Floris
27th February 2004, 02:38 AM
With great honor we publish this article written by Kathy from The Admin Zone. Thank you Kathy for sharing :)
When I examine the emails I receive on a daily basis, and the emails of the other admins and mods, most of the emails we receive fall into one category. They are *HELP* emails from our new members who are overwhelmed by the online community environment and don't quite know where to go for help. Many of the emails were as basic as: "How do I post a message?"
In an attempt to cut down on these emails to our "Helpdesk" I walked myself through the registration process and tried to imagine it through the eyes of a complete online newbie. I tried to understand what kind of questions they might be asking on their side of the monitor. I tried to understand what might not be obvious to them, but was clearly obvious to me after many years on my site.
Walking myself through the entire registration process and taking notes along the way, I came up with some ideas to help the new member get through the regisration process and log in to participate in their first discussion.
Here is what I did for my online forum community:
1. Make sure your guidelines are clearly written and make use of white space. What is white space? Paragraphs. Topic headers. Easily identified topics regarding rules. (Make sure your guidelines are available to revisit. More on this later.)
2. If you have activated "email verification" for your online community, make sure that at the end of the registration form you explain that they will not be able to post until they "click the link" in the email they will receive to their email address. If their email address isn't valid, they won't be able to complete registration.
3. In your "Ooops, you aren't logged in page" add a link to the member control panel if its not there. Re-read the "oops" page to make sure it contains info about that email. If they didn't receive the email, they need to log into their control panel and adjust their email address so that they can get the email.
I even added a note to AOL users to double check their "internet email prefs" to make sure they hadn't' filtered out receiving email that included their forum email confirmation.
4. Create a "NEW HERE?" page for your site and put the link in the header or somewhere your members can find it easily. Make sure its on every page. Put the link in the "activated page" where the member returns after they click to complete the registration.
What does the "NEW HERE?" page say? This is what I use on my "NEW HERE" page:
New Here? Welcome to our community!
Because we want you to make the most of your time at domain.com forums we've put this page of helpful tips and information together for you. The internet can be overwhelming! Take your time and read instructions carefully along the way. We've tried to make sure that each area of the site is as friendly as possible to navigate.
1. Read our guidelines which were created to maintain our community online in a kind, supportive manner.
Note: Please read the entire Website Guidelines {add guidelines link} so that you will be able to enjoy your membership knowing what is allowed and what isn't.
2. Register {add register link} to participate to post a question and participate in discussions on our message boards. You will receive an email for address confirmation.
Note: You must *click* the link in the email we send to you for your membership to be activated. Use your correct email address or this process won't work! Once you've registered and finalized, log into the message boards
3. Categorize your interest: The message boards are organized by topics: {list forum topics here}. Click into the Forum of your topic category.
Note: To post a new message (thread), after clicking into a forum category of your choice (ie. Pre-op) and click on POST NEW TOPIC.{add image of post new thread button} Follow the simple instructions to post your questions or comments.
Note: If you would like to reply to a thread after reading it, click on REPLY TO POST {add image of reply button}
Note:As the guidelines state, we will move, remove, edit posts to make sure they are in the correct category and appropriate for the {domain forums site.} Thank you for your cooperation!
4. Your User Control Panel gives you the opportunity to edit, alter, and configure your membership at {domain forums}.
Note: If you would like to be notified when someone replies to your post, you can "subscribe to thread" which is at the top of each post or you can "edit options" in your profile to receive email notifications of replies.
Note: You can also update your birthday, update your bio, signature and more! Check it out.
5. Search through the discussions by clicking on the SEARCH link found on the top of every page of our website.
1. Click on the SEARCH button at the top-right of any website page.
2. Where it says "Search By Keyword" enter a few terms specific to what you're looking for.
3. Press the "Perform Search" button near the bottom of the page and wait for the results to appear.
4. Finally, click on the title of the thread you want to read.
5. To return to the list of search results, use your browser's Back button.
6. Website Info, Hints and Articles can be found on the main page of {domain website}.
{Add a description of what other features can be found on the website besides your forums}
7. Need more information? We try to provide you with helpful info and answers to most of your questions in easy to follow directions.
