TalkFreelance Just Isn't The Same

Another forum dissident? No, no, please at least hear me out. Let me first preface this by saying that I know I haven't been around on TFL much, although I have been popping my head in to see what's been happening.

I think it's self-evident that TFL just isn't what it used to be. I haven't been a member for as long as many people around here, but I can perceive that something is lacking. I do not wish to degrade this thread into a thread where everyone who dislikes something about TFL comes out of the wood-work. If you are going to respond then let's take positives from the minefield of negatives and begin to turn TFL around for the better. That is the way forward.

It appears as though TFL took a significant plummet when Robson sold up and moved on - in came Big Zee. I can't say I know Big Zee all that well, but he was kind enough - as well as the various other moderators, to allow me to join the team of moderators and oversee the marketplace. The marketplace on TFL is definitely by far the most active area, and although this is a positive, I personally would like to see articles and other various implementations to attract a wider audience and take TFL up a step. After all, many, I'm sure, would love to come here to further educate themselves, whereas the only place that I see being active apart from the marketplace, is the general discussion. In all fairness I do not think TFL will ever fade away, I firmly believe that it will always have activity - but activity as we have at the moment is not taking the forum anywhere. It appears to remain on its insipid level-plain and refuses to budge.

The aforementioned suggestion of introducing articles to TFL is of course a dilemma in itself. It will come as no surprise that articles are time consuming and it's therefore sensible to offer some incentives to create articles - whether this is a monetary reward or an introduction of a points system on TFL that allows contributors to, let's say, highlight their threads or make them sticky for a handful of points, would encourage members to write.

TFL not long ago got its new design, and although I myself do not like the design to which many would agree, but also many would disagree - which is to be expected, I personally feel that argument is immaterial to the continuing existence of TFL - as well as its hopefully impending amelioration. To be brutally honest, TFL didn't need a new design. A new design was a nice addition but it's certainly not improved anything from the evidence I have been observing as of late.

I've noticed an all-too-common occurrence where the forum software shows 70+ members currently browsing, yet so little new posts. It would seem sensible to deduce that there's very little to respond to in terms of the adding of engaging and informative posts to an already educational thread. Don't get me wrong, I'd really like to see TFL revived, but it's clear that some worthwhile changes are going to have to come about. Although I don't agree with all the covering up of people popping their heads above the water-line insisting that TFL just isn't the same, it needs to be said, and the TFL elite need to begin paying attention to those branded enemies of the forum. The truth is that you can learn a lot from your so-called dissidents.

There is also a lack of competitions on TFL. Last year we had a good selection of Christmas competitions that many individuals participated in - I do hope we have the same this year, however, I digress. I realise there's a reason but the Christmas competition was still on the left of the old TFL skin for many months after - up to 8 months after last Christmas. We've had a handful of competitions since then, but from what I remember, all those have been moderately exciting member-based contests. This is something TFL used to do so well - so why has it ceased? It really brought the community together.

Furthermore, there is also the issue of all this bickering going on recently. Albeit I say recently, probably for the past 6 months. As a moderator I see a lot of banned members in and around the sin-bin forums. These were once good members who seem to have broken the TFL etiquette and have rightfully been banned. Coincidentally, does it not seem strange that although a lot of the ex-members in there are banned, they are valuable assets to various other forums - such as DP and NP? It appears as though TFL indirectly encourages people to step out of line and snap at one another. I'm a member of various other forums and it rarely goes on, and even when it does, it seems the members are mature enough to make a mends without any intervention. Don't worry, I'm not suggesting any kind of forum cleansing!

I might be putting my neck on the line here, but I hypothesise that part of the problem stems from Big Zee's aloofness. He doesn't appear to have the enthusiasm to drive TFL forward. When a country finds itself in a similar situation, the vox populi is heard from a million miles away ardently demanding an overthrow of the existing Government. I'm sure Big Zee doesn't want to jump ship though, but there's been many instances where initiatives have been delayed because of a lack of authorisation from Big Zee. Jeff Anderson is often around to implement and I think TFL should be more of a democracy than an autocracy, where the majority of the votes mean the idea can materialise.

I'll stop there for now as I would love to hear peoples' responses instead of me incessantly rabbiting on. If you do choose to remove this thread then by all means, please do, and I will not voice my opinions ever again. For those who are thinking of responding, please bring any opinions you have to the table in a constructive manor. It's about time that we stopped having a go at one another and worked out a clear plan to make this community-driven forum so many love to call TFL - great again!

Adam,

Having been around since the very early days (working closely with Rob to develop this forum) I remember how things used to be run. Lots of competitions, people enjoying themselves, member welcomes that actually meant something, etc...

I do agree that the website's transfer to Big Zee was a big blow to the community. When a website is run primarily by it's owner, great things happen. However, when the site is purchased as a "business opportunity", it kills the mood.

One problem, which is prevalent in many internet communities, is the lack of maturity by some members. For some this is because of age, for others it's just... well just because. I realize that I, at one point, was an Administrator of this forum at 16 years old. Having come of age and worked "in the industry" I see now that a community like this shouldn't be run by people who have never actually had to work in a business environment. Having an adult discussion managed by someone just barely old enough to work in the US is very frustrating sometimes.

