Drumming Up More Members For Ab

[naomi24]

Has admin considered advertising and letting the world know we’re here?

[maggiebee]

Drumming Up More Members for AB

I'm afraid I can't see/read anything on this post that would encourage new members to Join. A good post ruined IMO

[pimplyteen]

How can it possibly be a good post when you can't see or read anything that would make a difference?

[gness]

It was a good post that turned into a ruined thread, Pimplyteen.

[pimplyteen]

Looking at it, the question is directed for admin, and there's no reply.

[maggiebee]

You've just proved my point pimplyteen! Instead of coming up with ideas to support Naomi's suggestion which could have been taken on board, idea shot down in flames. What would you suggest could be done?

[anneasquith]

An excellent point pimp. Maybe the question will be addressed after the weekend

[naomi24]

I have no idea whether or not admin will respond but the responses - and any ideas they may want to consider - are there if they want to read them.

[pimplyteen]

Maggiebee AB is all about advertising, that's their income is it not? I'm to believe that income is now falling to a dangerous level hence the donate request.

To suggest advertising AB, would in my view look silly and without doubt unaffordable in any case at this moment in time.

I've not really any idea how you could increase footfall on AB but even if you did would that really increase revenue?
My only short term solution at the moment until things pick up would be to do away with the donate idea and request a yearly fee from members.
I have no idea of how many members AB has but a £10 yearly fee from everyone is not going to break anyone's bank at the moment even in these hard times, the latter might be small but its more than they are getting from members at the moment.
At a later date or even now you could also charge a fee for each post you answer ( a little like a 5/6p text) I don't mean for every answer or response on that post, just when you first enter the OP. Now i await to be pulled to bits :))

[Khandro]

//How can it possibly be a good post when you can't see or read anything that would make a difference?//

Not true, I made a suggestion 21:51 Fri.

[pimplyteen]

^ Yes i see it, but i see the same on other sites. But would i be right in saying that these sort of sites have to be very careful what they allow you to say?

[MissTerious]

A very good idea, but would like to see better management and moderation before paying to use AB. I did donate and had hoped it helped towards getting AB management upping their game, but very few donated. I have a life outside of AB.

[pimplyteen]

You are not going to get people to donate when they know they can still use it for nothing I'm afraid, the donating bar says so.

[jazzgirl]

I rarely participate in chatty posts. I found this site by accident when searching for a crossword answer years back. In view of all the negative comments here and elsewhere on the site, I think that admin. must be feeling very despondent. I don't know the answer, sadly

[Lie-in King]

Typed this out a couple of days ago, been sitting on it, have dithered about posting, but ok...

It's a bit of a disjointed rant, sorry.

Ever wondered why a new user doesn't come back to their 1st question?

A big problem is that there are far too many "comedians" here that think they're **oh, so witty** when responding to a newbie with a question that might (with some desperate shoe-horning) just fit into their "Carry On..." mindset. Oh, it might *actually* be a genuine query, but why would that matter when instead of trying to help, they can show off their shining wit?

It's utterly pathetic to watch & those AB'ers should, frankly, know better but can never control their moronic tendencies.

I despair at the way long-established AB'ers constantly run the site down, creating the very threads that a newbie might look at & think "Not for me, thank you...", all the while being unable to see that it's them causing the problems. "Can't be my fault, he/she started it, waaaahhhh, not fair, I want everything my way & sod everyone else".

You all want to be treated as adults, so start bloody well acting like adults; for a start, stop whining about the Mods - suck it up when a post or thread disappears & it upsets you *simply because* you like watching cyber-bloodletting or you're annoyed that you didn't get to see the punches thrown. You know who you are & it's puerile. Oh, & the never-ending wailing about "that Mod only does it because they don't like that poster"? Absolute nonsense. The Eds are far better than most give them credit for & wouldn't tolerate such behaviour. It's noticeable that those moaning about Mods are those more likely to conveniently "forget" the rules.

Moving on... when the "Beta" version of the site was being trialled, all of the banned users' posts vanished, exactly as it should be. Unfortunately, the site came back online with the original database & all of the offensive drivel is still there. I pointed it out to the Eds at the time, but heigh-ho, that came to naught. That crap is still viewable & then you get those that ask "What happened to BannedIdiot, I liked them", which never helps, but those threads keep coming & they *never* go well... Moving on...

...Banned should mean exactly that. Come back with a *provable* new name & expect to go asap. This needs to be tightened up by the Mods & Eds. There are people on here that have blatantly broken the "no more than one username" rule, keeping the others in reserve *simply because they know they're going to be suspended/banned*. Enough. Ban every iteration they come up with & stop them from adding their garbage & preventing the site from moving on to whatever it might evolve into. Give it a bloody chance.

All of the above will, IMO, be reason enough for new members to turn away & look elsewhere.

The good & genuine people here far outnumber those that treat the site as their personal playground for mischief-making. Let's not allow that minority to ruin it for the rest of us. You never know what you've got until it's gone.

Yeah, sorry - but not really.

[pimplyteen]

I would think many have used it for crosswords in the past (free) there's not to many things free now. I'm afraid sooner or later AB will need to take a gamble because either way it could end the same.

[MissTerious]

I know pimply. But as a short term measure it could at least have paid for some help in improving the site. If the site doesn't improve it will just collapse.

[jazzgirl]

Very well said Lie-in-King

[barry1010]

I agree, LiK. I cannot understand why people who hate this site so much and constantly complain about the moderation are still here, day in and day out. There are plenty of other free sites they can use.

[Bobbisox1]

L.I.K that was a well written piece , thank you , I understand

[pimplyteen]

I'm going to leave it now, that's the best i can come up with. But before i go i will just say that people pay out for monthly phones, Sky, BBC.