1. "HOW TO" FORUM found near the bottom of the message board forums has many pages of FAQ on how to use our website.
2.You will find the link to the FAQ on the top of every page of the website.
3. And we've provided the {domain website} helpdesk at the top of every website page, in the right hand corner. Use this form when you need additional help that is not answered in the HOW TO forum or in the FAQ.
We ask that you check out the FAQ and the HOW TO FORUM before you email the helpdesk.
8. We offer upgraded memberships for added benefits at the forums. Upgraded memberships help keep our website free and in return, they enjoy added benefits to their membership at {website domain}. Click here for Upgraded membership benefits. And to upgrade your membership click here.
Note: If you've noticed the added graphics by members names on our message boards, these are one of the benefits of being an upgraded member. Read how you can upgrade your membership too!
9. {Website domain} is an incorporated online website with a privacy policy and is a HON Code monitored site.
Most importantly, we are glad you have found us and we look forward to meeting you on the message boards!
As basic as this page sounds, this "New Here" page is one of the most used pages of our website. The members visit it as they click their email link to activate their account. Its also right on the top of every website page so visitors can read it and understand how the website works.
I consider it Basic 101.
I found that once I marked registration forms better, created easy to read pages of guidelines and help for the new visitors and members, the amount of email we received for the help desk was cut drastically.
I suggest looking at your site through fresh eyes and try to find ways to communicate basic "how to" for your members. You will be rewarded with members participating in discussions that might never have found that "Post new Thread" button.
© Copyright 2004 All rights reserved: The Admin Zone
Author: Kathy @ TheAdminZone.com (http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202) (Resource community for administrators) [published with permission from kathy!]
You can discuss this article here (http://www.vBulletin-Fans.com/showthread.php?t=2675).
Floris & Staff
When I examine the emails I receive on a daily basis, and the emails of the other admins and mods, most of the emails we receive fall into one category. They are *HELP* emails from our new members who are overwhelmed by the online community environment and don't quite know where to go for help. Many of the emails were as basic as: "How do I post a message?"
In an attempt to cut down on these emails to our "Helpdesk" I walked myself through the registration process and tried to imagine it through the eyes of a complete online newbie. I tried to understand what kind of questions they might be asking on their side of the monitor. I tried to understand what might not be obvious to them, but was clearly obvious to me after many years on my site.
Walking myself through the entire registration process and taking notes along the way, I came up with some ideas to help the new member get through the regisration process and log in to participate in their first discussion.
Here is what I did for my online forum community:
1. Make sure your guidelines are clearly written and make use of white space. What is white space? Paragraphs. Topic headers. Easily identified topics regarding rules. (Make sure your guidelines are available to revisit. More on this later.)
2. If you have activated "email verification" for your online community, make sure that at the end of the registration form you explain that they will not be able to post until they "click the link" in the email they will receive to their email address. If their email address isn't valid, they won't be able to complete registration.
3. In your "Ooops, you aren't logged in page" add a link to the member control panel if its not there. Re-read the "oops" page to make sure it contains info about that email. If they didn't receive the email, they need to log into their control panel and adjust their email address so that they can get the email.
I even added a note to AOL users to double check their "internet email prefs" to make sure they hadn't' filtered out receiving email that included their forum email confirmation.
4. Create a "NEW HERE?" page for your site and put the link in the header or somewhere your members can find it easily. Make sure its on every page. Put the link in the "activated page" where the member returns after they click to complete the registration.
What does the "NEW HERE?" page say? This is what I use on my "NEW HERE" page:
New Here? Welcome to our community!
