I agree that it’s a bit annoying to have to click around to get to someone’s profile, but it’s very minor - and anyway, most people who don’t use the forum prefer Facebook, where you don’t see the postcrossing profile at all and it’s 600 times more difficult and cumbersome to navigate. It’s just habit.
I’m also not sure a FAQ that pops up or whatever would help, there is so much information already and people ignore it… If something pops up, it’s very likely people will close it and that’s it (I would - but then I would very much look for information when I want to, or poke around. I can’t tell you off the top of my head where the forum user guide is but I know that I see it every single time I log in, and yet I ignore it because I prefer to poke until I get where I want to. But I thought it was 100% unmissable).
@valdavid 's post is very useful and has great suggestions. But there are similar prompts already, though your examples are more targeted (e.g. addressing a problem, as you explained).
But all in all, to me this is the same as the problem of having not enough users from African countries and things like that: it cannot be solved because there is only so much you can do, and most of it has been done. Oblivious people or those who struggle with English will still ignore the forum.
This is a great question. I’m obsessed with postcrossing, but find the forum difficult to use and navigate. I wish postcrossing had a social media app to help navigate forums, as well as update registered cards. I would love to see new cards in my feed.
I don’t agree with that. My guess is that most people who don’t use the forum do not belong to any postcrossing communities beyond the official site.
While they might ignore something that pops up, they might refer to something later when they have a question if it were in a visible and easy to access spot. They could also be prompted to do so before creating a new post with a question containing key words that has also been asked a thousand times already.
Again, I disagree. I don’t believe everything that could be reasonably done to promote the forum has been done. I think that unless you happen to press the forum button, which you must discover on your own, and then you understand what you are seeing before you, you would never participate in the forum. I think more could be done to promote it and I am glad we are discussing ideas.
I find it much easier than logging on to a browser and surfing over to the website every time. It’s not a full app but, for all intents and purposes, acts as one. For some reason, PC doesn’t promote it and keeps insisting it doesn’t have an app when people ask. But this obviously exists as I use it every day and it makes navigating the forum easier. As well, it sends notifications, etc.
ETA: It says “Forum” in the name but it is also for the official site.
Yes. I realize that it is maintained through Discourse and not Postcrossing. However, I’m not sure that distinction really matters for the average user. If people are looking for an app, I don’t see why this is not suggested.
It might differ for sure, but a vast majority of Italian postcrossers are on Facebook groups and recoil in horror when you mention the forum… That’s where I get my impression from.
I cannot see how the button can be more obvious unless it comes out flashing at you. On the point of understanding what it is, I agree that people might not, but it is not a secret what a forum is, people can even google it in their language I assume. If they want to. I am an absolute idiot when it comes to Instagram stories but I poked and googled until I at least managed to do a basic one, I didn’t have anyone take me by the hand and pushing my nose in it until I did it. Sure, Instagram is a lot more popular so it’s easy to be aware of what it is, but once you are on Postcrossing it’s kind of the same thing, you can access all the features. It fascinates me to no end how well this website is laid out and explained, and yet people are baffled.
The other massive hurdle is language barriers, I know how I would feel in front of a website entirely in Russian (can deal with it if I am not tired and have time and patience) or Chinese (no clue), but unless we pay for intensive language courses for everybody (which actually can come for free on the internet, if you use free resources and practice) that is a big issue. Or use online translators, of which I am not a fan but better than nothing.
Yes, that is true. But it is still beyond me how someone would post a question before first searching if it was asked before. It feels like people in the modern age want to make themselves visible by asking things before realising that someone must have got there before (or reading the FAQs).
I don’t think it has to do with how easy it is to see the word “Forum”. If people aren’t into that sort of thing, they aren’t looking for it and won’t click on it even if they do see it
I think the forum could be integrated into the main site to make people curious about it. In other words, if you could actually see posts and the forum itself embedded in the main site, people are apt to look at it. This would be similar to how you see the list of recent postcards sent across the site.
I just don’t see why you are so opposed to making any changes to the status quo. Sure YOU and I might be willing to tinker with things until we figure them out but obviously that is not true of most people or they would be here on the forum. I don’t think it hurts to make it more welcoming and less threatening to those who might find such things overwhelming.
Again, you might have trouble understanding why people do things and feel they should act like you do but the fact is people come on here every day and ask the same basic questions over and over again. So, the current system of providing this information could be better.
Will some people still ignore it? Sure. But I believe it would help avoid some of this repetition.
Most important to this conversation, it would help people understand more quickly and thus help them to feel empowered to use the forum and have them stick around.
Yes I know that you believe that. I don’t. I think that some people, especially in this community, just aren’t tech people. So, it would never be the kind of thing they would look for. But I think if they realized how fun, useful and simple it is, they would stick around.
I guess if you think there is no need for anything to change, there’s not much common ground to use to continue this particular part of the conversation.
Yep, but one of the reasons I don’t think so is that I see it over and over in Facebook groups: come to the forum, it’s fun, here is how you do it! And nothing happens.
Oh (edit) - one more point is that it is really not only about the tech, but the language. Please do consider that - there are people who manage to use the main site but the idea of expressing themselves in English more than the strict necessary is terrifying. Okay, for swaps you don’t need to write an essay like I am doing, but it can be daunting.
Yep, the more I think about it, the more it feels to me like two other points that can be discussed forever and have never changed and probably never will: why are there so few users from certain countries, and how can we prevent people from disappearing without registering cards. That is something else where a lot has been tried but since you can’t force people to do things, it cannot be changed.
I agree that we agree to disagree but it’s still fun to discuss arguments so please don’t sound so offended!
I have this icon as well. It is definitely handy, but I also already have my “frequently used” suggestions there as I type. I suppose I am pretty predictable to my browser, as if it is saying, “the usual, madam?”
The same thing happens in myfitnesspal forums, at least used to be, I’m not certain if it is still this way because I haven’t looked in a year.
I enjoy it, but still really have to put an effort to find things. Don’t get me wrong, I do put the effort because I am an enthusiast, but not everyone geeks out over this hobby so much.
There is an invitation to explore the Forum in the right sidebar of the official site’s FAQ. So that’s good!
However, when I was recommending someone to the Forum, I realized that I could not remember whether it was necessary to sign up separately, or if membership in Postcrossing automatically grants access to it. There’s a passing mention (in one of the FAQ sections) that encourages the reader to “join” the Forum; this seems to imply there is some kind of separate sign-up process, but it doesn’t actually specify one way or the other. (I looked through the Forum itself for clarification, but couldn’t find anything. I’ve been here such a long time that I couldn’t remember!)
So, I’ve just submitted a FAQ request asking that they actually add a section (clickable question) to the FAQ that addresses this, and provides more details. It feels like a critical omission to me.
When I first started Post-crossing I looked at the forum but it was too overwhelming for me. I had to get settled into a routine with my Post-crossing first THEN once I had a handle on that I started exploring the forum. Now I love participating in all aspects of Post-crossing
That’s where I get my impression from.
