nonewbs.com open discussion

[Spawne32]

I took over ownership of this site back in April of 2013, and the first order of business was to revamp the entire site from the aging VB3 system it was using. Xenforo seemed like the ideal choice, but since that time we have seen a 35% drop in overall traffic to the site. I was hoping maybe to get some opinions in regards to what people think will help generate more traffic and content for the site. I thought about potentially reactivating the sidebar on the main forum to include some enhancements such as chat, popular threads, maybe a blog system, and integrating our shoutcast radio show WKNN into the site as well so that it will display currently played songs.

**WARNING THIS SITE MAY CONTAIN ADULT CONTENT** Please observe the respective NWS and NSFL warning tags if you do not wish to view this adult content.

Note: there are some errors still with the template since we upgraded from 1.1.5 to 1.2, we are working on correcting.

www.nonewbs.com

 

[JABRONI]

Not a fan of your current skin, and the fact that there is no sidebar. I would do what you said in the OP, and add the sidebar back.

I recommend this for the sidebar - http://xenforo.com/community/resources/bd-widget-framework.297/

You can add a recent posts widget, a recent status widget, etc. Little things like that make the site seem more active & make people post more.

I also see what you're trying to do with the member's online now widget at the bottom of the forum, but I recommend this addon in place of what you currently have - http://xenforo.com/community/resources/forum-statistics-pixelexit-com.2577/

I think that your forum is too fluid, if you get what I'm saying. Maybe switch it to a max width of 1600px or something. You can then possibly use this addon to give people an option between the fluid 1600px or a fixed 1200ishpx (choice is always good) - http://xenforo.com/community/resources/website-width-toggle-cc-by.1429/

This addon is also good for your SEO - http://xenforo.com/community/resources/azucloud-search-keyword-cloud.113/

Take off this as it does nothing but push people away from the site. If a site FORCES me to register, i just say nevermind

 

[Spawne32]

Well the primary reason we went with these particular layouts to start is to ease the member base into the change to the new forum. They were designed to closely replicate the original VB3 style so that people werent abruptly bombarded with all new features and placement of buttons and commands etc. You would be surprised how hard people reject new styles with these types of forums. lol But yeh now we are looking for something a little more modern and fresh that accomidates the kind of things you posted. Ill look into all those plugins.

 

[Shelley]

TBH - I like the layout. Really liking it. It's very clean and the whole thing just looks crisp. Excellent work indeed.