Thanks for the comments gents. It’s always worth hearing various views.
I’d just like to make public the general discussions that we have had re the Forum at COM meetings, and the direction I have taken as Webmaster as a result.
Some would like to see the forum opened up to all and sundry, while others (myself included) would prefer to keep it as a Members Only benefit. You the membership ultimately pay for this service, so should we allow anyone to use it whether they contribute to the finances or the general activity of the DOC, or not? My view, and currently the prevailing view of the COM, is no. There are several other Ducati related forums available that members can get involved with for free without cluttering ours up with useless drivel (OK it’s not all useless, but…) One other well known Ducati club has over 5000 contributors (?) to their forum, less than 800 of whom are “active”, abd something less than 500 are paying members. Why?
Our forum is much smaller, but that carries with it a rather greater degree of exclusivity.
As far as publicity is concerned, as it is a member benefit, and not a freebie to evryone and anyone, then it can only be accessed from within the Memberzone of the DOC website at DOCGB.org. The home page lets viewers know we have a forum, and if they want to use it, then lets see some commitment in the form of a paying membership like you did. Once you are a paying member you get access to the forum. Simple.
I have also taken a stance against the inclusion of ads as we have a dedicated page on the DOCGB.org website that is specifically there for ads, gets thousands more hits than the forum, and actually raises a little money for the club in the process.
I hope this gives some insight into some of the issues raised, and I’ll gladly discuss them at greater length if needed.
Cheers