Forum participation - lots of statistics on forum usage

[SC38dls]

I’ve been working on my cars since I was 15 (started by working in a junk yard on weekends when not playing football) just to get them running. I’m now 74 and have very little knowledge of what the heck I’m doing. This group of forums and helpful forum members has been the best source of help in both telling me what to do and how to do it. I’ve learned a lot about the 38 Studebaker fixes I’ve had to do. Now if I can just remember what they are and actually do them it will be even better. 
dave s 

[padgett]

I learned to drive on a 41 Ford (with column lock) -does that count ? At the time was fixing outboard motors. Could spend a whole summer in the Bahamas and come back with more money (mostly pounds) than I started. Learned to appreciate Amstel at a tender age.

[MrEarl]

21 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

12 different threads for Buick. Seriously?

 

 Actually 15 if you count the ones that were sadly crammed in under General. But hey, we like it lika that. That many are needed when you have as many daily threads and posts or else it would be just one big cluster.  

[60FlatTop]

I keep the forum open in a minimized browser during the day while I do a lot of other stuff. And sometimes I am not even near. I check Buick Riviera, then all Buicks, used to go to Buick For Sale but that is buried somewhere now, so I go to General.

I saw the Buick GS one come up and, like the "Which war?" question, I thought which GS?

 

I learned a long time ago that statistics usually lack real value. They are generally a way to present performance to someone who has no concept of what is going on. I always look at the X axis for what we might call "the manipulation factor". I admit I am quite skilled at that in my line of work. The one above with increments of 200 caught my eye as an odd division.

 

My preference is the content that could never be put across in a graph. That's very good.

[MrEarl]

23 hours ago, Peter Gariepy said:

 

The BCA uses the AACA forums extensively and promote it on their website aggressively. They have 9 of the top 25 forums when it comes to page views.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for those facts and acknowledgement. The Buick Club of America had always been very appreciative of the AACA hosting their forum and as can be seen by these numbers was a very popular and well participated in forum. Must say though, we were surprised when we became just another marque, ending our free ride. But why would the AACA host one club and not others, so we get it, I guess.  I suppose that the CCCA is a bit tougher to remove, it being multiple marques and all. But don't get me wrong, we do appreciate the BCA News forum you allowed to remain, thanks for that, seriously.    
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by MrEarl (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

27 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

 

 Actually 15 if you count the ones that were sadly crammed in under General. But hey, we like it lika that. That many are needed when you have as many daily threads and posts or else it would be just one big cluster.  

 

I agree. I think "A place for everything and everything in it's place." applies to forums to.

[padgett]

Lately it seems the general discussion is he place that has the most interesting discussion.

Thought I was specific about the 65 Riv GS (dual quads and THM400) and 70 GS Stage 1 (autocross car).

Admit that sometimes "the exercise is left to the student" and what I think to be a complete statement is not-so for some.

Sorry.

[Xander Wildeisen]

The general discussion is the most popular because all car guys/gals are tire kickers. Swap meets are like a hair salon, a sewing circle. That is the general discussion, a place to hear the latest, word around the camp fire. Time won't change a thing Idaho. You just can't get around what happened. And a side note, someone owes me a driver's side windshield. Now you have a 911 call. Those are recorded right? I will be hitting the road soon, driving the Hudson. Still available if you have any questions. You should really have an honest conversation about the targeting of people and businesses Idaho. It is a very large problem under the surface. And that is the latest, data. I'm still pulling for you Idaho.🤗

[30DodgePanel]

4 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

I sometimes hesitate to post out of fear of being beheaded for being "off topic".

 

 

Or better yet, if you have a different view of things... 

Such as, ...oh I don't know... Why we would need a thread about forum statistics?  Although I have to admit... I too love the stats and charts and find it interesting no matter how ironic or pointless. 

 

I'm still shocked that technical discussions came in at #7 on the list... 

 

I can see the historical headlines now : "2020, the year boredom and irony wed and birthed redundancy, AGAIN.."

[Peter Gariepy]

4 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

I sometimes hesitate to post out of fear of being beheaded for being "off topic".

 

 

If you have a auto topic you wish to discuss, then start a new topic.  Not so hard.  Nor will you be "beheaded".

[padgett]

Why I started this topic that is apparently hard to answer. I am seeing (except for General Discussion) a general decline in Posts (not Views) & wondered if pervasive. Also my idea of "on topic" or response to the previous post, is not the same as other viewpoint. At least I mostly avoid Latin. "O tempora, o mores".

[padgett]

Agree but the search engine is somewhat user-hostile and first have to know what to ask. Reatta forum has had about 2 posts this week, used to occupy much of my online time. Allante forum is pretty much ded. Is true of other two non-AACA forums as well.

 

Is kinda like the Covid statistics, seem more interested in total cases ever (no mention of recoveries) and not what is happening now. Here I am seeing a lot of views but few new posts except for General and was wondering if pervasive.

[Peter Gariepy]

1 hour ago, padgett said:

Agree but the search engine is somewhat user-hostile and first have to know what to ask. Reatta forum has had about 2 posts this week, used to occupy much of my online time. Allante forum is pretty much ded. Is true of other two non-AACA forums as well.

 

Is kinda like the Covid statistics, seem more interested in total cases ever (no mention of recoveries) and not what is happening now. Here I am seeing a lot of views but few new posts except for General and was wondering if pervasive.

 

Search:  I does require knowing what you want to find.  

Reatta and Allante:  Dead?  Reatta is #23.  I guess our definition of dead is different.

Covid Analogy: Borderline politic, but I'll go with it.  "few new posts"?  The numbers prove you wrong. See charts again. 
My analogy:  Cases = Views.  Deaths = Posts and responses. Posts and responses are up. Thats the real number.
More Views Than Posts:  We've ALWAYS had 5-10x more views than posts. That is nothing new.

