Jim S. - I know what you are saying, and I am not saying it is good/bad or whatever, just pointing out how I loo at it when I come in here. When I go into the Armor forum and it seems like half the posts are about new item releases, it makes me think 2 things:

1. Nice to see you guys are on top of things and that you are getting the scoop first or nearly so.

2. The "push" to get people into looking at the news section is gaining in importance to the items in the forum. So the more these posts show up, the more discussion, and probably off topic, they will be just due to the nature of them being topics in the armor forum.

The news section has been around a long time and it served well. My guess is that advertisers were griping about numbers (or there are plans to show good numbers inthe future) and things needed to be "improved".

Jim Brae - It seems this site is going forward to becoming a web-zine. No problem with that at all, but it does mean that noticable changes are...noticable. I am not a core member of the site, so my feelings on the future of the site are, by my own admission, not really important. I do not do all the hard work, you guys do. I just think that it is showing more than you guys realize.

Jacques,
Obviously if a few "forum only" people click through to the news article that is a secondary benefit for them and the vendor the story may be about. But the reality is (and I know this because I have looked at the numbers before) the posts in the forum and the traffic in the forum only accounts for about 30-40% of the activity on the site. I know you guys may find that hard to believe. As an example the news story "M113 & M7 References" has been read over 800 times. Where as the news topic that announces it has been read only 120 times.

Cheers,
Jim

We have a "News section"?

I generally give it a quick glance and go straight to "forums".

Horses for courses.

Not worth falling out about.

Yup Jim, I am surprised on the forum activity amount. I also would have thought there would be more follow through from the forums. Of course, it begs the question, would the news story only have been read 700 times if there was no corresponding thread? Those 120 "extra" hits count for about 15%...a nice growth number to take to advertisers. Of course, I could be way off base here...

Our advertisers are having a chuckle at that because they know I have never really bothered with tracking how many clicks a news story has, etc. They only care about how many clicks they get and if they are selling things from those clicks.

It's funny that there seems to be a perception with some users that I spend a lot of time obsessing about advertisers. If this was the case as Vinnie will attest I would be a lot quicker following up some of the inquiries we have gotten about running an ad.

I look forward to the day I have time to obsess about them. Or better yet the day I can hire someone else to make them their realm of responsibility.

Cheers,
Jim

OK, time for another really dumb "grumpy" question!!!
I take it it would do the site better if I clicked on the ad to go to on of my normal shopping spree's, than using my bookmarks?

Dave,
Well...sure that would show merchants that a lot of their customers use Armorama as a "homebase" per say just as I am sure many users do with other sites like Hyperscale and ML. I think vendors recognize that the side banner ads act as big bookmarks for our regular users.

Cheers,
Jim

You know, I am probably under a mistaken presumption. Follow my thoughts (no really, stop laughing, give this a shot...)

1. I recently read that unsolicited reviews are going to be fairly restricted. I know the reasons behind it, (I have read the threads) but it is a recent developement for the site.

2. I read that Jim is trying to set things up so that his PRIMARY real life job is running the sites. That means, I am assuming, a fair amount of $$$.

3. The number of reviews, news items, and general advertising has been growing at a fair pace over the last year or so.

4. The recent "shakeup" (ok, rethinking of their use) of moderators and forums in reducing their number and making the positiion more "professional" in some respects.

5. Also the scattered talk about yearly "dues" for more access to new site features etc...

This all leads me to the conclusion of the site going to web-zine status which means that Jim will have to obcess about advertising (or like he said, hire out the headache). I think this could be a really good thing, depending on how it is handled. Assuming I have my logic correct here.

A core of paid "pro's" providing core material and then having a few "rings" of semi-pro's who provide a more limited amount of material, but still have a "stake" in the site, would be a more novel and maybe even more freindly approach than some other sites.

Of course, as stated, this asssumes I am correct in my assumptions... #:-)

Nah....your assumptions are mostly correct. Except that advertisers had no bearing on setting up the What's New page and subsequently the What's News automated posts. That was just a user/functionality thing.

And you are correct that I look at the site as more of an online magazine than simply a community forum. That has been the case for several years now.

Jim

I will give you all Kudos Jim, this place has a definate professional feel to it and It is the first place I have come to look for reviews on many items before I even google other places. That says a lot for the trust I have in this place. So all of the "full time" guys really do deserve a hell of a pat on the back.

A Web-zine is a strange new experience. I tend to think of them as rather forced and calloused sites, more worried about maintaining incoming $$$ than anything else. So far you have managed to avoid this really well. This place still retains its community forum feel even though it is much more than just a "bulletin board and water cooler".

And thanks for the affirmation that I have not completely lost my analytical ability...not like it took a lot of brain power that is... :-)