opinion DNForum's failed business motto

[MapleDots]

I was reading on another forum that people are not joining here because of the membership fees to be able to buy or sell domains.

I also read on this forum that Rob Monster said in order to do business one has to buy the tools.



I completely understand Robs point of view but alas DNForum has failed a number of times and people blame participation blah blah blah. Lets call a spade a spade and tell it like it is. The forum has failed numerous times because of poor management and membership fees. Using the blockbuster example it is not easy to see that people will always flock to the cheaper alternative.

So my question for the member base is continue down this failed course or open things up and make the fees voluntary with special badges for people who pay the fees. Much like a donation system with a few special privilege's.

As an alternative what I would personally like to see is a highly restricted listing system that allows maximum 2-3 listings per day so that members do not flood the for sale section with useless crap. We should encourage them to post their best domains and limit them to 3 max on a free plan. Does this sound familiar? I would also limit paying members to 3 listings per day but I would give them a bold title or a higher display position on the forum for being a paying member.

Anyways... lets discuss this and see if we cannot bring in a positive change to assure this forum sets the pace and distinguishes itself from its predecessors.

 

[Tom K.]

Personally, I don't care RM owns DNF. But from a business perspective, I don't think overtly linking DNF to Epik is a good idea. It gives the impression that the forum will be biased to one registrar and that this same registrar will have free rein. Meaning, not accountable to moderation and be able to spin whatever message or promotion they want. RM was known to dominate discussions through proxy and staff accounts on the other forum. So what stops him from filling new memberships with Epik staff and freelancers to create new posts.

Personally, I would make DNF separated from Epik. Hire people to moderate the forum that are not part of Epik. And make DNF a separate business entity. Have a strict policy not to be biased to Epik.

 

[MapleDots]

Personally, I don't care RM owns DNF. But from a business perspective, I don't think overtly linking DNF to Epik is a good idea. It gives the impression that the forum will be biased to one registrar and that this same registrar will have free rein. Meaning, not accountable to moderation and be able to spin whatever message or promotion they want. RM was known to dominate discussions through proxy and staff accounts on the other forum. So what stops him from filling new memberships with Epik staff and freelancers to create new posts.

Personally, I would make DNF separated from Epik. Hire people to moderate the forum that are not part of Epik. And make DNF a separate business entity. Have a strict policy not to be biased to Epik.

Or maybe he wants it to be part of Epik, the branding kind of gives that away and that is exactly why I don't think charging membership fees are the way yo go. Obviously the forum is going to be heavily weighted toward Epik and that starts with the branding.

I think it was a brilliant move to buy the forum and I think it's a great way to introduce all the new Epik services to members. Now if the rest of the forum services were free we would not really have a case to complain about that.

 

[amplify]

I was reading on another forum that people are not joining here because of the membership fees to be able to buy or sell domains.

I can tell you back in the day, sometime before 2015, DNF flourished no matter the price. The price served as a deterrence as you brought up below.

As an alternative what I would personally like to see is a highly restricted listing system that allows maximum 2-3 listings per day so that members do not flood the for sale section with useless crap.

The next software rollout will impose restrictions on accounts to ease moderation.

I don't think overtly linking DNF to Epik is a good idea. It gives the impression that the forum will be biased to one registrar and that this same registrar will have free rein.

Any registrar is able to come on DNF and assist their customers. We will not prohibit them or put systems in place that may detract users from seeing the public discourse (e.g. shadowbanning threads, etc.).

We just ask of all to obey the cardinal rule of treating others how they would like to be treated. DNF was always a professional forum and that culture has never changed despite the ownership challenges.

I think it was a brilliant move to buy the forum and I think it's a great way to introduce all the new Epik services to members.

I think having transparency is the biggest pro here. You can now gauge for yourself if there is bias or not, and if there is perceived bias, we can definitely clear it up now.

 

[mr-x]

The best domain forum I belonged to was subscription based.

