Forum secrets, fess up.

Post by **Mercury Hat** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:22 am

Joel Fagin wrote:
jameslong wrote:My secret? I sacrifice a toy poodle doused in Warcheshire sauce...
Worcestershire.

Shessh.

- Joel Fagin

I don't know why everyone messes that one up. I mean, it's pronounced exactly like it's spelled

.

Jameslong · Post by **Jameslong** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:23 am

Joel Fagin wrote:
jameslong wrote:My secret? I sacrifice a toy poodle doused in Warcheshire sauce...
Worcestershire.

Shessh.

- Joel Fagin

you say potato, I say potatoe.

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:47 am

I don't believe in forums, buit I do believe in shoutbox. Even dead ones like my own

Turnsky · Post by **Turnsky** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:04 am

Fabio Ciccone wrote:I don't believe in forums, buit I do believe in shoutbox. Even dead ones like my own

if you don't believe in forums, then how can you be posting in one?

TheSuburbanLetdown · Post by **TheSuburbanLetdown** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:07 am

Spooky, huh?

Renard · Post by **Renard** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:51 am

The greatest trick the forum ever pulled was convincing the world it didn't exist.

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:50 am

Turnsky wrote:
Fabio Ciccone wrote:I don't believe in forums, buit I do believe in shoutbox. Even dead ones like my own
if you don't believe in forums, then how can you be posting in one?

I am?

Oh my God, I thought this was a chat room!

Actually, I meant that comic specific forums are too much trouble (you have to log in and stuff), while shoutboxes you just type and there you go. I believe comic forums will only really work when the comic is very famous. I don't think it's a very good way to interact with the audience. I rather write thing s in my editorial and receive and make comments in the shoutbox (although it doesn't really work in my CG site, it works fine in the original Brazilian site

)

Vorticus · Post by **Vorticus** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:59 am

Fabio Ciccone wrote:
Turnsky wrote:
Fabio Ciccone wrote:I don't believe in forums, buit I do believe in shoutbox. Even dead ones like my own
if you don't believe in forums, then how can you be posting in one?
I am?

Oh my God, I thought this was a chat room!

Clear sign you've been on the computer too long

. I suggest you step away from the internet for a while.

As to the original question, I've noticed that comics with room for speculation tend to have more active forums/shoutboxes than ones that don't but that's probably a change you can't or won't make right now.

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:53 am

Mercury Hat wrote:
Joel Fagin wrote:
jameslong wrote:My secret? I sacrifice a toy poodle doused in Warcheshire sauce...
Worcestershire.
Shessh.
- Joel Fagin
I don't know why everyone messes that one up. I mean, it's pronounced exactly like it's spelled .

Except, ironically, here in Worcester.

Ahem...Woostah.

and occasionally you'll get a "Wister" too

Yeahduff · Post by **Yeahduff** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:08 am

I'm fairly certain she's lying to you. Which would be a flagrant abuse of admin trust.

Black Sparrow · Post by **Black Sparrow** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:03 pm

yeahduff wrote:...admin trust.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh, wait... you mean that actually exists?

Tyras · Post by **Tyras** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:15 pm

Though this might not be helpful advice, forums work a lot better when they're not part of a bigger one. From what I've seen, comics that 'rent out' forum space on forums like the CG one don't do all that well. People get lost, or are reluctant to join, and admins usually have little control over the forum.

I hate to brag, but my forum has 76 members at the moment, 21 of which have over 100 posts. The reason, I think, is that my forum is hosted on it's own server, ad-free, by itself.

Webkilla · Post by **Webkilla** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:44 pm

corrected

Tyras wrote: I am bragging haha!, but my forum has 76 members at the moment, 21 of which have over 100 posts. The reason, I think, is that my forum is hosted on it's own server, ad-free, by itself.

so you think that by having an 'isolated' forum you can better draw in forumites? hmm

how about forum based contests? like the "what should happen next - vote in forum poll thread" kinda stuff? anyone have any experience with this?

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:08 pm

Joel Fagin wrote:
jameslong wrote:My secret? I sacrifice a toy poodle doused in Warcheshire sauce...
Worcestershire.

Shessh.

- Joel Fagin

My husband eats that stuff straight out of the bottle.

Back on topic, if you want an active *forum*, you're going to need a heck of a lot of fans, and something for them to talk about/discuss. So like someone already said, contests are good. If you're going to run contests and don't have a forum, actually, that might be a bit awkward.

An active shoutbox doesn't require as many fans/work. Posting in your own shoutbox is probably a good idea, as it will get readers used to the idea that they can talk to you and ask you questions. Sometimes I have my characters post in my shoutbox, too.

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:41 pm

You know, I deliberately misspelt "Sheesh" and no one called me on it.

Man...

You guys really are bad at spelling.

- Joel Fagin

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:48 pm

I'm just dyslexic.

Levi-chan · Post by **Levi-chan** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:58 pm

s/dyslexic/lysdexic/

OLOL

---

Anyway, I have a "Legion" of sorts - made up of funny, crazy, weird and nice people. It's really, really cool.

I think the key is actually talking to them. It's amazingly easy to fall into the trap of not conversing in the same "plane" as fans sometimes, and using creator-to-fan conversational gears. The fans are actual dudes and gals, not a faceless horde of strangers.

Also, update.

Geekblather · Post by **Geekblather** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:34 pm

Levi-chan wrote:
I think the key is actually talking to them. It's amazingly easy to fall into the trap of not conversing in the same "plane" as fans sometimes, and using creator-to-fan conversational gears. The fans are actual dudes and gals, not a faceless horde of strangers.

Yeah- that's also a big one. Folks that have messaged me (I make my aim/icq/yahoo/msn available in my profile on my forum) have said that they're surprised that I'm actually personable and will talk to them. Amazing how far that goes in making conversation with people. Is- talking like they're people.

Jackhass · Post by **Jackhass** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:02 am

Be very popular, or (since few on Comicgenesis are really all that popular) you gotta pimp that board *hard*.

My board was always dead as a doornail. There were people who got less hits than me and had forums more active than mine because I kind of just assumed I could put it up and the people will come. Well they won't...people come to your comic's site for entertainment, and if you want them to post on your board you have to make it entertaining or interesting in some way too.

Most people who simply want to send you a message telling you how much they appreciate your work will in most cases probably prefer to just send you a private email. Probably no more than a dozen or so people ever posted on my board...I've got a lot more emails than that though.

Kris X · Post by **Kris X** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:59 pm

Or make a comic worth talking about...