Release the emergency brake, please.

Is the CF riding with the emergency brake on? We seem to be moving a little slow lately. There doesn't seem to be as many new topics and replies in the last month or so.

New members are registering but not stopping to say "HI!" in the welcome thread. Even the General Forum is running slow. Not much scuttlebutt in the Latest Models forum. I would have thought most folks would let their feelings be known about the 4th Order Lens and the OE Minots. Ebay Auction action shows plenty of dealer dumping at unheard of prices. Still not much talk about that either.

Maybe it's time for the Saints and Cruise Directors to do a full-court press and jump start the CF again. Lets release the emergency brake and get this site back up to speed.

Bob

Bob, This was my feeling several months ago when I asked where everyone was. They all said that they were on vacation, getting ready for school, etc. I have noticed a slowing down for the last 4-5 months. I think it is a slowing down of interest in lighthouses in general. This is probably the reasoning for the crazy prices that HL are selling for bot on ebay and the collectors forums. It doesn't help either for new forum members to join and then not have them participate. It's sort of like church membership. What good does it do to have XXXXXX church members if only a few are active. Well, we have almost 1100 members and probably only 100 participate actively. It will probably only get worst if the new members don't add fresh thoughts and ideas to the forums.

My thoughts only.

Rich

I agree that the forum has been on the slow side lately. I really felt that way when I checked in yesterday morning and found no new posts for the day. Mine was the first. I don't think that has ever happened before. If there is anything that I can help with to jumpstart the forums let me know. One idea may be to check on some of the new members and welcome them to the forums.

Bert

I agree with you Bob and Rich.The forum has slowed down a bit.Even though I am working a lot of overtime, I still try to check in everyday and comment on things or bring ideas when I can.

Over a thousand members and hardly a quarter of them actively participate.I am not sure as to why,
but I don't think the interest in lighthouses is dindling.People want something easy sometimes and don't want to work for it.I feel more fresh topics are on the way.As a matter of fact, I am posting a new one today about Cape Hatteras in the general forum today.
Rick

In the past, I deleted members who had registered 6 months or more previous but had yet to make a post.

Because we were 'rushing toward 1,000' members, I've stopped doing that.

There is definitely a period of time when new members become active, then their interest ebbs. Having an individual active for years is very rare.

Perhaps not being linked from the Harbour Lights site has cost us new members and thus activity.

I'm open to suggestions that might increase participation.

I agree that the past linkage to the HL website made a significant difference. I understand that there is no apparent way to alter the arrangement given the dealer's "upset". I think that the need for a lighthouse preservation revival is obvious. Clearly the primary interest in collecting today is driven by financial motives, as demonstrated by current ebay pricing. Preservation/educational interests are a distant secondary concern.

Thought I would check in to see what was up . Sorry I haven't been in lately, it hasn't been from lack of interest. It's been more of lack of time. I don't know about the rest of you, but my husband and I make a lot of our gifts for Christmas. My husband is does leatherwork and I do loom beadwork. We usually start in about the beginning of November. Between that and Thanksgiving preparations, there isn't a whole lot of time to even turn on the computer except maybe to check the email once a day. I haven't even had the time (Heaven forbid!) to go down and check if any new Little Lights may have come in!
I promise to try to come in more often even if it is just to say "Hello" and "How the heck are y'all doing?"
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving May you have a bounty of Blessings!

Well, we could always start a thread on the added value that GLOWs bring to the HL line. . . .

Gee Dave, why didn't I think of that. Here I was naively assuming GLOWs are the root cause of forum participation. After all, Bob's lament comes after HL started making them. LOL!

JC, being the market share maven, no doubt has some stats or at least reasonable theories about forum participation.

Let's consider some other factors.

1. I just did a Google search on "Harbour Lights". Out of the top 40 results, the Collector Forums are missing. I'll suggest that is a primary factor - perhaps the top reason - why a person does not come to this site.

So how does a site cause itself to get listed with search engines? A good place to get info and answers is at Search Engine Submission Tips . There are other sites with answers - just feed the following phrase "How to get your site on search engines" into Google search and review results. The bottom line answer is $$ - if you want your site to become known, have a search engine submission budget.

2. If he hasn't done so already, I'll suggest JC run a study from actual login stats for info such as:
a) frequency of visits - how many people (not who) visit the forums N (2, 5, 10, etc.) times per day, week, month.
b) average amount of time over which a person visits and/or posts at least N times per week/month.
c) keep an eye on 'page views this month' (thus far for November it is 63,502). It would be interesting to see this graphed across a year to gauge which months typically have higher participation. (I believe the numbers are kept in the forum directory somewhere - look for a file or directory named 'Counter'.)
d) tell us your favorite Forum. Vote Here

3. I'll conjecture there are participation patterns that follow collecting patterns. It is not uncommon for someone really to get hooked on Harbour Lights Collecting, spend lots of time and money in the initial blush of enthusiasm, then taper off (or even get burnt out). We certainly have seen a few folks burst upon the scene here, post regularly for several months (occasionally for a year or two) and then disappear. On to the next big thing in their life.

