Would like to hear your thoughts about possibly adding a few more forum sections..

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I like the idea of trying to increase traffic, but please do not lose focus of what The Bench is all about, the premier trading site on the net.

If you clarify or rename some of the existing non-sports categories and promote them more, then that would be great.

Just be sure that you staff the MOD group appropriately so that you can review the influx of new members and potential scammers. The number one priority of the site should be a safe place for our members to trade, sell and be part of a safe online community.

I also collect shot glasses from all of the different cities that I visit.

Thanks and good luck. Let me know what I can do to help.

That's the plan. Rename some of the existing forums and possible add one or 2 more in. Just want it to stand out a little more, and will promote it more as well. The Bench main focus will always be sports cards, that won't change.
 
Go for it. I don't see how adding any new forums could be a bad thing. Comics, coins, toys....everybody collects something!

Any of those gaming cards (Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, D&D, etc) I think would go over well.
 
You can look at forums and new threads/replies to see what is most popular. Everything collectible has a place, but combining them all together isn't necessarily going to change things. On most of the forum sites, I stick to the 3-4 forums/threads that interest me. I rarely look at other areas of any of the sites. I don't really view the non-collectible forums much, if ever.

The other problem is engagement. The baseball forums seem to rule across the sites. That is not to say there isn't interest in other areas, but if someone is essentially posting for themselves, the forum will be unpopular.

I don't know how it affects the running of a site (such as cost, available space, time to create/maintain, etc), but I guess it can't hurt to add other forums/subforums to drive interest, engagement and membership if people are going ti use those additional forums.
 
I'm only a card collector, but I can't see any reason not to add other forums from a user experience. I can't speak to the cost in time or money, but if you think it's a good idea, go for it!
 
I like the idea, but it could open things up a little too much and make it difficult to find the things you want. Plus I think moderators would have to be really active to avoid the site turning into Craigslist and filled with junk posts.
 
Is there a way to set up a site that is accessible to any member
who wants to delete old threads. I have tons that I would like to
get rid of.
Just a thought. Thanks.
 
You can look at forums and new threads/replies to see what is most popular. Everything collectible has a place, but combining them all together isn't necessarily going to change things. On most of the forum sites, I stick to the 3-4 forums/threads that interest me. I rarely look at other areas of any of the sites. I don't really view the non-collectible forums much, if ever.

The other problem is engagement. The baseball forums seem to rule across the sites. That is not to say there isn't interest in other areas, but if someone is essentially posting for themselves, the forum will be unpopular.

I don't know how it affects the running of a site (such as cost, available space, time to create/maintain, etc), but I guess it can't hurt to add other forums/subforums to drive interest, engagement and membership if people are going ti use those additional forums.
This, exactly. One person repeatedly posting their comics isn't going to help anything.

One thing I absolutely hated about the "new" forums presently, is that I can't BLOCK the other forums. Now you're going to add more junk forums I don't care about to my feed?

IMO, if you add more junk forums, you need to return my ability to block those from coming up when I click "New posts."
 
This, exactly. One person repeatedly posting their comics isn't going to help anything.

One thing I absolutely hated about the "new" forums presently, is that I can't BLOCK the other forums. Now you're going to add more junk forums I don't care about to my feed?

IMO, if you add more junk forums, you need to return my ability to block those from coming up when I click "New posts."

I will look to see if there is a way that can be add in.
 
We were able to exclude forums prior to Mike's update. I think it was custom written by Mark Wing.

It was something that was on my "to-do" list and I just never got around to doing it. That said, it's probably something that is super easy to code. In fact, I'd be quite surprised to find out that there isn't an add-on for this that already exists.
 
Though I do not or have not collect much at all any more, I am for anything that continues this great hobby that has been around for as long as I have been alive.

I have no idea if new forums will help or not, but I have always made threads that were not sports card related for trade/sale.

I do have tons of the newer Pokemon stuff and this thread just made me go to the section to see what is available to buy/sell/trade.
 
I would also be intereted in a section of published materials. With the exception of local teams or players, I want to focus on cards and figurines. A section for each major figurine such as Starting Lineups and other ones will help.
 
Did you get my feedback via the PM I received from you a couple of weeks ago? I just followed that message up and would appreciate a reply to it when you have time, thank you.
 
Maybe some thought to having any section broken down into years from and to. Thus collectors of vintage, modern, autos, etc. could look for their specific interest that way and by topic.
 
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