Vanilla is horrible software, it does not even look like a forum, i would suggest something that looks forum-ish.
This sounds like an interesting idea. I really like it. Here's what you do though... don't limit to 100 members. Maybe somewhere around 500. This way you have diverse knowledge and experience. Have some sort of voting system that bans people. Like if a member gets 5-10 negative votes (say on a thread that is spam, or ignorant) from other users, they are out of the tight community.
@ Meads, there is no such thing as 'looking like a forum'... there can be a forum of people... I think Vanilla is nice software, but I'm leaning back towards phpBB now. @ Biztone, that sounds good, we should definitely have something like that in. I've just been looking at domains and am having a hard time picking one, I'll just go with something simple; after all, domain isn't really important with private communities...
Sounds like a great idea , Id be interested. Just curious on how you decide who can join and who cant ? also if somebody is rejected is there anyway for them to later try to gain entry ? Just with forums people come and go so that 100 is alittle low and forum would soon die a death.
I think this idea will great. You can develop a nice community of good webmasters and discuss the issues, exchanging knowledge, sharing it etc. I will look forward to be in that community if it happens.
I am always trying to learn more about online marketing and website creation so I would also be interested. I also think that keeping the maximum number of users to 100 is too low.
I would love to take part in this. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I have quite a bit of experience with marketing and SEO.
One hundred would definitely be too small of a number since you cannot guarantee that the majority of them will even remain active. Some people will be too busy to post, grow out of webmastering, or simply move on. Not to mention that you can't count on all one hundred members posting consistently (or at all). I think one thousand would just work out a lot better, and it wouldn't necessarily lose the feel of a tight-knit community since everyone would get to know each other eventually.
I also think that 100 people is too small, but he's definitely right about the control issues. Once the people get anonymous, the chaos and the abuse begins. Just an idea but maybe something like a brotherhood (or sisterhood - no offence) could be constructed so that every member will be the referal of another and that will put great responsibility on both people's shoulders. If the one that was refered spoils the medium, they are both kicked out. We can also create a small audition unit that will change periodically being responsible of examining the identity of the membership applications. It won't be so hard to understand a scammer. So, briefly, we're trying to create the "ideal" case and it can't be done with the way of public forums. There will be few (but high quality) members, getting a membership will be so hard, there will be strict rules etc. These are quite normal. And by the way, if we're gonna do it with a small group of people and keep it private, we'll need money for domain reg and the hosting. I can and we should contribute to those issues as well. An avarage will cost 1-5 dollars per year regards,
I know a very good host who offers a 'pay as you go' solution. Basically, you only pay for what you use every month... Since costs would be pretty small for the first month (with members just getting in), i would cover that. If prices get higher then I would post them on the forums and people would be free to contribute to the server costs, but I wouldn't make it a requirement The forums should be live tonight, I'll set them up when I'm back from work! Also, since most people think 100 is too low to start with, I think a better number to start with would be 500 then.
Forum is a place for the people to discuss about the various things which are of our need. So, if the members are limited to certain point it is not possible for the member to be online all the time therefore the discussion or any news will be of little use. Active members and participants with creative mind and a sheer knowledge and always ready to learn is the key to success in my opinion. Therefore i will ask you to not limit the numbers as the quotations also says: "Two heads are better than One"
As most of us already know, it's not about quantity it's about quality. Lots of people will make it a "public" forum, and this is against the #1 rule. And for the quotations (forgive my translation), "5 lions is better than 500 hundred sheeps"
I'd be interested as well, as long as there wasn't a member limit of 100 people: as mentioned, there wouldn't be as much content and there are more than 100 good webmasters on DP alone who speak fluent English. A limit of around 500 is more realistic.
Hey I also would like to be a part of ur forum .. If u need hosting i can help .... all u need is a domain name of urs and vB license. Why vB B'cos vB have many features like iTrader and other hacks which rarely anyone has.
Me no speak english but me know someone from Morrocco making ecommerce website for 10 000 euros... me friend no speak english too so me friend no access to forum...