Stick With One Style

Written by: Paul Omer

Skin Chooser, a very common and popular feature for many forums. If you are a phpBB user, it will require a modification. For the vBulletin users, it comes standard. Many find this to be a great and valuable feature, but I have my complaints and concerns, so before you go and make 10 different styles for your forum, let's stop to consider some of the things that come along with it.

More options is better, right?
In most cases, yes, but in this case, it reflects more of your member's attitude. It may not be such a good idea to give your user's the option to actually change the look of your forum. Your forum should have that special look, that no one wants to change. If your users are going around changing the style all the time, then it may mean that none of them look all that nice. There are those obviously that just like to change things up a bit, maybe too much actually. Remember that you can't please everyone, but you should try and make that one killer style that everyone likes. I am also not saying that slight alterations to the look, or added appearances for special occasions is a bad thing. A lot of times people will put up a different set of smilies for some special occasion, which is all well and good, but way different than changing the entire color scheme or style of your forum. Sometimes giving your community every little thing they want can come back to bite you in the butt. This is one of them. It's your forum, keep it that way. If they don't like it for what it is, then you don't want that member any way.

Your community should want normality.
Users will come to see your community's look and color scheme as it's overall personality, and this connection is important. It will help people become more attached to it. A community who wants to be able to change styles all the time don't REALLY like the main point of the forum now do they? A community who is critical of any changes made is a good thing. It's a sign that they truly respect and care for how things are done. I have been a part of some forums that had a community that always wanted something changed. Usually, the members did not stay around very long. While other forums had members that were so critical, any little change made was practically reviewed by each member. May seem a bit over done, but these are the kinds of communities that hold together for years.

How multiple styles affect mod installation.
This is over looked sometimes, but a no brainer when you think about it. For most modifications, you would have to alter each individual style in order for them all to be up to date. This can multiply your work load to the point where you dread installing even a single mod, and it is definitely more important to have some nice mods, then the ability to simply change around the style.

If your community is going to stick around, they're going to have to be the kind of people to grow attached to your forum, and that includes the look. Kids who want to constantly change the style all the time, won't stick around even if you have 137 to choose from, so don't waste your time trying to please them in that regard. Unless of course this is a school related forum, or a forum that simply deals with kids often. Still, do your best to stick with one style. One great style, is better than endless mediocre ones.

Grammar: Why It Is Important

Written by: Paul Omer

Aw man! Do I have to!? I'm in a hurry, can't you see? Well yes, I can. We all can for that matter. We can all plainly see that you are in too big of a hurry to even slow down and type out your words correctly. Grammar is crucial in everything we do. It's too bad so many don't realize this. A lot depends on the age of the individual of course, the average teen who is used to texting all the time rarely uses proper English, but rather the "text" form, also considered "L33T", which derives from the word "elite" then changed to "leet". The "3"s take the place of the "E"s in a lot of cases. Regardless of what you call it, or where it comes from, it still looks terrible when made into a post. Let's take a look at a couple of examples.

Member 1
For some styles, it's better to use a small avatar. Usually 80x80 works well.

Member 2
usually its bettr 2 use smaller avatrs liek 80 80 on small stlys

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Member 1's post is much nicer to read. Not to mention more educated and sophisticated. Many will say something along the lines of, "Well I got the point across, every one knows what I said". Yes indeed they did. They also know that you don't care about making a quality post, or making it easier for the person reading it to understand. Do you know how long it has taken me sometimes to even comprehend a 5 word post? Trust me, a lot longer than necessary. In a way, it could easily be proven that the time "saved" when typing quickly and sloppily, is a lot of times lost as soon as it takes the reader 10 minutes to decipher it. Forget grammatical mistakes, I've seen some people leave out an entire word in a simple sentence pretty much every time they posted. I've had to fill in the blanks so many times it isn't funny, and even once I found what I thought was the correct word to fill in that spot, sometimes the sentence STILL did not make any sense.


