What is wrong with this forum?

[Doug MacQueen]

When I first started reading postings on this forum I had noticed that activity would often be very anemic. Maybe my memory is off but it seems like nothing would post in over a months time. Because of this I decided to start posting and reacting to posts. To be fair there have also been periods where there was a good deal of activity. However the number of active contributors is actually very low. Why is this? I just posted a key which has now been viewed 500 times. I didnt make it and. I am surely not looking for a pat on the back because I bought it. But for a forum dealing with the many facets of antique locks and keys, getting zero feedback on the forum is in my mind very puzzling. Therefore I propose making the forum a pay to view forum. The thinking here is that because it cost you money you may feel a bit more inclined to participate.

[Gary Stephenson]

I pop in for a nosy every now and then for a catch up / nosy, and it can sometimes be a bit quiet. funnily enough I have just looked at your key post, I couldn't really see enough details on the picture to comment, and haven't done any blacksmithing / forge welding, so I didn't comment

[Doug MacQueen]

Gary as you are one of the few active members this posting is not really for you. But without any feedback there is no incentive to post more pictures of the key. Or posting much of anything for that matter.

[Huw Eastwood]

I agree with you there gents, things have definitely changed noticeably on here.


Doug, regarding your lovely key I also wondered exactly how they were done, and my guess is that most like that were built up from individual pieces and joined, probably 4 pieces(?)in the case of your example there, and as to joint method that would definitely make sense. Also wouldn't rule out the use of stepped and/or male/female type joints,with pins/rivets filed off flush, then sanded and polished etc.


Regarding the forum Brian made announcements a while back that new membership was changing to fee based paid membership to join HoLRSG, to include forums access.
He also announced the change to the use of real names of members only, no nicknames, alias,etc and also the requirement of a personal passport style photo to appear instead of avatars.


When i think back to the years i was team leader and then administrator, it was a constant buzz of activity with dozens of posts a day and a constant stream of new members. I'd get frequent messages from members from all over the world regarding safes, locks, questions on machining and brazing, machinery etc, sometimes even in foreign languages I'd have to translate to read !
All that seems a world away from the one new post a month that sadly seems to have become the norm lately.


Can't help thinking that the new membership fee plus the use of real names and photos might be off putting for many potential new members, especially on an open public forum.
Also, i will never understand how Brian and the whole HoL 'machine' can be so closely involved/linked with the MLA and yet there be no MLA members contributing on here....

Plus, although i have been out of the working trade and out of the MLA for many years now i still occasionally come into contact with members from time to time. It totally amazes me beyond belief when they proceed to tell me they have a lifelong interest in antique locks and safes, but again strangely they are never active on here...
Anyway you pretty much said what I've been thinking for a long time Doug, so tbh i'm glad it's not just me!

[Doug MacQueen]

Huw to address the requirement of putting my mug on here makes some sense and makes no sense. We all know what Tom Gordon looks like. And why do we know that. Because he has been one of the better contributors to the forum. For those that never contribute who cares what they look like. Is there a concern of bots infiltrating the forum. Hell at this point I would welcome them. The point is that if a viewer stops by every so often and sees nothing there, at some point they quit looking. Yes the forum is great for researching locks and keys, but that is only because someone took the effort to post something. I have noticed a practice on at least one forum where participation was mandated. That is something to consider.

[Huw Eastwood]

Doug, i replied to your initial post but i'm not the person to aim any further considerations or questions at. I have no idea about the risk of bots or mandatory participation whatsoever.
it is Brian's bandwidth and money that this forum consumes and ultimately he makes all the rules and decisions.

[Doug MacQueen]

Huw I am directing my post to anyone who will listen and hopefully contribute something. So far still waiting for anyone but not including you. Sorry for the confusion. Of course it is Brians forum. However without the few heavy contributors the forum itself can hardly be called a forum. Maybe that is how he likes it.

[Huw Eastwood]

Logging in problems don't help either.
When i log in on ipad, the initial screen doesn't present the 'remember me' box to tick.
So you log in, all seems good, but as soon as i click on a thread to reply or start a new thread, it instantly says you are not logged in and have to re-log in yet again.

Logging in for the second time does show the 'remember me' box, but despite ticking it and continuing every time, the site, system or something has already logged you out again without realising it, necessitating a total repeat of the same over and over.

Also, long posts get timed out like I remember it was a decade ago when using old windows based PC's, and this also happens frequently and also necessitates a tedious repeat of the process.

The recent two long threads I posted took hours and tediously required repeatedly logging back in and ticking the box only for it to repeatedly log you out.

[mercury]

Hi Doug,


This is the first time I’ve logged in or posted in a long while.


I remember when I first joined here, back when Paul was running the forum, there was quite a lot of activity, especially for a forum catering to a relatively obscure topic.


Whilst I don’t have much of a collection to share here, I used to read the forum several times a week and reply to threads where I had something to contribute or questions to ask.


It seems that new posts gradually became less and less frequent, and the quieter the forum became, the less people were logging in and it was a vicious cycle whereby eventually there were long periods with no new posts.


I kept checking in sporadically, would sometimes notice a wave of activity, but it seemed to inevitably drop off again.


Eventually it got to the point where I was only looking here a few times per year.


I can’t think of anything that went wrong, or changed that might’ve driven this slow spiral into inactivity, but I’ve seen several forums struggle and often fail to recover from a serious and extended period of inactivity.


I’m not sure that charging money for forum access would increase user participation. If user participation was already healthy, people might pay to participate, but if the forum is mostly inactive then the only reason I can think of that people would pay for is the access to the information that is here already.


I have one idea that might bring new members here, and hopefully build up participation to a level that is high enough that people stick around.


There is a significant interest in locks on YouTube.


Perhaps some YouTube videos that demonstrate the features and functions of some interesting antique locks, that mention the forum would reach a new audience?


For those who saw them, the videos Paul made demonstrating and explaining the Hobbs Parautoptic triple acting transmutation bank lock, the Chubb No. 3 bank lock are two great examples of what I’m suggesting.


It would be great to see this forum emerge from hibernation, and I for one would certainly participate if it does.


Best regards,


Mark