Moderator Johanna Posted June 6 Moderator Report Posted June 6 How can I encourage members to log in while they are viewing the forum? I can make the threads "members only" but that would wipe out our Google search referrals. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them! Thanks Quote You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. - Mark Twain
AlZilla Posted June 6 Report Posted June 6 2 hours ago, Johanna said: How can I encourage members to log in while they are viewing the forum? I can make the threads "members only" but that would wipe out our Google search referrals. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them! Thanks Allowing only logged in members to view pictures is one I see. Most of the time, I go looking elsewhere for what I want. Maybe someone would sponsor a monthly or quarterly giveaway to members who have logged in during a given time span. Quote “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire “Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.” - Aristotle
Northmount Posted June 6 Report Posted June 6 Limit the number of posts that can be seen in a thread to maybe 2 or 3. If they want more, login. Previous versions a few years ago wouldn't let you see pictures unless you were logged in. Maybe still a good idea even though AlZilla says he doesn't stick around to login. I stay logged in. Recommend members stay logged-in. Quote
AlZilla Posted June 7 Report Posted June 7 There's always that silly "Log In With Google" thing. I don't know what that entails and I never use it, but most people don't have my visceral hatred of big tech and tracking. That might get some people logged in. Quote “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire “Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.” - Aristotle
Members Mulesaw Posted June 7 Members Report Posted June 7 I don't always log in, but that is because I access from a shared computer on the ship, and if it is just a quick look, then I don't want to risk that someone else accidentally messes anything up and it looks like I am the culprit. Often I see new members using phrases like: "long time lurcher, finally decided to join". So apparently being able to visit the site and get a feel for the place is what attracts a lot of people. Can you make the "most online" in "Member statistics"to only count logged in members instead of all visitors? Maybe that can nudge people to participate. Or make a "number of members visited in the last 24 hours". People might look at the most online and think that there is plenty of activity, so I don't really need to participate. But the last few days that figure was up to 7200 (or thereabouts), and my guess is that a lot of those were robots. Another idea could be to show a "forced" commercial when you have been on the site for 1 minute, and then again after 5 minutes. Kind of like on Youtube. The difference here is that if you are logged in, you won't get those. It could perhaps generate some revenue for you/the site, and it could be sufficiently annoying to get people to log in. It would still leave the forum accessible to all people curious, so anyone visiting once or twice probably wouldn't bother to join, but if you end up visiting more, then it might get people to consider joining faster than today. I have absolutely no idea if that sort of thing is possible, and how to program it. Brgds Jonas Quote
Contributing Member friquant Posted June 7 Contributing Member Report Posted June 7 On 6/6/2026 at 1:03 PM, Johanna said: How can I encourage members to log in while they are viewing the forum? I can make the threads "members only" but that would wipe out our Google search referrals. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them! Thanks I'm curious, what is the underlying goal here? Quote friquant. Like a frequent, piquant flyer. Blog: Choosing a Motor for your Industrial Sewing Machine
Contributing Member fredk Posted June 8 Contributing Member Report Posted June 8 Its an eternal problem with all websites I'm on a plastic modelling website which has as of now 39,425 members, 71 members logged on (of which only about 20 are actually posting anything), and 13,730 'guests'. 71 out of 39,425 = 0.18%, 20 active out of that 39,425 = 0.05% By restricting, say, the viewing of pictures, viewing a certain number of posts, accessing certain areas or being able to make postings in a thread may encourage more people to join and log in and current members to log on Quote Al speling misteaks aer all mi own werk..
Contributing Member fredk Posted June 8 Contributing Member Report Posted June 8 On 6/7/2026 at 10:04 AM, Mulesaw said: Another idea could be to show a "forced" commercial when you have been on the site for 1 minute, and then again after 5 minutes. Kind of like on Youtube. The difference here is that if you are logged in, you won't get those. It could perhaps generate some revenue for you/the site, and it could be sufficiently annoying to get people to log in. Actually, I wouldn't mind such adverts. As long as they are leather products ones Quote Al speling misteaks aer all mi own werk..
Members Mulesaw Posted June 9 Members Report Posted June 9 7 hours ago, fredk said: Actually, I wouldn't mind such adverts. As long as they are leather products ones Perhaps it could be a "choice button" if you would like to see commercials or not if you are logged in. 🙂 Brgds Jonas Quote
AlZilla Posted June 9 Report Posted June 9 3 hours ago, Mulesaw said: Perhaps it could be a "choice button" if you would like to see commercials or not if you are logged in. 🙂 Brgds Jonas I'd hate to see video type "commercials" rather than a static ad. We might as well be on face book at that point. A row of extra ads with the notation that "Logged in members don't see these. Why not join? It's FREE!" Might accomplish the goal. Quote “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire “Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.” - Aristotle
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