Why would I point this out so much? Simple. Posts are what forums are made of. They are generally the entire means of conversation, aside from the occasional PM conversation. Every active member on the forum posts, and every post made by said member is a reflection of that person's personality. When you have a member that takes their time and puts thought into their post, it shows, and it never goes unnoticed, by either the other members, or the Staff. As an Admin of many previous forums, I can tell you with a certainty that the Staff greatly appreciates the member that takes their time and makes quality posts. A forum filled with "lololololo"s are NOT appealing in any way, and if your forum is full of them, it's time to make some changes. Such content (if it can truly be called content) is not going to help your forum succeed and prosper. I can tell you that if I came across a forum (as I have many times), that was nothing but useless "yeah"s and "lol"s, I would immediately surf my way to another site with all haste. It takes many things done well to better ensure a forum's success, grammar should not in any way be over looked. The Staff on a forum are the primary example setters. What they do and encourage will rub off on the other members. Your Staff members should always uphold the laws of English, if they don't, no one will.

This does not mean you punish all members who don't have the best of typing, and certainly not the ones who have the occasional typo. We all make mistakes, but posts like Member 2's should be called on if continued with no signs of improvement or any efforts of improvement. Don't be afraid to call on your members over such a subject. Your forum's reputation is at stake, and every time someone takes one look at your forum and turns and goes the other way, it's one less member that you could have had. Something else to take into consideration, is the occasional foreigner who does not understand English as well as others. Many of them use translators, and with translators there can be confusion. You shouldn't look down on such people, at least they try, and in the end, that's what you need to look for in your members. Grammar goes so much deeper than the obvious appearance, it many of times reflects the person's overall character, and their respect for the forum, and even themselves. People who do not care about what their grammar looks like will not be considered intelligent by the other members. Seriously. Why would you listen to what they have to say as soon as you see that they can't even spell correctly? You begin to question their overall intelligence. I'm not saying that anyone who doesn't type just perfectly all the time is an idiot, it's just not a good habit to become slack in, and don't be surprised if you are warned or called on all the time. It's understandable, and in some ways should be expected.

When done correctly, proper grammar is a win for all sides. The individual members, the Staff, and the forum's overall professional appearance. Don't let it fall by the wayside. Take the extra 2 minutes to type it out correctly. You'll look smarter, and even feel more accomplished. Can you imagine what it would have been like to read this article if I had typed it out like Member 2? Yeah, exactly. You have the entire English language laid out before you on your keypad. Use it, don't let it go to waste.

Why Forums?

Written by: Paul Omer

FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, and countless other social networks have stormed the internet over the past few years, becoming the most widely used forms of internet communication. For every day use, E-Mail has become a thing of the past, as people prefer the "right now" side of social networks. They have become so popular that "FaceBook" was the most spoken word in 2009, with "Twitter" being third, and why wouldn't they be popular? They're fast, easy to use, and a great way to find long lost friends all the while finding new ones to chat with, but how versatile are they really, and just how efficient are theyreally when it comes to discussion and growing closer together?

A downside to social networks
The typical person on FaceBook will get up in the morning, or whenever they are bored, and send a quick text to a buddy of theirs, usually consisting of the words, "Sup?". The friend will reply with, "Eating". Another scenario would be for someone to get up in the morning and try to get in touch with 10 different friends in 10 - 15 minutes. This process continues until the extra time has passed away, and nothing has been accomplished, and nothing has been learned. The two people know nothing more about one another, but has simply used the other to pass the time while getting ready to go to work/school. They have nothing stimulating their mind, and nothing to comprehend throughout the work/school day. This is of course not all that social networks have to offer, as said before, these sites have some wonderful upsides to them, but have you ever stopped to consider that there might be abetter way to talk and stay in touch with friends?

You could ask ten people on the side of the street if they knew what a "forum" was, and at least nine of them would say "no". Forums (at least for some age groups) are unknown to most, considering they've never been presented with such an idea. Social networks are all they know, and therefore all they use. When you stop to consider however, all of the possibilities with a forum, social networks begin to fade away in terms of usability and versatility. When you get right down to it, the only thing that social networks provide that forums don't, is the ability to search someone, and find an old classmate or friend that moved away. All the mean while, social networks lack so much that forums have to offer. You may be asking, what do forums have to offer that's so special? Let's look at it.

