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View Full Version : 10,000 Posts and Climbing



vangogh
01-22-2009, 02:18 AM
Hey All,

Sometime this morning we hit 10,000 posts. I noticed it when I first woke up. Thought I'd say a big thank you to everyone involved (yes that means you) in helping us reach what I hope will be the first of many milestones here. Looks like the next one may be 1,000 threads.

The last few weeks new sign ups seem to have increased and hopefully that will continue as well. It's still not six months since we opened the doors, yet we have an active community that's posting some truly quality content.

We reached 10,000 posts in a little less than half a year. Let's see if we can reach the next 10,000 even faster.

Give yourself a pat on the back and once again, thank you.

Steve B
01-22-2009, 04:32 AM
The recent growth in new members and quality posts has been nice.

The number I look at is the # of members as indicated in the Member's List. As of now it is 177. Just like in business it takes a while to get the ball rolling, but once it does it's easier to keep it going.

billbenson
01-22-2009, 05:51 AM
How much spam are you getting? Unfortunately, if that is growing its also a good sign of site popularity? I don't see much, so if you are getting it, its a good sign that you are keeping the site clean as well!!

phanio
01-22-2009, 10:53 AM
You stated you saw this when you woke up. I thought you did not sleep. Well, I guess that can be rectified with another 10,000 posts.

New to this forum - but really like what you are doing here.

vangogh
01-22-2009, 10:56 AM
Steve I actually look at the active members on the home page as the most important number since those are the people logging in over the last month.

Bill we're still getting spam. I banned two members who were actually the same person this morning as soon as I got here. I think I have a spidey sense for catching spammers and I try to ban them before they leave too many posts or even any. Right now we're still small enough to make it easy, but in time I assume we'll be getting enough new members each day to make that harder.

More members will probably mean more spam getting through. Fortunately everyone here will report the spam to help us find it. It's inevitable that some will eventually get through, but I think we'd all like to keep that to a minimum.

Joseph you've uncovered my secret. I do indeed sleep. I can't reveal when though or the secret will get out. :) Actually I make sure to check in on the forum throughout the day. I try not to let too many hours go by without at least a peak, just to make sure things are running as they should.

cbscreative
01-22-2009, 11:44 AM
I was thinking the same thing about vangogh sleeping. I will point out that he does an amazing job with spam. I rarely get to push any buttons because he is so good with his Spidey sense.

And let me say "thank you" to all the members here because you are the reason for our success.

vangogh
01-22-2009, 12:06 PM
Thanks Steve. I think it's mostly that I check in here frequently throughout the day so I'm the first to see the spam much of the time.

KristineS
01-22-2009, 01:02 PM
Vangogh is the spam assassin! We're lucky to have him.

It is wonderful how much this forum has grown and what a great resource it has become in such a short time. Thank you to everyone who posts here. We appreciate it.

orion_joel
01-22-2009, 07:33 PM
I think the biggest problem in trying to catch spam comes when you get to the point when you log in that the new posts page is over 1 page, and with each additional page of new posts since your last login, exponentially more difficult. Especially for someone like you Vangogh, who also looks to try and participate in most threads as well.

Steve B
01-22-2009, 07:52 PM
I like to look at the number from the Members List page because I like to look at the Avatar's. Now, that's what I'm in the habit of checking to see the growth of the forum.

I'll bet a lot of them would come back if they saw the quality and quantity of the posts in the recent couple of weeks.

orion_joel
01-22-2009, 10:50 PM
You may be right Steve, but the other thing is a lot of people just sign up for something thinking they may use it but then never really remember it as such, so hard to say if they were just interest passerbys or real potentials that just forgot.

Steve B
01-23-2009, 05:29 AM
You're right, I'm sure it's some of both categories.

orion_joel
01-24-2009, 08:02 AM
Again it is also the internet, there is never any real absolutes with the internet i dont think, you can see a trend starting one day and suddenly a week later the trend has run it's course and something else is just kicking in.

Business Attorney
01-24-2009, 10:32 AM
You may be right Steve, but the other thing is a lot of people just sign up for something thinking they may use it but then never really remember it as such, so hard to say if they were just interest passerbys or real potentials that just forgot.

