galleries (certainly as implemented in forums) are passe. Very little use, except for photography sites. Album-based galleries seem ancient to me. An Instagram integrated photo stream could be entertaining for users. Photopost ? 99% useless.
The problem here is the perception of admins and experts vs. the reality of users!
ALLLLLways important.
Most users don't know the difference between all these things...nor how to use them! For instance, I have 20,000+ registered users and have had a wiki for 5 years....with lots of links to it, etc.
Guess how many have posted stuff? Probably a dozen.
Every wiki ever made is either too complicated (mediawiki) or single user.
Most wikis should be abandoned for an admin-directed collection of HTML pages.
Innovation is not innovation unless it actually works where the rubber meets the road. In terms of forums you must remember we have not covered the basic yet!
Great point !
That is, good (fuzzy) search, related threads, etc. have not been done right yet!
I've said this 100 times.
Searching for stuff with forum-based search tools is *atrocious* and has never been done well. Ever. Xenforo replicates the failed methods all the other forums use. No innovation there.
I don't think there is anything new under the sun - just clearer ways of implementation so people use it.
I think forums are missing alot. Your site is an excellent example.
So, what will people really use? I say mostly forums - with perhaps the usual (galleries, fixed articles, etc.) taking up the rear.
Forums will always be popular. The ease of replying (contributing) is the driving force. Wikis are extremely unpopular as contributing is difficult. Threads become useless very quickly as the information becomes unfindable or too slow to find. Wikis make information more organized, but no one uses them.
FYI: Guiltar's upcoming wiki will be a unique wiki. If implemented well, it could be a game changer.
I think forums should start doing what SlickDeals.net has done for years and have a wiki post for the 2nd post. Or combine wiki and forums and have the ability to have "community sections" (through the node settings so not every forum is set up like that) where the first post acts as a wiki but have replies below it.
SlickDeals.net - great example.
You'll be happy to know Guiltar is making just that.
I've demo'd the current iteration and it's looking great. As the wiki development heats up I am going to try to keep him on the right path. I do have confidence he's got the jist of what a good wiki is anyway. I'm just hoping to add some whip cream on top to make it that much more delicious. But not too much whip cream to make the patrons bloated.
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Any creative minds out there ?
So far we have Posts, Wiki-like Posts.
Any other content gems out there that a forum-based community needs ?
C'mon ... think hard people !!!