jar546
Forum Coordinator
It has now been over 3 full months since we moved to the new Xenforo platform after saying goodbye to the antiquated vBulletin. It was a major move which took place right after another major move to a new server with Amazon. Both moves were made for the improvement of the forum experience along with reduced maintenance costs and decreased server costs. I can tell you that both of those costs were reduced.
The move, however, which was funded by many of you who stepped up to the plate and offered to contribute, was only possible because of your ability to raise the money needed. For that, I and everyone who visited this forum should thank you.
Now on to some numbers and statistics. Since the move:
* We average 100 new registered members per month (an increase)
* I had pruned thousands of members who had not posted or visited in more than 3 years. (house cleaning)
* Posting and topics has been increasing.
* Website engagement is improving. People are spending more time once they get here.
On the other hand:
* Our actual number of total visits per day was initially down to 20% of normal (we figured this would take about a month or so to recover. We were wrong) We are now at 33% of our previous numbers so we are slowly improving. Many old links simply could not be maintained and the old system did have an archive which created tons more links.
* As a result of our overall number of visitors being down (despite more posting) our Google AdSense revenue, which was already less than half of what it was, went down accordingly with matching numbers. What this means is that all of the money we saved moving the server was wiped out by the loss of revenue in Google AdSense and then some.
* We have lost approximately 40 Sawhorses, Supporters and Corporate Supporters which really puts a significant damper on things. I honestly don't know what I can do to get these people back.
Overall, we are in good shape and as usual, I am committed to making this work and IT IS. Our numbers are climbing, albeit slowly; our engagement time is increasing, our membership is growing faster than it was in the past. Essentially, we will be here and continue to provide a solid product because of YOU. It is because of the threads you start, the posts you make and the commitment you have to this forum that it even exists. For that I thank each and every one of you.
Please copy and share the link to this forum to colleagues and anyone else that is directly or indirectly related to the building code industry. My vision is to be the number one online source of interactive code discussion in the world and I think we are slowly but surely getting there.
Thank you.
Here is a view of our daily visits and you can see how it has been affected.
The move, however, which was funded by many of you who stepped up to the plate and offered to contribute, was only possible because of your ability to raise the money needed. For that, I and everyone who visited this forum should thank you.
Now on to some numbers and statistics. Since the move:
* We average 100 new registered members per month (an increase)
* I had pruned thousands of members who had not posted or visited in more than 3 years. (house cleaning)
* Posting and topics has been increasing.
* Website engagement is improving. People are spending more time once they get here.
On the other hand:
* Our actual number of total visits per day was initially down to 20% of normal (we figured this would take about a month or so to recover. We were wrong) We are now at 33% of our previous numbers so we are slowly improving. Many old links simply could not be maintained and the old system did have an archive which created tons more links.
* As a result of our overall number of visitors being down (despite more posting) our Google AdSense revenue, which was already less than half of what it was, went down accordingly with matching numbers. What this means is that all of the money we saved moving the server was wiped out by the loss of revenue in Google AdSense and then some.
* We have lost approximately 40 Sawhorses, Supporters and Corporate Supporters which really puts a significant damper on things. I honestly don't know what I can do to get these people back.
Overall, we are in good shape and as usual, I am committed to making this work and IT IS. Our numbers are climbing, albeit slowly; our engagement time is increasing, our membership is growing faster than it was in the past. Essentially, we will be here and continue to provide a solid product because of YOU. It is because of the threads you start, the posts you make and the commitment you have to this forum that it even exists. For that I thank each and every one of you.
Please copy and share the link to this forum to colleagues and anyone else that is directly or indirectly related to the building code industry. My vision is to be the number one online source of interactive code discussion in the world and I think we are slowly but surely getting there.
Thank you.
Here is a view of our daily visits and you can see how it has been affected.