I am that kind of member at some forums, particularly if they don't get a lot of new posts. At first I check back after a few days, then it gets to be a few weeks, then I realize I have stopped by the forum in 8 months. If I didn't have them in my bookmarks folder, I would probably forget about them entirely.

KristineS
01-24-2009, 04:25 PM
I think sometimes you just click with the people in a certain forum and sometimes you don't and that makes a difference too. I know there are forums that I posted on for a while and then kind of drifted away, either because I wasn't getting much response to my posts, or because the forum was kind of cliquey, and it was hard to break in and discuss things with people.

I feel this forum is welcoming, but I've seen some that aren't, and I think that makes a difference.

orion_joel
01-24-2009, 06:58 PM
This may sounds crazy but i think depending on the type of industry some people have visited forums for before registration may be a default thing. There are some forums, that require registration before seeing replies, or some that require registration to view things like images or files.

While we know that is not needed here, some people may just register by default under a false impression of what they have to do.

vangogh
01-24-2009, 07:27 PM
People join and leave forums for a variety of reasons. At the same time I joined the old SBF I joined several other forums. Some I posts in and some I didn't. Some I only did for awhile because I didn't connect with the community or because the forum wasn't active enough. Some I joined thinking I would have time to post and realized I didn't.

When I was looking into what sort of forum software we should use here I joined a few forums without any intention of posting. I joined just to see what the control panels of different software looked like.

That's why I more typically look at the active members to see the growth of the forum. There will be some people who will come back after a few months absence, but mostly it's the people who are active that make up the forum community.

rezzy
01-30-2009, 01:50 PM
There will be some people who will come back after a few months absence, but mostly it's the people who are active that make up the forum community.

I am one of those people, who joined, left and have returned. As I have found it important to get business help, ideas etc. I believed it would be easier to talk with people in a similar field, and sitution would be better then a random website I find through google.

I have thought about starting a forum, but I know it takes a lot of momentum and upkeep to get a good one going.

Vangogh- Out of curiosity, what do the bandwidth stats look like?

vangogh
01-30-2009, 02:24 PM
Bryan we started cursing you out and saying all sorts of bad things about you in between visits :) Or not. I know lots of people join forums, but don't always have the time to post regularly.

I have absolutely no idea what bandwidth we're using. I'm pretty sure there won't an issue for quite some time. I set the forum up on a virtual private server. Shared hosting would probably have been enough at the start, but I thought it would be better to go up a level in hosting. At some point, as the forum grows, and is bringing in a little more revenue, I'll up the hosting to a dedicated server. At the moment I'm still spending money out of pocket to keep the place running so we'll keep things on the VPS for now.

orion_joel
01-30-2009, 10:06 PM
I had also thought about doing a forum, myself and had previously attempted one that was computer related, however the amount of work for the lack of momentum i was building with my computer related forum i end up letting it go.

Except that Vangogh was a heck of a lot quicker on his feet in getting this set-up i was very much considering it myself, because as it stands i still have 2 owned vbulletin licenses, that i have nothing to do with them.

Anyway it is a congratulations to Vangogh for getting things going so quick.

seolman
01-30-2009, 10:12 PM
I'm a member of a few forums but I'm tending to spend a bit more time here lately. Good crowd - smart people. I'm the dumbest one here so I get to do the most learning - it's great! Steve does a good job keeping things pretty well balanced and keeping the real riff raff out (except for me).

KristineS
01-30-2009, 10:19 PM
Vangogh is a marvel, and I don't know what we'd do without him. He really leaves me and the other Steve (cbscreative) very little to do.

Not that I'm complaining. That means I just get to come and post and I don't have to be the forum police.

seolman
01-30-2009, 10:26 PM
sorry Kristine..I should have acknowledged the full team contributions in my comments ;) - this is a well run forum by all concerned.

vangogh
01-30-2009, 11:10 PM
I'm actually not one person, but rather a dozen robots with permanent connections to the internet.

