The Ultimate Role Play Hub: Too Boring?

[Ellie]

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to review my site. ♥

I've been running this forum since 2015. My team and I are not tech savvy. We've only recently reopened it, and I would like some feedback on how to attract new members.

I often seen forums that have are much more advanced then mine, but I also like the idea of mine being accessible to those who may not be familiar with ProBoards forums.

My goal is to be aesthetic, but also easy to navigate.

How can I attract more people? Any suggestions on my forum might be more pleasing visually and effectively?


The Ultimate Role Play Hub: tresinunum.freeforums.net




- Ellie

[Kami]

Hello! I'm about a month late but hopefully you're still looking for feedback.

I normally do a much more in-depth review, but since you're just starting out I don't think I should get too granular and just focus on big-ticket items for now until y'all can get the site rolling a bit more.

• The forum is a bit plain, yeah. I don't think that is necessarily bad, but I do know that folks are more likely to invest some extra time in a website that is aesthetically pleasing. There are a lot of pre-made themes in the ProBoards Theme Library that keep the usual PB structure while still being a little bit on the creative aesthetic side. Considering that going through your forum, font sizes change based on hover, and the font is way smaller than the default (which is extra illegible to me since I have a massive monitor), I would at least give a premade theme a go and see if you see any increase in engagement from existing members as well as any conversions from guests to members.
  
  
• I think the forum goal is perhaps a little... ambitious. Ultimate RP Hub? That is making a very big promise, and as gently as possible, it's not being executed. I see a handful of RP sections, but it's far from the "Ultimate" hub. I also want to put forth a question as food for thought: why should I join an RP hub, instead of an RP forum that would be dedicated to a specific story?
  
  
• The forum URL is not at all conducive to getting new members. I would never remember "tresinunum" in relation to "The Ultimate Role Play Hub", and that [nunum] bit is incredibly hard to parse. As much as possible, URLs really should be basically the same as the name of the website. Not only does this help your search engine results, it helps members remember what the forum URL is AND it makes it easier for them to advocate for the forum through word of mouth recommendation.

Ultimately, I am just not super sure about the premise of the forum. If your goal is to attract more people, it's challenging to determine why someone should join a hub RP instead of dedicated RP. It's all the same amount of investment of time — the user still has to create a character, develop stories, write, etc. The only real savings is the two seconds it takes to open a new tab and go to a new forum.

I'm not saying hub RP forums don't work, far from it. There's a forum that I was a part of years ago (I'm talking 2006) with that idea, and they're still currently thriving. It can work, but you just need a vision for it and that vision needs to be communicated to not just your staff, but your members and guests / potential members as well.

I hope this helps give you some ideas on how to move forward, and if you have any questions about my feedback please don't hesitate to ask! Best of luck

[Ellie]

Thank you for your feedback, Kami! It's never too late. ^.^

I will look at the theme library. Thank you for sharing the link!

As for the forum's title... we've been around since 2015. We used to be larger and had multiple active RP's (I think we had 5 active stories and 40+ members) where this title worked. I took a hiatus in 2020 and the whole site sort of died with my absence since I closed it down. It's only now reopening and the returning members are hoping to see those old RP's return or new ones be adopted.

I'm not sure how to change the URL. It used to be a single RP site which is where that name comes from. Do you recommend I completely rebuild the site with a new URL so that makes it easier for people to find?


I think our overall goal is just to bring it back. We're starting with our most popular RP (which Wolves of Baskerville, which back in its day had 20+ members and 30+ characters) and hoping to expand later. If I want to keep the "Rp Hub" idea, should I go ahead and open other RP's now?

[Kami]

Of course, any time! I love RP and I am always happy to give feedback on the subject.

- You're welcome for the link! Most everything there should be useable, though note that the longer it's been since the theme was uploaded, the higher the risk of some minor breaks in the theme due to back-end PB updates over time. If you find a theme you like that is broken or anything, come here. There might be a support thread in the theme library *board* (under "Themes" from the PB Support home page) that you can post in, or if one doesn't exist / the theme creator doesn't respond, post in the Theme board (the main part).

- I totally get you, and I commend the attempt to pivot to something a little different!

- Actually you can just change your URL without changing anything else if you're willing to spend $10 USD on it; under admin > upgrades, you should be able to find the option to do so.

- Personally, what I would do is keep what you have currently, add one that's a little bit more main-stream that will resonate with current members, then in the same category create a redirect board (place this as the first board in the category) that invites people to ask for the staff create their own section (the redirect should take them to a thread or post or custom page that details how to request). Warning: PB has a hard-coded limit of 1000 total boards (including subboards, sub-sub boards, and so on). Most folks won't hit this, even with an RP hub idea, but I'd try and figure out a system that is sustainable long-term and not try and give everyone mini-forums.

Hope this helps!