Because we want you to make the most of your time at domain.com forums we've put this page of helpful tips and information together for you. The internet can be overwhelming! Take your time and read instructions carefully along the way. We've tried to make sure that each area of the site is as friendly as possible to navigate.
1. Read our guidelines which were created to maintain our community online in a kind, supportive manner.
Note: Please read the entire Website Guidelines {add guidelines link} so that you will be able to enjoy your membership knowing what is allowed and what isn't.
2. Register {add register link} to participate to post a question and participate in discussions on our message boards. You will receive an email for address confirmation.
Note: You must *click* the link in the email we send to you for your membership to be activated. Use your correct email address or this process won't work! Once you've registered and finalized, log into the message boards
3. Categorize your interest: The message boards are organized by topics: {list forum topics here}. Click into the Forum of your topic category.
Note: To post a new message (thread), after clicking into a forum category of your choice (ie. Pre-op) and click on POST NEW TOPIC.{add image of post new thread button} Follow the simple instructions to post your questions or comments.
Note: If you would like to reply to a thread after reading it, click on REPLY TO POST {add image of reply button}
Note:As the guidelines state, we will move, remove, edit posts to make sure they are in the correct category and appropriate for the {domain forums site.} Thank you for your cooperation!
4. Your User Control Panel gives you the opportunity to edit, alter, and configure your membership at {domain forums}.
Note: If you would like to be notified when someone replies to your post, you can "subscribe to thread" which is at the top of each post or you can "edit options" in your profile to receive email notifications of replies.
Note: You can also update your birthday, update your bio, signature and more! Check it out.
5. Search through the discussions by clicking on the SEARCH link found on the top of every page of our website.
1. Click on the SEARCH button at the top-right of any website page.
2. Where it says "Search By Keyword" enter a few terms specific to what you're looking for.
3. Press the "Perform Search" button near the bottom of the page and wait for the results to appear.
4. Finally, click on the title of the thread you want to read.
5. To return to the list of search results, use your browser's Back button.
6. Website Info, Hints and Articles can be found on the main page of {domain website}.
{Add a description of what other features can be found on the website besides your forums}
7. Need more information? We try to provide you with helpful info and answers to most of your questions in easy to follow directions.
1. "HOW TO" FORUM found near the bottom of the message board forums has many pages of FAQ on how to use our website.
2.You will find the link to the FAQ on the top of every page of the website.
3. And we've provided the {domain website} helpdesk at the top of every website page, in the right hand corner. Use this form when you need additional help that is not answered in the HOW TO forum or in the FAQ.
We ask that you check out the FAQ and the HOW TO FORUM before you email the helpdesk.
8. We offer upgraded memberships for added benefits at the forums. Upgraded memberships help keep our website free and in return, they enjoy added benefits to their membership at {website domain}. Click here for Upgraded membership benefits. And to upgrade your membership click here.
Note: If you've noticed the added graphics by members names on our message boards, these are one of the benefits of being an upgraded member. Read how you can upgrade your membership too!
9. {Website domain} is an incorporated online website with a privacy policy and is a HON Code monitored site.
Most importantly, we are glad you have found us and we look forward to meeting you on the message boards!
As basic as this page sounds, this "New Here" page is one of the most used pages of our website. The members visit it as they click their email link to activate their account. Its also right on the top of every website page so visitors can read it and understand how the website works.
I consider it Basic 101.
I found that once I marked registration forms better, created easy to read pages of guidelines and help for the new visitors and members, the amount of email we received for the help desk was cut drastically.
I suggest looking at your site through fresh eyes and try to find ways to communicate basic "how to" for your members. You will be rewarded with members participating in discussions that might never have found that "Post new Thread" button.
© Copyright 2004 All rights reserved: The Admin Zone
Author: Kathy @ TheAdminZone.com (http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202) (Resource community for administrators) [published with permission from kathy!]
You can discuss this article here (http://www.vBulletin-Fans.com/showthread.php?t=2675).
Floris & Staff