Either that or I've been moderating forums long enough that it's easy for me to spot spam before it even happens.

rezzy
01-30-2009, 11:13 PM
Either that or I've been moderating forums long enough that it's easy for me to spot spam before it even happens.

WOW! Thats quite a skill. Able to see into the future! Can you tell me what the lottery numbers are? Ill give you half of the winnings.

vangogh
01-30-2009, 11:21 PM
I'm not good at the lottery. If I were you wouldn't see me here now. With the spam it's no so much seeing into the future as it is knowing what to look for. With a pretty good accuracy I can tell by username who's going to spam and who isn't. Often a spammer will tip their hand with an early post that in itself isn't spam, but I can recognize that it's coming. Then I know to keep an eye on the person and delete their spam and them moments after it happens.

I also know a few lists to check to see if someone has spammed elsewhere before arriving here.

It's fun banning someone while they're still in the process of registering :)

seolman
01-30-2009, 11:51 PM
So when zzzgyyygy starts registering they get zapped?? That could just be me touch typing!

vangogh
01-30-2009, 11:59 PM
zzzgyyygy as a username is definitely a good sign that spam is coming.

I have a few more tricks about usernames, but I prefer to remain silent so as not to reveal my methods to any spammers who may be reading. The less they know about what I know, the easier it is to catch them.

orion_joel
01-31-2009, 07:25 AM
Seolman, you may have that smartest and dumbest thing around the wrong way. My perspective on things is more, "The smartest person in the room is the one learning, While the dumbest person is the one who does not want to learn".(Note: This quote is twitter friendly being less then 140 characters) So maybe based on you wanting to learn the most you may be one of the smarter ones here, as i really want to learn a lot as well, and i am sure that there are many others that want to be learning as well.

rezzy
01-31-2009, 12:13 PM
My perspective on things is more, "The smartest person in the room is the one learning, While the dumbest person is the one who does not want to learn".(Note: This quote is twitter friendly being less then 140 characters)

This one just might make its way to my Twitter.:D

vangogh
01-31-2009, 12:22 PM
and then be retweeted and retweeted and retweeted.

seolman
01-31-2009, 12:36 PM
and then be retweeted and retweeted and retweeted.

Sounds like a bird sanctuary around here....

cbscreative
01-31-2009, 04:13 PM
Wow, I miss a day here, and you guys have been very prolific in posting!

I was wondering how much vangogh was going to reveal about his anti-spam secrets. I agree, he is best to remain silent in case we get spammers who have just enough brain to actually read posts (not likely but possible). I think I could be convinced vangogh was not lying about being a robot, or team of robots. That explains his lack of need for sleep. He does an outstanding job here.

vangogh
01-31-2009, 05:01 PM
Thanks Steve.

I actually may point out a few signs of things to look for. The more we grow the harder it will be for a few of us to spot the spam. We'll generally all recognize it once it's posted, but it's nice getting rid of it before it even arrives.

Maybe in a month or two I'll offer up some signs for people to look for and report, without giving away too much.

Steve B
01-31-2009, 05:46 PM
I'll take the early shift. It's usually just me and Joel around in the early hours.

vangogh
01-31-2009, 05:53 PM
Steve it's funny, because once I see you and Joel and SteveC logging in I know it must be time for me to go to sleep.

By the way have you been affected by the ice storms. I hear Kentucky has been hit pretty hard the last few days, though I haven't caught which parts of the state have been hit the most.

orion_joel
01-31-2009, 06:35 PM
To bad i could not have fitted a link into my twitter friendly quote, if it is going to get retweeted.

Anyway i tend to do my logging in local time between 9am and 3pm. This is mostly because i start work sometime around 4-6pm.

Steve B
02-01-2009, 04:37 AM
By the way have you been affected by the ice storms. I hear Kentucky has been hit pretty hard the last few days, though I haven't caught which parts of the state have been hit the most.