Maybe you're just anti-science?

 

[padgett]

Thank you Peter is closer to what I was looking for but suspect the "general discussion" is skewing the totals. "Reatta is #23" However if you look there are no new posts today and only a couple this week. If maintaining position then everything must be off (except GD).

[Taylormade]

I’m very lucky to have a Dodge Brothers automobile.  Our site is extremely active and has been since I joined in 2013.  A majority of the posts seem to center on prewar models, and the similarities in parts and construction by the marque make most posts useful for many readers.  I’m getting used to the new format, but much prefer the previous iteration.

[Peter Gariepy]

1 hour ago, padgett said:

Thank you Peter is closer to what I was looking for but suspect the "general discussion" is skewing the totals. "Reatta is #23" However if you look there are no new posts today and only a couple this week. If maintaining position then everything must be off (except GD).

Anecdotal.  

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, Peter Gariepy said:

Reatta and Allante:  Dead?  Reatta is #23.  I guess our definition of dead is different.

 

If you go by the long term stats you are right. The Reatta forum has over 215,000 total posts. The Reatta forum rating of #23 is based on what happened over the course of 20 years and is overly inflated by the earlier years when we WERE extremely active but that is no longer the case.  I check the Reatta forum several times a day and I can confirm that it has been all but dead for about a year now.

[Peter Gariepy]

27 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

 

If you go by the long term stats you are right. The Reatta forum has over 215,000 total posts. The Reatta forum rating of #23 is based on what happened over the course of 20 years and is overly inflated by the earlier years when we WERE extremely active but that is no longer the case.  I check the Reatta forum several times a day and I can confirm that it has been all but dead for about a year now.   

 

The Reatta forum has big historical numbers, you are right. It’s number 23 ranking however is from 2020 only however.  

[Ronnie]

19 minutes ago, Peter Gariepy said:

 

The Reatta forum has big historical numbers, you are right. It’s number 23 ranking however is from 2020 only however.  

 

Wow. I'm really surprised. That tells me that the other forums are much slower than I expected.

[Porsche 68]

I go to the Woody forum I know it’s been a rough summer but it’s a snooze      fest over there  Awesome site !!

[Peter Gariepy]

4 hours ago, Ronnie said:

 

Wow. I'm really surprised. That tells me that the other forums are much slower than I expected.

Look at the forum numbers. Traffic is up.  Topics are up.  Responses are up.  

[Buffalowed Bill]

I enjoy the forum and appreciate the way it is segmented. I think that comments regarding it's format should be taken as whimsy and not as actual complaints. Be careful of what you wish for! Thank's Peter and to the other administrators for the work that you put in.  

 

[padgett]

"It’s a 14" - my first thought was 1914.

[Mark Shaw]

On 10/23/2020 at 10:56 AM, Peter Gariepy said:

MORE FORUM USAGE INFO CLEANED UP:

 

 

The bar chart shows that IMO, only up to Buick Post War justifies their own category.  There simply isn't enough activity for each of the others to have it's own.  Perhaps these another categories could be consolidated to reduce the total number of categories users have to wade through to find the category they want.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[Peter Gariepy]

3 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:

The bar chart shows that IMO, only up to Buick Post War justifies their own category.  There simply isn't enough activity for each of the others to have it's own.  Perhaps these another categories could be consolidated to reduce the total number of categories users have to wade through to find the category they want.

 

I disagree.

[padgett]

I also disagree. Suspect many marque owners would also. Particularly since many are at a low ebb right now but will probably not last.

Peter: other than moderation, what is the delta periodic cost for a marque forum ? Once set up (the sunk cost) suspect it is down in the noise and one of the things I pay dues for.

[Buffalowed Bill]

I too strongly disagree. Try going to some of the Facebook comprehensive sites-total chaos! The total number of mindless responses, on unlimited subject matter makes some of them unusable. The users often splinter off on their own, but with no useable archive feature they wither and die. That seems to be the future, young people seem to understand it, and respond. 

[Peter Gariepy]

29 minutes ago, padgett said:

Peter: other than moderation, what is the delta periodic cost for a marque forum ? Once set up (the sunk cost) suspect it is down in the noise and one of the things I pay dues for.

 

Zero.

[padgett]

What's the matter with kids today...Why can't they be like we were. Perfect in every way?

[Mark Shaw]

3 hours ago, Buffalowed Bill said:

Facebook comprehensive sites-total chaos!

I am not suggesting total consolidation, just consolidate the less active categories to the level of the active ones.  What we have now with so many categories requires everyone to wade through all of them.  

[Peter Gariepy]

15 minutes ago, Mark Shaw said:

I am not suggesting total consolidation, just consolidate the less active categories to the level of the active ones.  What we have now with so many categories requires everyone to wade through all of them.  

 

Mark,

The sub-forums serve a purpose.  To segment the posts into logical groups. 

 

I simple don't agree with your comment "requires everyone to wade through all of them."  No one wades through them all.  Thats the point. They read only those that are of interest to them. Reatta people dont want to read about Packards, and vice versa. If I create a more grab-bag type forum then everyone would be wading through screen after screen after screen to find things of interest to them.  Not a good solution IMHO.   

[SC38dls]

Peter, i agree with you and I thought that was what the General forum was suppose to be about, with the others being specific. That’s why you named it General isn’t it?  

Edited October 28, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[Peter Gariepy]

Quick update on stats:

 

Modest increase in traffic first 6 months of 2021 vs 2020.

More pronounced increase 2021 vs 2017. (as far back as my data goes)