My suggestions...

[Ray]

Here are my suggestions.

1. Upgrade Forum Software.
Version. 4 is much cleaner and less cluttered.

2. Reskin / structure layout.
I understand a new theme is in the works now. The layout needs to be focused on promoting the top of the funnel region more and more of NP unique features like NP clicks . These links should be seperate from the other forum links.

3. Bring back the NP$

The Np currency was a great addition to namepros. It gave users the feeling that they where gettin somethig back for there efforts . I'll be honest , I came to np searching for a free domain when I was 15. After making quality posts in the web design talk forums (next topic ) I earned one posting quality posts

Some users feel that there posts are just being used for content to help promote advertising. Giving back will help decrease this.

There is the issues of spam, but that should not be an issue with us moderators Doing our jobs

4. NP was once two communities. WDT AND NP.
Although conent was structured different on each, all post and threads were accessible.

This will help liven up the other forums as it is promoting the web development world.

5. Profiles
NP did a good job with adding the friend feature and updating the profiles. It needs more however. It needs to be designed to look more like a social network.

Maybe a follow option so members can follow or subscribe to other users. A status can be updated.

A portfolio option where domainers can list there domains, prices and all information regarding such or like a sedo like feature

6. NP like escrow
NP should implement an escrow like service so sellers and buyers alike feel more confident when buying and selling. NP could shave off a fee.

This could help reduce the cost of server costs.

7. Less forums
NP has way to many forums. It is spread really thin in some areas as some dont get mote than a couple post a week.I feel tht it should be organized so that the less posted forums are more of a sub forum for its parent.

It's also sometimes hard to navigate.

I love NP to death, I couldn't survive without it. That beig said I feel NP needs to take it to the next level and get over the hump.

I remember a few years ago it was incorporated. Let's put it to good use.

Note.. This was typed on my phone,. Sorry for any typos. I tried to get them all.

 

[Sabre]

Agreed with 1,2,3 and 4.

5 doesn't really affect me and 6 has so many issues - there was lots of discussion about this a couple of years back and it would be difficult and time consuming to implement.

 

[Ray]

6 would be hard to implement , I would agree with that, however I feel that it could potentially have a good impact

 

[Eric Lyon]

Upgrading forum software:
While this sounds good in theory, there have been so many custom modifications and coding done over the years to namePros that each upgrade ended up breaking 50% of the site which then caused 6 months or more of code fixing bug reports. In the current light of code and additions to namePros, upgrading at this point with as much custom code as we have now might break even a larger % of the site & features rendering us offline for days, then in feature repairs for weeks, then in bug reports for many more months for the stuff we haven't been able to get to yet, from minor to major.

Reskin / structure layout
We are going to be going over structure in the meeting today as far as merging, subing, cutting down a bit and compiling forums to make for an easier navigational user experience, however, the NP$ clicks is not something we have plans on promoting to strong as noted below.

Bring back the NP$
Currently there are no plans to bring back the NP$ Bank, it caused way to many legal hassles and even went as far as law suits. This is a very touchy area and we would need to consult an attorney before considering moving back in that direction.

NP was once two communities. WDT AND NP
Not sure merging 2 totally different categories into one section is very ideal, but this something we'll be discussing today in the meeting anyways so we'll see how it pans out.

Profiles
We've talked about a domain portfolio option in the past and I also still think that's a neat idea. This is something that would require even more custom code which again makes it even harder to upgrade the vbulletin software. Since this is something that may take months to code and get right, it's not something we can do immediately but is something to continue looking into as an additional option once out Tech's are caught up with their current big coding tasks.

NP like escrow
Since we wont be reopening the NP$ bank a full escrow probably wouldn't work, however we do have a simple escrow that holds NP$ in the NP$ Exchange allowing the seller to first confirm paypal payment prior to pushing the NP$ to the buyer.

Less forums
Yes, this is what we'll be talking about today as referenced further above in this post.

--------------------------------------------

Thanks for all your suggestions

 

[Kate]

I am still wondering why Matt bought NP.
He sure must have ideas too ?

 

[Ben42]

Bring back the NP$
Currently there are no plans to bring back the NP$ Bank, it caused way to many legal hassles and even went as far as law suits. This is a very touchy area and we would need to consult an attorney before considering moving back in that direction.

