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New feature : Post BEFORE Register !


Durango

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Hi

There is a great feature on some large boards, often boards belonging to large companies

They allow visitors to post and only at the end require username & email to perform the registration

Many visitors would never register first and then post, they directly post with a form, and discover at the end they have to provide username & email to have their post submitted, so they accept to give those informations

This is very powerful, and i was hoping to see this on IPS 4, maybe it is available and i didnt see it ?

You must have seen this many times on the web, an example here on a french website :

http://voyage.linternaute.com/forum/canada-24002/new

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  • 8 months later...
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On June 30, 2015 at 5:03 PM, Durango said:

Hi

There is a great feature on some large boards, often boards belonging to large companies

They allow visitors to post and only at the end require username & email to perform the registration

Many visitors would never register first and then post, they directly post with a form, and discover at the end they have to provide username & email to have their post submitted, so they accept to give those informations

This is very powerful, and i was hoping to see this on IPS 4, maybe it is available and i didnt see it ?

You must have seen this many times on the web, an example here on a french website :

http://voyage.linternaute.com/forum/canada-24002/new

Very interesting way to get more users!

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This would be a key feature for social engagement @Lindy :)

If they sign up and dont get the registration email (given all the mandrill changes etc recently) it would be nice to have a modal with an option to contact an admin directly to help aid them become activated. This modal could also be used for new registrations without the post.

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Seems like a bait and switch tactic I would not use myself, it would frustrate me if I was on a site, took 20 minutes to compose a post that the system let me compose, to be hit with a register prompt. I'd say "screw this place" and close the window.

Unless it was done for ease and a warning message told them something like "You will be taken to the registration form before this post is published." I don't like the idea of tricking people into registering but if there is full disclosure that they still need to register, then it could be a nice convenience.

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5 hours ago, sobrenome said:

Very interesting way to get more users!

yes very powerfull !

Actually we used to have a forum with a home made script, and we had developped such a feature : basically the same than the link of my first post of this topic, well it has increased the participation a lot : we had around 30 new posts per day, versus 10-12 posts before, so almost *3 !!

thats why this is the first feature i asked for when moving to IPB last year, but no reactions then

4 hours ago, ZeroHour said:

This would be a key feature for social engagement @Lindy :)

If they sign up and dont get the registration email (given all the mandrill changes etc recently) it would be nice to have a modal with an option to contact an admin directly to help aid them become activated. This modal could also be used for new registrations without the post.

Tx ZeroJour :)

2 hours ago, SammyS said:

Interesting feature, dont know why it didnt get more feedback. That´s something Iwould like to get to my forum

Same here !

1 hour ago, sobrenome said:

Much better a built in feature.

Agree !

43 minutes ago, chilihead said:

Seems like a bait and switch tactic I would not use myself, it would frustrate me if I was on a site, took 20 minutes to compose a post that the system let me compose, to be hit with a register prompt. I'd say "screw this place" and close the window.

Actually it is not a bait, it is just an easier way to post for people, sometimes you have 2mn to post : type 3 lines then give an id & passwd & mail, and youre done, so easier than having to register first, go to your mail, validate the mail, go back to the forum, relogin, find again the place where you wanted to post etc etc : such a hassle !

look at the link i posted above :  http://voyage.linternaute.com/forum/canada-24002/new

there is no surprise for the user, he knows from the very beginning he will give an id & mail at then end of the form

41 minutes ago, Lindy said:

We actually have something planned that should make you happy. ;) 

Hi Lindy, so good to hear :)

 

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2 minutes ago, Durango said:

there is no surprise for the user, he knows from the very beginning he will give an id & mail at then end of the form

I like the idea then. It sounded like you allow guest posting but then "bam" nope, we don't.

I like the idea of post, submit, register, it is posted.

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Hi

15 hours ago, chilihead said:

I like the idea then

good to hear :)

Here are screenshots made to show what could be done to boost people's engagement :

 

Normal Reply if guest :

 

reply3.thumb.jpg.733c823ae6efa7551114d4c

 

Suggested Reply if guest :

 

reply2.thumb.jpg.51e740977a0297e4fc4fe5d

 

on the model of one of the main french sites (CCM) : http://www.commentcamarche.net/forum/linux-unix-13/new

many other leading communities in the world are doing the same like Tomsguide (UK) :

http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/

The idea is simple : you ask your question or you answer a topic first, then we ask you to register : very powerful to increase users engagement

Of course this could be an option in the ACP

easier to post a screenshot i know than actually coding it i know ;)@Lindy

any idea welcome :)

 

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  • 1 month later...

Great idea!!

Just one more thing - don't forget that it's not only for "reply", but also for "post new topic" ^_^
And in this regard, I would add that an option to "write first, choose later" is a great idea for choosing the right forum for the new topic as well...

For example, I would have a BIG BUTTON (even on my homepage outside the forums) that says "HAVE A QUESTION? ASK IN OUR FORUM!" and will take the user to the "post new topic" page. After he enter his message (or on the same page, but not before he get the chance to write his post), he will be then asked to choose the most suitable forum for the subject of his topic.

Right now I can't have this big button that will encourage people to post new topics, because before they can get to the "post new topic" page they HAVE to choose a forum first...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

That would work perfectly on my Home page too. Because of past spamming, I manually approve all new users, but I can see how I could combine the "Ask your question" idea with this (just have a display line "your post is being moderated" to cover the time it takes to send out an email to the new user, and get a valid reply email back then hand approve).

This could definitely work for us. Great idea.

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  • 1 month later...

Tx @Lindy i cant wait to see it live ^_^

that would totally change our participation rate and boost our communities

people are so lazy they dont want to register even if they wanted to say something, having them saying what they want to say FIRST, and then ask them a username & email AFTER is the key ^_^

 

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23 hours ago, Durango said:

people are so lazy they dont want to register even if they wanted to say something, having them saying what they want to say FIRST, and then ask them a username & email AFTER is the key ^_^

Totally agree.

Also please don't forget my idea about letting then say what they want to say FIRST, and then ask them to *choose a forum* (which is another annoying step) AFTER...

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  • 1 month later...

Please see how easy and fun it is to post a new topic in Discourse:

All you have is a very straightforward form with the title, CATEGORY, and message.
You can post a new topic from everywhere, you don't have to enter a specific forum ("category") and then use the "new topic" button from there...

Discourse has many very good UX / UI advantages over all other traditional forum softwares, but it does lack on other things in the name of simplicity.
I think that you should really consider adopting some of its concepts, such as making it much easier to post new topics.

 

2016-09-19_1518.png

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