Discussion is the forum's most prominent feature
Forums offer that unmatchable ability to create tight-knit communities that can last years. This is created by the openness that they have when it comes to discussion. Unlike E-Mail or social networks, forums are generally used to discuss things in the open for the other members to see. This of course encourages said members to become interested, and respond themselves, thus making the discussion even more deep and interesting. Forums can be about anything, and I mean anything. You can have a forum on one specific topic, or have one that covers everything under the sun. Some forums are small, while others are large.

Addition features are plentiful
To leave it at that and say that forums are only good for open conversation would be unfair. Because forums have so much potential, there have been hundreds of modifications made for forums. The modifications can be installed right into the forum, giving it a whole new feature that causes the forum to function better, and helps make the forum more appealing to passer bys. Modifications can be anything. Some people use their social network to play minigames and such with their friends and earn rewards. This is also possible through forums. Arcade modifications are quite popular, and there are thousands of games to choose from, giving your community endless fun.

Privacy and security
To some this makes no difference, but there's always the privacy issue to consider with social networks. At one point, 29,000 sex offenders were found on MySpace. You can hide your information for the most part, but when it comes to privacy and security, forums are the way to go. With extensive permission settings, forums can be completely out in the open, or so hidden it's simply impossible to do anything on them, IF you can even find them.
Ever wonder how Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines find websites? It's all made possible through Bots (also known as Spiders), that "crawl" around your site or forum finding content. A Bot that comes from Google will bring back content from your site, so that when keywords matching your forum are searched, your forum can then be found more easily. The Bots however can be turned off at any time. Causing all information and content to remain hidden, making it impossible for anyone surfing on a search engine to find your forum.

Real life instances and scenarios
Versatility is a key word when talking about forums. The possibilities are endless with them. Whereas social networks are good for pretty much only one or two things, forums can be used for many different scenarios. Here's a couple of examples of real people effectively using forums.

I have had a forum for nearly 2 years now. My friends and I have varying schedules, so it is a nice place to communicate where we can all chat without actually being online at the same time.

So I have to do a project for school, that I have to do to graduate. The basic idea of it is that it has to benefit the community or the school. I was thinking of ideas, and one of them was to suggest the idea that each teacher in the school keep their own forum, so that kids could ask about homework and such while they're doing it, and don't have to wait until school the next day to ask. The general idea would be that each teacher keep their own forum, which they're admin at, and each class that they teach has a section, and all their students could join the forum.

Of couse this has been done for colleges as well, and is just as effective. The process is quick, effective, and organized. This is something that the typical social network could never do to the same degree.

There for the save
Forums can also contribute to internet surfers in need of a quick answer. How many times have you searched for some info on something on Google, and a forum was picked up that was at the time discussing the exact question you asked? I would say many, maybe even more than you realize. Forums have that knowledge base side to them. They can range from anything, from fish, to astronomy, to origami even. Searching for some info on new TVs may land you in a forum all about TVs, and the upsides and downsides to various models, with other people's opinions all right there in the same location. Social networks simply can not do this.

Stepping back and looking at all the aspects from a distance, you can easily begin to see how forums are one of the greatest things the internet has ever known. Sharing photos, playing games, talking to friends (privately as well through the use of Private Messages, and instantly by use of Chatboxes), in-depth discussions, and a path to finding a quick answer, forums are extremely useful to to the tech geek and to the average Joe. It doesn't matter who you are, a forum can be a very useful tool, with a touch of fun mixed in. Some may think I am pounding on social networks and calling them useless, that's not at all true. I am forever grateful for social networks. I became so when I found a long lost friend by searching for them on Google, and finding their Twitter account. We were able to once again be in contact with one another. This isn't hard to believe, social networks are great for that kind of thing. Just don't let the advantages of a forum slip your mind.