I didn't know about this, that is really too bad. It was really a great idea, but I guess 5 years behind the times. It would probably take thousands in lawyer fees to come up with an airtight system, but I think the forum that builds a well working banking/payment system that rewards members for quality posts while allowing free trade will be the one that survives the attrition.

 

[Sabre]

I am still wondering why Matt bought NP.
He sure must have ideas too ?

I am assuming that he wants to take a hands off approach to the forum - so he has his input in his meetings with staff. To be fair, a lot of the bigger forums are owned by companies so this is relatively common. I think some of us were just still expecting an RJ-style hands-on management to come onboard as the new owner so our expectations are too high!

 

[Eric Lyon]

I am assuming that he wants to take a hands off approach to the forum - so he has his input in his meetings with staff. To be fair, a lot of the bigger forums are owned by companies so this is relatively common.

That's a pretty accurate assessment. Like with a majority of investors that buy small to large businesses, they normally have a management team they feel is capable of overseeing the day to day activities within each business model. As you said, it's a very common practice for an owner to either attend meetings or to work one on one with an elected official of each business over seeing progress reports and making final calls on situations that may impact the business dramatically in some way.

Matt does have a vision, but like with anything, proper changes take time and wont happen over night. Sometimes it's even wise to change slowly on purpose just so people can soak everything in easier in phases without getting hit all at once and becoming lost or misplaced.

No worries, Matt Truly does love NamePros and wants to see it succeed as much as others do.

 

[DU]

I couldn't find the other thread and this seems ok to post as is it relates to less forums and the decision to remove the .TV subforum which is not hugely active but does have some "fans"

Can you sticky each of the major ccTLD Official threads so that they stay at the top.

I'm talking .Me, .CC, .TV etc. Obviously other threads can be created but these are far and away the most used and it would be much easier if I didn't have to looking for them.

 

[Eric Lyon]

I couldn't find the other thread and this seems ok to post as is it relates to less forums and the decision to remove the .TV subforum which is not hugely active but does have some "fans"

Can you sticky each of the major ccTLD Official threads so that they stay at the top.

I'm talking .Me, .CC, .TV etc. Obviously other threads can be created but these are far and away the most used and it would be much easier if I didn't have to looking for them.

The only downside to that is that just at first glance there's 10 Official showcase cctld threads on the first page and I'm sure more on page 2, 3, 4, etc... If we sticked them all, the rest of the threads would get buried down the list. And if we only sticky 2 or 3 of them, all the fans of the other cctld's will want theirs stickied to.. lol

I do understand your point of view on this though and it would be nice for people to access the official showcases / discussions easier, I'm just not sure having a full page of stickies is the best solution.

Any other ideas for the showcases that might help a little but at the same time not create a full sticky page?

 

[SK1990]

Any other ideas for the showcases that might help a little but at the same time not create a full sticky page?

Sub-Sub-forums

 

[Eric Lyon]

Sub-Sub-forums lol.

hmm, that's an idea, maybe start with the top most popular cctlds and create a sub-sub-forum for them in cctld discussions with their correlating showcase thread as a sticky in it.

I say sub-sub-forum along with you because a sub-forum (2nd tier) creates a line of forums above the threads within the main forum and again like lots of stickies pushes all the content to the bottom of the page, However, if there was a Sub-Forum in cctld maybe titled: Official showcase cctld's Forums & then sub-forumed each popular cctld as the 3rd tier in the 2nd tier sub, it wouldn't disrupt the 1st tier.

But will people want to click that deep to get to them is the question?

 

[Blake]

I couldn't find the other thread and this seems ok to post as is it relates to less forums and the decision to remove the .TV subforum which is not hugely active but does have some "fans"

The .tv area hasn't been removed it's just been relocated as a subforum of CCTLD area...just wanted to mention this as well.

Cheers

Blake A. Worthington

 

[DU]

The .tv area hasn't been removed it's just been relocated as a subforum of CCTLD area...just wanted to mention this as well.

Cheers

Blake A. Worthington

I realized this after I posted

Think, Open, Speak... is sometimes Open, Speak, Think

I like the TV as a subforum. I didn't want to get into the whole .US .CO needs one too because that's been brought up numerous times which is why I said sticky.

I do wish the .US threads were more visible.

Could you put a link at the to that creates a view by Prefix? I know I can search ccTLD by .US etc which is nice.

This is all unimportant stuff in the grand scheme of things.