 

[Biggie]

I was reading on another forum

I also read on this forum

Hi

np copied everything from dnforum.com, from paid memberships to np$
so, what some say, is basically irrelevant to the longevity of this forum.

Personally, I don't care RM owns DNF. But from a business perspective, I don't think overtly linking DNF to Epik is a good idea. It gives the impression that the forum will be biased to one registrar and that this same registrar will have free rein. Meaning, not accountable to moderation and be able to spin whatever message or promotion they want. RM was known to dominate discussions through proxy and staff accounts on the other forum. So what stops him from filling new memberships with Epik staff and freelancers to create new posts.

Personally, I would make DNF separated from Epik. Hire people to moderate the forum that are not part of Epik. And make DNF a separate business entity. Have a strict policy not to be biased to Epik.

Hi Tom

you make some very good points.
the forum, if it is to be a place for all domainers to do business,
has to be unbiased and members should not feel like they are in a enclosed promotional environment.

i would suggest that such promotions be restricted from Discussion sections of the forum, to conform with forum rules and guidelines.

as it would be unfair to the general forum population to have to abide by those rules, while others float above them.
because a scenario like that would be detrimental to the success of the forum.

imo....

 

[MapleDots]

np copied everything from dnforum.com, from paid memberships to np$
so, what some say, is basically irrelevant to the longevity of this forum.

I fully understand that and agree except namepros outperformed DNForum and continues to do so.

I would love to see DNForum gain more traction and be restored to it's former glory because the censorship on namepros is out of control. I rarely post there anymore because of that and I feel with a few changes DNForum could easily be restored to it's former glory.

 

[mr-x]

I fully understand that and agree except namepros outperformed DNForum and continues to do so.

I would love to see DNForum gain more traction and be restored to it's former glory because the censorship on namepros is out of control. I rarely post there anymore because of that and I feel with a few changes DNForum could easily be restored to it's former glory.

NP grew because the community was friendly, DNF had a different vibe. Both forums co-existed but leadership eventually killed DNF.

People will gravitate to where they feel comfortable.

 

[Biggie]

but leadership eventually killed DNF.

Hi

totally agree!

DNForum.com was thriving, up to that point.
The discontent came from members who paid for services they didn't receive or from those who paid for something that didn't meet expectations, as promised.

a few changes aren't going to automatically restore the forum, to it's former status.
it's going to take time and "word of mouth" discussions, news, referrals, etc to move the crowd in this direction.

and i think, if/when they come, they won't be looking for another np, they'll want something different.

imo...

 

[amplify]

and i think, if/when they come, they won't be looking for another np, they'll want something different.

And with a talented development team behind DNF, that's exactly what I plan on giving the members as this is their community.

I can't stress it enough: we are listening to suggestions.

 

[Domainnature]

Give it time and you will see growth, I m sure under Epik governance it will rise from the ashes.

 

[Tom K.]

the censorship on namepros is out of control. I rarely post there anymore because of that

The problem NP got into is because of the large number of users and posts they were unable to properly moderate everything. They started to rely on self moderation to a large extent. This meant that anyone could report someone else's post and give a bogus reason. The post would subsequently be removed or at least hidden. It was frustrating. I contacted the mod team to find out why one of my posts was removed. They said it was reported. And the person who reported it admitted so. But there wasn't anything wrong with the post except it touched a nerve.

 

[Jeffreyw]

The problem with a free forum is the proliferation of fake accounts. I see many accounts recently created purposely to reply nasty comments to another member they hate. And of course, the scammers, take advantage of creating limitless account after he or she was banned.

 

[Tom K.]

Any registrar is able to come on DNF and assist their customers. We will not prohibit them or put systems in place that may detract users from seeing the public discourse (e.g. shadowbanning threads, etc.).

We just ask of all to obey the cardinal rule of treating others how they would like to be treated. DNF was always a professional forum and that culture has never changed despite the ownership challenges.