I have much more to write but I won't quite yet until I see how others respond.

Best Regards,
Patrick

Thank you for contributing constructively, Patrick. In admission, I didn't realise that you had been around since the beginning and so I think your opinions are definitely worth paying attention to - even more so than mine as I cannot recall the pinnacle of TFL's glory days too well.

Another point that I was meaning to mention, the new skin is up, but it would seem that it's been rushed, partly due to the unnecessary demanding of the new skin's release by a handful of members. Although I also agree that it was probably over-due, good things come to those who wait, do they not? Nonetheless, my point here is that on the very front-page of the new skin, on the left, we had an empty Javascript navigation pop-up for a good 2 weeks - though we still have an enormous vertical box lacking any advertisements, and its "Advertise with us" link does not work. In addendum, we also have some lorem ipsum text and something about a crazy cat on the front-page, too. For anyone visiting this website for the very first time, this would give out all sorts of negative vibes.

These should really have been sorted long before the new website caught a glimpse of the midday sun, in my opinion.

One part I'll mention is the contests. I have been debating whether or not to create a contest in there lately, though I end up making it, I am a little hesitant. No offense to anyone here intended, but I don't see that many great designers here than what you see at other bigger forums. I understand that there are really great designers here, but they are the designers that don't waste time doing contests, when there is a abundance of such designers on other forums.

However, I'm currently planning a contest "bonanza" for either Halloween (won't be as big if it even happens because of limited time) and also for Christmas. I'm about to PM Zee with my ideas once I come up with them, but him eliminating the advertising space has been a new development in which makes picking even more prizes harder (ad space is a valuable but easy to hand out award).

I'm fairly new. I really don't know anyone in this community. However, from the lengthy and hearted out reach of the post, things seem to have slowed drastically( ownership wise ). Sometimes, when purchasing a community, the new owner kinda steps back, and expects it's members to run the community.

I do agree with you that the template was rushed way beyond. But it's a decision he has made, and for whatever reason it was. I do hope this community continues to flourish, and someone will continue to step up the heat, and let Big Zee come to understand the out-cry of your well prepared post.

I could tell you the exact time TF started to slip a little and it was actually just before Robson sold it but thats not important what is important whats important is what TF is now not what was.

There are obviously some things that need addressing. With regards to the new skin for example, we really do need to get the ads and the latest threads boxes working. Just so the site doesn't look incomplete more than anything.

The overall problem though is in a way simple, as a community things have gotten stale. It's no surprise, it happens to all forums at one stage or another.

The reason it's gotten this way is because we have a relatively small core of users that are very active with the large base being less active. Now, obviously this is how a lot of forums are but the point is that at TF the smaller core have been the same members for a long time without any real influx of new members (I'm talking about an influx of members who are interested in more than just the market place). It's only natural that people will get fed up with talking to the same people all the time which leads to petty arguments with makes people care less about the community and not want to contribute anything overly useful. That for me, is where the negativity in TF stems from.

What we need to do is encourage older members to come back to breathe a fresh bit of life into TF to give our current active members (who are great members) some new people to talk to, to learn from, to help out. We then need to to get TalkFreelance's name back out there, to encourage a wealth of new people to the forums that can also share their knowledge and in turn be helped by the members we have. Lets not forget TF hasn't been marketed for a couple of years now, it's been growing solely on word of mouth and search engines which and we aren't really a big enough community yet to sustain through those methods alone.

The potential at TF, with the members we have, is huge. We just need a bit of freshness, some new activities some new members to join in the community to bring that "feel good factor" back into to TF so that we can become one big community that all the members love being a part of. We have some great members here, some good friendly members that love to help people out.

TF can be an amazing community, well it already is but it can be better, it can be better than it has ever been. It's just needs a bit of a push to get itself really firing again.

What you need is some competitions, something that will bring life to the new and old members. Its very market place oriented, i think with your 5 post rules you have gotten more spam than you have gotten rid of. I just dont know how its going to be more active, i think the older members have realised we can be doing better things than *wasting?* our time on a forum!

Robson (when he was running the show) made TF his full time job. He'd promote, invigorate and refresh the forums every day several times a day and he never let peoples interest fade or vanish.

Big Zee is obviously a busy man and he cannot justify making TF his main priority as harsh as that sounds to some people.

I can understand why it has slipped and continues to slip. The question is now what can we do (as a collective of contributors and active members) to combat this.

Meh, in my opinion you guys need to stand out. TFL is just like any other forum, except the point that you can sell your stuff on here. Which now adays no one is buying them in the marketplace. I think if you really want to get this place motivated or moving is to start a big contest or something. Otherwise, you can't just like the members control the forum.

I disagree Rannek, and here's why;

Contests in forums are always known to bring in a huge influx of traffic initia;ly throughout the contest, but then it dies back down again right after, maybe gaining 10 or so new regular posting members offering fresh insights. I think a contest would be a massive waste of money.

TalkFreelance shows so much potential that goes unused. I would put more restrictions on the market place, more focus on quality articles and quality posts / ideas and if I was the owner, Big Zee, I would monetize the forums properly.

I can't imagine TF bringing in anywhere near the amount of revenue it should be.