All it takes is one person to answer a thread that is a year old and dormant to get a discussion going again, even when the OP is long gone. I've seen it happen multiple times. Then you end up with some good content that needs to be moved to the model specific thread
Exactly. Many Ask FC threads, if left open, become not only chatty off topic threads, but you also get some good info in them that many people miss because it's posted in an Ask FC thread instead of the vape thread. The same applies (and even more of a maintenance headache for us) to the popular suggestion of sub topics in vape threads.
Ask FC threads are left open if the topic is of general interest. 'What should I buy' threads are closed when the OP gets sufficient info or they're forgotten/abandoned.
The format and structure of this forum has been shaped through the years and may not make sense to newcomers, but has been thought through and works for the amount of staff we have.
Yes, we seem to get quite a lot of advice from new members on how to run a forum the 'right way'. But we not only have 7 years of FC experience to judge by, some of us have staff experience on other forums as well. FC is not a finished product, as far as the format, but we won't ever be what EVERYONE wants. The changes we do make will be carefully considered, and they'll be made with management needs in mind, as well as what members want.
The forum can't be just 'ask us what you want as far as content and format and we'll provide'. We have to be able to manage it as well. I'm sure some have all the answers to that as well-usually 'just add more staff to deal with it'. That solution brings more problems for us though, so it's a case of 'you can't always get what you want'. Everyone, members and staff alike, have to put up with compromises.
The forum wasn't started as a crusade or a business opportunity. It was more of a whim and a 'why not?'. The lack of a decent forum dedicated to vapor, along with a growing vaporizer industry, made it easy for the forum to grow and be successful. It also takes some luck and other intangibles to make a successful forum. I've seen quite a few fail to get off the launching pad, and even the best and most popular forums can go wrong and fail. That was the case with the forum at Marijuana.com, and I saw it from the perspective of both a member and a mod. A few years ago it was the #1 mj site for traffic, and the forum was booming. Changing the format/software, along with greed from new owners due to the multi-million dollar value it had become, ran off virtually all the long time members who were the foundation of the forum, and it became a ghost town. It's not nearly as valuable a commodity as it used to be. FC, OTOH, has a ton of traffic, but only has 9 sponsors, and no ads like you have to put up with on other sites. vtac has had many offers from companies wanting to be sponsors and/or pay for advertising. I, for one, am thankful that he hasn't gone for the money, and FC is much more of a non-profit, public service forum than a business. People also need to keep in mind that the forum isn't a democracy. It's owned by one person, and he could shut it down tomorrow if he wanted. So maybe we should all be glad for what we do have, forum wise, instead of focusing on the fact that it's not an ideal format.
(or not...)