4. Having tied ourselves to Harbour Lights, yes forum pariticipation is probably somewhat subject to enthusiasm about their models. As the company has shifted their focus from Collectibles to giftware, so the focus of their audience has changed. I'll conjecture that giftware collectors (small 'c') are not as fanatic or hobbyistic (?) as Limited Edition Collectors. And thus, not as likely to participate in discussions as frequently. See Dave, I knew I could work the G-word in here some how. :-)

5. Akuna Mattata - don't worry about forum participation. We've been going for several years now and there has always been a core group (not necessarily all the same people). The discussion ebbs and flows. Also, there are always lurkers about - at the time of this posting the FSB shows 36 Recent Visitors and about 1/3 of those are 'Guests'.

The real strength of the Forums is the sense of community established among folks over time, not new member churn (imo).

Broadcasting live from WFSB,
__
/im

Tim is right about the searching for the Forum. I did a MSN search for Harbour Lights and the forum came up as number 44. I think most people that use search engines only check the first page or two, I do. The Forum comes up near the end of the third page. I also feel that research is needed to make the forum come up on the first page on a Harbour Light search.
Also a catchy phrase at the introduction of the sponsored site would help.
Something like;
“Harbour Lights collecting information and support groups”
The description could read:
“A collectors forum for all aspects of Harbour light collecting.
Buying and selling. Find out the latest rumors. Get answers to
Your Harbour light questions form vintage collectors.

I feel that we need the passing by collectors to keep this forum alive. If we can't keep getting new collectors involved, this forum will just be a hand full of die heart collectors that never ask question because everything has all ready been discussed. We need new collectors to bring in fresh enthusiasium that we all once had when we first collected. Even though I don't participate very much in this forum, I read almost everything and I feel that I would have probably quit collecting Harbour Lights by now if it wasn't for this Forum. This Forum keeps me on top of the latest and many of the fellow collectors are good salesman. I buy a lot more Harbour Lights because of the great reviews that are given on this forum.

Can the GLOWs and bolster up the Limited Edition Line and I will become a flag waver again. Otherwise each new GLOW does nothing to increase my continued interest in Harbour Lights or this forum. Gold Lighthouses don't interest me, no excitement what so ever. Give me my limited lighthouses back!

Dropping our link to Harbour Lights hurt our membership? Who would have thought that? [tic]

imho

I wonder what the activity count is (#of hits)on the Harbour Lights Web page these days compared to what it was before the forum link was dropped ?

Anyone have the numbers ?

Forum participation seems to wax and wane. Unless there are new pieces to talk about, upcoming events, lighthouse trips scheduled or completed things tend to slow down. Sometimes it's nice to get a little breather. Gives us a chance to do some other things. Not a problem, imo.

One thing I can't figure out. Why do so many people register and never post? With the old format you didn't need to register just to read. Have things changed with the new software that you now must register to read?

No, you do not need to register to read the forums.

Some people who register may enter their email address incorrectly. That means they will never get the email with their password and if they try to register again, they can't use the username they first tried because the system prohibits duplicate usernames.

Of 1,093 Registered users, 244 have never posted. Some of these registered as far back as 1999.

BTW, the ideas for improving positions on Search Engines is good, but the pages are created dynamically. It may be possible to hack the Forum software and add a hidden metasearch keyword string.

I agree with Mombo, we will be okay. Of course we get a lot more to talk about when Harbour Lights tells us a bit of lighthouse to come. How can we gossip and chat without any thing to gossip and chat about? At least give us a little tib-bit to expand on.

Call me dumb, stupid or otherwise and color me naive, but for the life of me I can't figure out why so many people join the Forums and do not even take the 5 minutes that it takes to post to let us welcome them. Joining does nothing but add numbers. You can visit without joining so what are thes new members gaining. At least some of them join to sell on the Marketplace. What about the other 150 that have joined over the last 3 years and not done anything at all. I am still in utter confusement over these "new members".

Rich

It's quite possible that a feature of the new forum software could be limiting posts. When you arrive at the forums and scan down the center you will notice the column of "last posts". If this is all you scan you are potentially missing additional new topics. Unless you click on each individual forum you will not know what else is being discussed each day. I find myself doing this from time to time.

