Hi Everybody,
I started this forum back in 2010 and have really enjoyed watching it grow into a community of knowledgeable people. At first, we only had a couple of regulars and it took us the better part of two years to have a steady flow of discussions and members to keep discussions alive. I think that now, three years later and with more than 20,000 members, we have reached that critical mass of membership where I hope the forum will continue to grow and discussions will stay alive.
Over the past year I've noticed that we have some outstanding members who have really stepped up as community leaders with helpful discussions and making this forum feel like a real community... not just a cold and inanimate website. And soon, some of those members will be both recognized and trusted with some responsibility as moderators, to help keep spam out of the forums, and help with organization of topics, welcoming new members, and serving as forum ambassadors of sorts.
From my perspective, I've seen a lot of forums online... I've been an admin, moderator, and member of so many forums so you could call me a true believer in the medium. I've seen the good and the bad... forums that never got off the ground, some that became huge, and some that died for one reason or another. But one common thread is that a forum is nothing without members. So at the end of the day, the members come first. So long as we have the technological means to accomplish a request, I don't see why we shouldn't implement it when members request it. At the same time, I am also a person who loves to build (websites) and watch them grow. To see how new features are received, and what works for the site.
Although I wasn't thinking of anything more than a forum when I started this site, I now realize that there is a lot more we can do with this site than simply run a forum. So, last year I made the decision to start building out some functionality for an expansion of LawnMowerForum to make this site a website with more than just forums. And now, we're almost finished building out an initial set of features that will represent the start of a new chapter for LMF.
In order to accommodate the new features and future expansion, we purchased a new domain name... a name that will tell people that the site is about more than just forums. And at this point, our plan is as follows:
1. Change the design of LMF to match the new site. The domain name LawnMowerForum.com will stay the same (at least for now), but the site name, logo, and design will match the new site.
2. Any member who wants the forum to stay the same can continue to use the current LawnMowerForum template (though unregistered members would see the new theme).
3. Navigation will link to all new sections of the new site (unless you use the legacy LMF theme).
4. The new site will feature:
I wanted to solicit some feedback on this before making any big changes. We don't want you guys to come to the site one day and find that everything is different and have you not like the change. So I'd like to invite any members who are interested in previewing the new site and the way the forum would look after the proposed change to PM me for a link (I don't want to post the new site name until it's ready to launch).
In closing, I will relate a story from my personal experience. For those of you who came to LMF from TractorByNet, you may or may not know that TractorByNet was not always TractorByNet. In 1998, it was a Kubota-only discussion forum, and after about 18 months I changed the site name to TractorByNet and opened discussions up to all makes and models of tractors. We also added reviews, classifieds, news, etc. At the time of the change, the forum had about 20,000 visitors per month and 200 members. Last month, some 13 years later, we had more than 1 million visitors in one month, and 173,000 members. :confused2:
As always, your participation in the forums is greatly appreciated.
Muhammad Chishti
Administrator
I started this forum back in 2010 and have really enjoyed watching it grow into a community of knowledgeable people. At first, we only had a couple of regulars and it took us the better part of two years to have a steady flow of discussions and members to keep discussions alive. I think that now, three years later and with more than 20,000 members, we have reached that critical mass of membership where I hope the forum will continue to grow and discussions will stay alive.
Over the past year I've noticed that we have some outstanding members who have really stepped up as community leaders with helpful discussions and making this forum feel like a real community... not just a cold and inanimate website. And soon, some of those members will be both recognized and trusted with some responsibility as moderators, to help keep spam out of the forums, and help with organization of topics, welcoming new members, and serving as forum ambassadors of sorts.
From my perspective, I've seen a lot of forums online... I've been an admin, moderator, and member of so many forums so you could call me a true believer in the medium. I've seen the good and the bad... forums that never got off the ground, some that became huge, and some that died for one reason or another. But one common thread is that a forum is nothing without members. So at the end of the day, the members come first. So long as we have the technological means to accomplish a request, I don't see why we shouldn't implement it when members request it. At the same time, I am also a person who loves to build (websites) and watch them grow. To see how new features are received, and what works for the site.
Although I wasn't thinking of anything more than a forum when I started this site, I now realize that there is a lot more we can do with this site than simply run a forum. So, last year I made the decision to start building out some functionality for an expansion of LawnMowerForum to make this site a website with more than just forums. And now, we're almost finished building out an initial set of features that will represent the start of a new chapter for LMF.
In order to accommodate the new features and future expansion, we purchased a new domain name... a name that will tell people that the site is about more than just forums. And at this point, our plan is as follows:
1. Change the design of LMF to match the new site. The domain name LawnMowerForum.com will stay the same (at least for now), but the site name, logo, and design will match the new site.
2. Any member who wants the forum to stay the same can continue to use the current LawnMowerForum template (though unregistered members would see the new theme).
3. Navigation will link to all new sections of the new site (unless you use the legacy LMF theme).
4. The new site will feature:
- Expansion of the groups functionality with main navigation feature and new organization of groups
- Lawn care industry news
- Lawn care equipment news
- Learning center with articles about lawn care
- Editorial reviews of lawn care products and equipment
- User review section for product and equipment reviews (coming in 2-3 months)
- Classified ads section/marketplace for buying/selling (coming in 4-6 months)
I wanted to solicit some feedback on this before making any big changes. We don't want you guys to come to the site one day and find that everything is different and have you not like the change. So I'd like to invite any members who are interested in previewing the new site and the way the forum would look after the proposed change to PM me for a link (I don't want to post the new site name until it's ready to launch).
In closing, I will relate a story from my personal experience. For those of you who came to LMF from TractorByNet, you may or may not know that TractorByNet was not always TractorByNet. In 1998, it was a Kubota-only discussion forum, and after about 18 months I changed the site name to TractorByNet and opened discussions up to all makes and models of tractors. We also added reviews, classifieds, news, etc. At the time of the change, the forum had about 20,000 visitors per month and 200 members. Last month, some 13 years later, we had more than 1 million visitors in one month, and 173,000 members. :confused2:
As always, your participation in the forums is greatly appreciated.
Muhammad Chishti
Administrator
