Relatively low traffic

[Melaniep]

I don't know if this helps at all, but I read the forum several times most days but I only post MAYBE once a week. I would bet that there are other members who rarely (or never) post, but still read the forums regularly.

EDIT: Just noticed my post count is up to 80 and I know I haven't been a member than many weeks, so more than one post a week but... You get the idea.

[StephenKingman]

I don't know if this helps at all, but I read the forum several times most days but I only post MAYBE once a week. I would bet that there are other members who rarely (or never) post, but still read the forums regularly.

EDIT: Just noticed my post count is up to 80 and I know I haven't been a member than many weeks, so more than one post a week but... You get the idea.

Forums do seem to attract a range of users, from the one hit wonders to the regulars to the ones who drifted away or, as you say, the occasional posters. We do encourage every member to get involved. Certainly this place was very very quiet when i first joined but its quite busy now and we always want new members. A forum is nothing without the members, so everyone who contributes, be it a post a day or a post a year, is much appreciated

[Butterbescotch]

The forum don't have a regular discussion of books. So maybe that's it.

[Aileenhu]

Sometimes people forget the site's name.

I did that for a while (funny to say when I had 50 posts). I thought it was .com instead of .org . That was totally my problem.

Oh, and I also have a habit of joining a forum, then not going on for sometime, because I belong to too many (>.<). Still, I think it's mainly the spammers and the signatures.

Ail.

[Butterbescotch]

As for me, I have visited this site numerous times but I bailed for the reason that the discussion is not really often. I don't want to just chit chat, I can do it in other places. I want to discuss books.

[VerdeMar]

In my opinion if a chatbox could be incorporated for the forum members would be a good way to communicate. Many forums have one and theyre free! x)

[StephenKingman]

In my opinion if a chatbox could be incorporated for the forum members would be a good way to communicate. Many forums have one and theyre free! x)

I think that would cut off the community feel to the forum, though, having lots of private conversations going on about different topics in the background when the point of these forums is to include everyone to partake in the forums and threads.

[VerdeMar]

I mean a public chatroom. : )

[StephenKingman]

^Its a nice idea, but in my opinion it would divert too many people from the main threads and forums. The purpose of the forum is to generate book discussion, with a chatroom more people would want to head there and talk about all sorts rather than books and the threads would be underused. Anyway, we have a sort of chatroom- The Chat Thread in Off Topic, many a philosophical debate has been held there

[VerdeMar]

I do not think that would be bad for the forum threads, in my opinion it would have the opposite effect by instigating people to post and be active. The forum threads are a passive conversation comparing to a public chatbox. In other forums in which I am member the chatbox attracts more people and make them stay online and post.

[StephenKingman]

I do not think that would be bad for the forum threads, in my opinion it would have the opposite effect by instigating people to post and be active. The forum threads are a passive conversation comparing to a public chatbox. In other forums in which I am member the chatbox attracts more people and make them stay online and post.

But then what is the difference between the forum and the chatbox? I think there are thousands of chatrooms out there for people who want to chat about different topics, and it satisfies their need for organic and easygoing chat, wheres a book forum has threads which stick to a specific title or author and fans (or detractors) can discuss it and it can last as a serious topic for weeks or even months, encouraging new members to add their opinions and keep the flow going whereas a chatbox is hard to stay on topic with. That is my opinion anyway.

[VerdeMar]

You got a point in that.

[CuppaTea]

I'm very late for this party. Just thinking low traffic could be a positive thing. I found the forum, posted a couple of times, then went off reading for a few months. Came back the other day because the web master bot sent an email inviting me to make a nomination for the book of the month section. Yes, discussion there never really gets off the ground. Don't know how to improve that but obviously many more people are reading than posting.

[Scott]

@StephenKingMan

I just want back up Krae855 query. When I search a book it shows up different threads which may or may not have relation to the keyword. I even narrowed the my search by specifying a thread and only checking the "topics" on display result but it seems to use "post".

Please look to it.

I have tried the search function for a few different books and it seems to work better when you limit the search to a thread, the post option will throw up any post with the word in it which is not very helpful, i am aware its not that extensive but if you cannot find a specific book or author after using the search thread, then you can always use the forums to ask our very knowledgeable members here about the book or author you are looking for, it may jog some memories about old threads.

After reading these concerns, I have just addressed this issue regarding the function search: Search Problems Addressed

[StephenKingman]

^ Thanks for the help, Scott, that seems to make the searches a lot faster