Hi Tom

you make some very good points.
the forum, if it is to be a place for all domainers to do business,
has to be unbiased and members should not feel like they are in a enclosed promotional environment.

i would suggest that such promotions be restricted from Discussion sections of the forum, to conform with forum rules and guidelines.

as it would be unfair to the general forum population to have to abide by those rules, while others float above them.
because a scenario like that would be detrimental to the success of the forum.

imo....

In practice, DNF mods may very well try to be neutral when it comes to Epik's competitors. What I am talking about is the impression it creates when Epik is so directly linked to DNF. It makes it appear as a marketing vehicle for Epik. I would leave the 2 brands miles apart.

 

[Domainnature]

You people forget something important, we are here because of Epik in first place, not sure of most of you, but I say this from my side.
Edit: basically Epik can do more ads of their services here and at the same time to allow others to publish their services here, in this way there will be equality.
Even if NP does not say what is their preferences but they are towards Dynadot more than any other biz, you may not see it but I see.

 

[Tom K.]

You people forget something important, we are here because of Epik in first place, not sure of most of you, but I say this from my side.
Edit: basically Epik can do more ads of their services here and at the same time to allow others to publish their services here, in this way there will be equality.
Even if NP does not say what is their preferences but they are towards Dynadot more than any other biz, you may not see it but I see.

We certainly are riding the coattails of the hype of the news that Epik acquired DNF as reported by certain industry blogs. The current participation on DNF is still very low. It has to be a long game by Epik to make it a success. Time will tell if the will to stick it out is there or if interest will fade over time.

 

[robmonster]

When Epik acquired DNForum it was to create a free speech and pro business forum for the domain industry. Epik is not getting free passes when it comes to preferential treatment from the moderators. All suppliers to the industry are welcome to come and interact with their customers. The ROI from the investment is from making the pie bigger.

As for @MapleDots taking a shot at the business model -- assuming that's what he meant -- many people underestimate what happens when intelligent and inspired people keep chipping away regardless of financial return. I would suspend disbelief and see what unfolds. And there is plenty of room in the market for DNF and his DN.ca too!

 

[amplify]

There have been a lot of changes from owner to owner. I've been reassessing what has worked and what hasn't worked overtime, working with members and moderators. We have to come to a good medium for what will work moving forward with Epik.

As Rob mentioned, there is no special treatment given to Epik and staff. I've already moved several posts that were made in the wrong forums to the appropriate ones. I encourage you to report posts if you feel as if they're getting preferential treatment or out of place and it will be handled accordingly.

 

[MapleDots]

As for @MapleDots taking a shot at the business model

Actually quite the opposite, it is a darn shame this forum has gotten to the state it has. Previous owners restricted it to a point that it was almost unusable even for Gold Members. It was all about money money money, or donate donate donate. If not that then Ads Ads Ads.

Because we all know a forum is soooooooo expensive to run.

Yes it costs money to run a forum but I do it myself with no ads, no membership fees, and no donations.

The point of my post was simply to review the failed formats of the ones that have come before and to set the forum on a new more successful path.

I personally think all aspects of the forum should be free and open, I think you could have a membership for those people who want to have more than 3 open active sales topics. This way the forum wont get flooded.

I also think a reward system is the best approach to encourage quality posts. Reward with access to special member sections if you have contributed X amount of quality topics. Anyone can post but authors who contribute actual content and topics are in short supply.

Believe it or not this post was not meant to harm DNForum in any way, it was intended to do the exact opposite and stimulate conversations so that history does not repeat itself and DNForum becomes a vibrant active community.

 

[amplify]

Believe it or not this post was not meant to harm DNForum in any way, it was intended to do the exact opposite and stimulate conversations so that history does not repeat itself and DNForum becomes a vibrant active community.

Never took it like that.

I saw this as an opportunity to sit back and listen to what we could provide over just threaded discussion.