Almost every forum I've run across has lots of people who like to read but do not care to comment. This is not a reflection on others or the value of the Forums - its just the way folks are. If you just wanna read, that's OK by me. :-)

At the moment (about 6:50 Central Time 11/25) the 'recent visitors' listed at the top of the main forum page shows 62 members and 248 guests within just the day (actually 999 minutes.) Shucks thats probably about 1/4 the size of a Reunion. Seems like a good crowd to me - even if you don't hear from most of 'em. (Everybody reading this, wave to the lurkers. :-)

By the way - did you know you can click on the 'Recent Visitors' counter - it is a link. You'll see the most popular forums (below) and the top 25 most popular topics. Here is a shortcut to the link

Visitors Popularity Forum Name Category
64 19% The General Forum Harbour Lights
53 16% The Fog Signal Building Left Field
52 16% The Latest Models Collecting
47 14% The New Marketplace Collecting
41 12% By The Numbers Collecting
39 12% Wish List Harbour Lights
38 11% Lighthouse Postcards & Papers Lighthouses
35 10% Lighthouse Preservation & Fund Raising Lighthouses
34 10% Lighthouse Photography Lighthouses
32 9% The Secondary Market Collecting

I'm not exactly sure what folks feel is the real concern about membership. Nothing lasts forever - we've done pretty well over the years and I'm not sure there is cause for concern. We're practically got a monopoly on Harbour Lights - at least on-line.

Thanks for visiting,
__
/im

I'll be upgrading the software in the next couple of days. One of the features is a change in the "Today's Topics" button. Instead this will be "Topics Since Your Last Visit".

One of the ideas I've had for some time are 2-3 volunteers who will monitor the new member information, email a new member, welcoming them and perhaps suggesting what to post and where to post it - like "please let us know your favorite lighthouse by posting in the 'Lighthouse Forum'" and offering to help them with their posts or any problems.

Is this needed? Would it encourage greater participation if each new member got this kind of personal attention?

Perhaps other members of the 'Membership Committee' could contact older members who haven't posted in a while to encourage them to participate again.

Finally, I'm wondering if some sort of monthly drawing from among all those who posted in that calendar month would encourage participation. Perhaps we could provide a Harbour Lights LE each month.

I don't think we need any of that stuff John. As soon as you arrive the very first forum says, "Welcome Start Here". Some choose to do so, many do not. I think that's sufficient, imo.

I've emailed some folks who have been missing for a while in the past. Some I never heard back from.

Are you really looking for input on this one John? [tic]

It's a nice idea but imho it's not to encouraging when you are looking to offer rewards to boost participation.

How real are those numbers Tim mentions. If I go in and out of this forum 20 times a day does that count as one visit or 20?

Most everyone likes to be welcomed and acknowledged. I think a welcoming e-mail recognizing their registration and encouraging participation is good idea. I'm not sure about suggestions on what to post or where - some folks like to hang around and see whats going on before jumping in. So I'd go easy on this - maybe invite them to introduce themselves but also that it is OK just to lurk for a bit. No pressure.

One thing the new software has taken away is the Announcement or Mailbox icon/feature from each forum. We actually had some pretty good info in those. I recall doing an 'intro how to find stuff' note for the Welcome (or was it General?) forum. Kinda miss that feature. Maybe its still available but I haven't seen it in the CP.

As to Sean's question... the numbers are a direct copy from the page, so they're are real. But as to whether they are counting unique people or raw visits, I don't know; I will guess it is the latter. In my professional life we are faced with the same kind of questions in gathering usage stats for our portal at UW - to gather stats based on user ID is a v. resource intensive operation. The Page Views counter in the CP is probably accurate. But it could be easy enough to test - create a new topic in the Playroom and find out.

Looking at the admin view available on the link I referenced in above msg., one can see the forums and topics(!) that people are looking at - this includes Guest Users (and registered users who choose to keep their presence invisible - you know who you are :-). No cause for alarm, this is an 'admin only' function. Guest users are actually assigned an (anonymous) user name - for example I see a 'Guest1547'. I wonder if these represent a user count. I also wonder if the cookie(s) the forum sends allow the software to recognize an guest someone on their return and it retains their assigned name. (How does it know? The answer is IP number.) If so, it could be a counter for overall users which would mean some 1500+ users including non-registered guests. Just speculating here, but it makes sense.

Give away models? I'd rather see them auctioned off to support the CF. Use the money to pay Google or Yahoo to bump the Forums listing higher in search results.

T

OK... an update after doing a little digging. Contrary to my speculation(!) I now suspect the forum software is aware of individual usage, so the numbers available under 'recent visitors' is probably unique people rather than anonymous views. So the answer to Sean's question is... the tracking is by forums, so its not the number of times you go into the CF, but the frequency with which you go into different forums - given that, if you visit the FSB twenty times within a 999 minute period, it counts as one person for the 'recent visitors' counter. That would make the numbers more meaningful... I think. :-) That 999 minute period is a rolling period, its stats change each minute - which makes it a bit harder to get a handle on.

Still more info... in the 30 minutes before midnight, 19 different non-registered guests and 6 registered users took a look. So there is certainly more activity than meets the eye

I use to tell my teachers and instructors that all the time. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn`t.