is from the past. When i was clicking around TPs website, i didnt see it, then i made this thread

Im not usually one for conspiracy theories, but the time it took for a staff member to post in this thread compared to every other thread did amuse me.

Though to be fair to them, they probably just didnt want to risk treading on any toes of management, rather than it being a conspiracy.

I dont know, its just i remember how the fourm used to be in EV1 times, and even how it was advertised in early ev1/tp times, as a location for customers to converse and discuss ideas etc. That was a great way of putting it, and i think if managed well, theres some good potential here. Being in the forum industry myself, i guess it kind of bugs me to see a potentially active area being neglected =/

[Jeff]

Another factor -- because the old EV1 forums were fantastic, our expectations are high. While the forum has a lot less technical talk than it did before, an order of magnitude less, there are plenty of smaller server providers that would love to have their forums as good as this forum is now.

[XGhozt]

It's on the bottom of the "About the Planet" dropdown menu - this seems findable to me.


As far as being embarrassed of their forums, look at competitor softlayer who won't let the public or potential customers see any issues posted on their forums. I don't know if they're hiding issues or just don't want non-customer chatter, but that's a real turnoff for me as a potential customer.

Ah hah! Well put my friend.