We were very lucky and never lost power. But, it certainly hit our area hard. Lots of friends and neighbors without power and heat. We took in a couple of my kids friends for a few days. It has made for some very pretty views with everything being glazed over.

vangogh
02-01-2009, 10:33 AM
I saw mention of the storms on the news and naturally thought of you. I knew you were still coming here and sending emails so I figured you had power. Glad you managed to mostly escape, but it's still a crazy thing to happen.

On a happier note, we've now crossed the 11,000 post threshold. It took us nearly 6 months to reach 10,000 and about 9-10 days to reach the next 1,000. At that pace it should only be about 3 months to reach the second 10,000 posts. I'd say that's a sign of growth.

orion_joel
02-01-2009, 10:34 PM
I think the biggest sign of growth that i see, is the fact that 7 out of 10 days i only manage to sign in once and in the last week two of the times that i have gone a whole day i have return to full page of new posts. Where i am more use to it being around half a page.

rezzy
02-01-2009, 11:45 PM
Sometimes, I can get out-of-control on posting. :) I promise I wont spam though. I login into the forums several times a day.

vangogh
02-02-2009, 12:10 AM
If anyone is out of control posting it's me.

orion_joel
02-02-2009, 12:31 AM
yes, you have about 20% of the posts it appears...

vangogh
02-02-2009, 01:01 AM
I know. The first few weeks we were open I had more like 50% so I guess I'm cutting back some.

rezzy
02-02-2009, 08:25 AM
If anyone is out of control posting it's me.

Well, I am just trying to keep up with the greats. :D

vangogh
02-02-2009, 10:44 AM
Thanks, though I wouldn't call myself great. Prolific as a forum poster maybe, but not so sure about great.

rezzy
02-02-2009, 02:46 PM
I tend to migrate to forums when I dont have projects pressing and as you can sometimes see, I can post alot. If its something I know anything about Im there posting a novel(not always)

KristineS
02-02-2009, 04:01 PM
Thanks, though I wouldn't call myself great. Prolific as a forum poster maybe, but not so sure about great.

I think great is applicable. And as the second most prolific poster behind you, I salute you. I think I'd need to break your fingers for a few weeks in order to be able to catch up.

Not, of course, that I would ever do that. You're having enough problems with the alien probing. I don't need to add to that. :p

rezzy
02-02-2009, 04:16 PM
KristineS I see you are the queen of the forum.. but who is the king?

orion_joel
02-02-2009, 07:44 PM
I think you lost the 50% Vangogh, because i am trying to catch up. Probably a long way off though, considering that i only post half a dozen reply's a day or so.

vangogh
02-02-2009, 08:13 PM
I had to slow down too. My clients all called telling me to get some work done.

KristineS
02-02-2009, 09:34 PM
KristineS I see you are the queen of the forum.. but who is the king?

That's easy. Vangogh is king. He runs the place.

I suppose I should change my designation now, but I haven't thought of anything clever. I'll have to give it some thought.

orion_joel
02-02-2009, 10:53 PM
I wouldn't mind c change, i think i am still wearing out my keyboard (literally as well as by designation on here). I find it isnt my clients telling me to get work done so much, but my self looking at the to list and seeing i posted a lot here today but should have had a new post on the blog an hour ago. (problem solved now though i am at least a week ahead on all blogs at the moment.

vangogh
02-03-2009, 01:17 AM
Yeah I know it's time to update the designations. Any ideas?

By the way I like Emperor. Sounds so much more important. :)

Steve B
02-03-2009, 04:08 AM
The only designations I could come up with have a baseball theme.

Minor Leaguer
Rookie
All Star
Hall of Famer

But, I'm guessing non-baseball fans and our international group wouldn't think it was such a good idea.

KristineS
02-03-2009, 09:12 AM
I actually was thinking of becoming the Empress for a while, but never got around to it.

cbscreative
02-03-2009, 10:00 AM
Steve it's funny, because once I see you and Joel and SteveC logging in I know it must be time for me to go to sleep.

So now the secret is out and we know what causes you to finally get sleep; if you really sleep that is.

I have noticed a big increase in posting too. The last week has allowed me less opportunity to be here and when I do log in, WOW!

vangogh
02-03-2009, 10:22 AM
The only designations I could come up with have a baseball theme.

Works for me, being the baseball fanatic I am. We're also approaching baseball season so the timing is good. I'll wait to see if there are any objection, but if none we'll probably end up with baseball related designations.

rezzy
02-03-2009, 10:45 AM
hmm baseball designations... sounds interesting. I am in. :D

Just H
02-03-2009, 01:59 PM
I know firsthand about the baseball obsession of VanGogh so the baseball theme definitely fits him. Unless we don't really care what Earless Steven Bradley really thinks - doesn't really have the same ring as Shoeless Joe Jackson, now does it? I'm a White Sox fan from early on (about aged 6 on the green shag in front of the radio in the console as big as my car!) so I say let's go with it!

KristineS
02-03-2009, 02:07 PM
I'm not a huge sports fan, but I make my own designation, so I suppose baseball would work as well as anything. I also understand Vangogh's obsession with the game, and when he explains it, I can see why people might be interested in baseball.

Of course, that wears off after a while.

Steve B
02-03-2009, 03:50 PM
Kristine, you can be the Commissioner.

When we have to Ban someone for life, they can be the Pete Rose.

I'm not sure who the "Clown Prince" (a.k.a. Max Patkin) would be?

Steve B
02-03-2009, 03:57 PM
FYI - Max Patkin was the baseball clown in the movie Bull Durham. He is a real person that was playing himself in the movie. He was (maybe still is) almost always on the minor league circuit. I saw him a couple different times at ballparks.

vangogh
02-03-2009, 05:46 PM
I think Max Patkin is still with us, though I think he may have retired.

You know I probably could set things so that when someone gets banned it displays as Pete Rose, though only baseball fans would likely get the reference and we'd likely lose all members who come from Cincinnati and the surrounding area now and forever.

Maybe banned members could be on strike or in labor negotiations.

Just H
02-03-2009, 06:21 PM
Banned? Sounds like ejected to me! Or kicked dirt on umpire??

vangogh
02-03-2009, 06:51 PM
Ejected is perfect for banned members. I'll have to see if I can set it to show as something other than banned.

Steve B
02-03-2009, 07:44 PM
Ejected is better. Although I'm a Pete Rose fan so I think the Cincinatti people would be O.K. with the reference (he helped my Phillies win the World Series in 1980).

orion_joel
02-03-2009, 07:46 PM
hmmm, baseball, doesn't really fuss me either way. But then sports is not something i really ever spent much time on.

On another note Steve C, seems you are just three posts off your 1,000.

cbscreative
02-04-2009, 11:12 AM
For the record, I am not a sports fan either, but I can still enjoy a baseball game as long as I am at the ballpark. We have one about 5-10 minutes drive from my house, and since a bike trail goes right by it, it's about 40 minutes at a casual pace. And as I submit this post, it is #999, so I am the lowest post count among the admins. Joel, you're not too far behind with 873.

orion_joel
02-04-2009, 10:57 PM
I am the highest post count of the commoners, i think, though i may have to work to maintain that position in time. I am ok i suppose with baseball, if there anything to specific in the titles you may have to explain it to me though.

rezzy
02-05-2009, 09:50 AM
I am the highest post count of the commoners.

I will be catching you soon! :D

cbscreative
02-05-2009, 11:59 AM
I just thought I would mention here that it's time to start a new thread because tomorrow we celebrate 6 months of the new SBF! I will start that thread next.

orion_joel
02-05-2009, 08:29 PM
let me know when you break 800, and i may be worried. Actually i think Bill is closest behind me,

rezzy
02-05-2009, 09:29 PM
let me know when you break 800, and i may be worried. Actually i think Bill is closest behind me,

I think its even funnier because I havent even broke a hundred yet.

KristineS
02-06-2009, 09:13 AM
It's not the quantity of posts, it's the quality. :-)

We're lucky to have so many thoughtful, smart people here. The information on this forum is top notch.

orion_joel
02-06-2009, 07:50 PM
Just giving you the benefit of the doubt rezzy..

I agree Kristine, there is really not a lot of fluff, or such on here. It is really a good lot of information.