TopAdmin.net - new forum for blog / forum admins

Discussion in 'Community Showcase' started by dojo, Feb 19, 2012.

  1. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    I'd like to introduce you to my small community and also get your constructive feedback as to how to make it even better. It's a small forum for blog and forum admins, with original articles and a lot of topics that I hope will help us all run better sites.

    I am using xenforo with a theme tweaked by me. It proved to be a little tricky at first, but I am pleased with its overall look. Wanted something very simple and elegant, without the usual 'forum look'.

    We have few active members and overall good content (aside of the welcome area / announcements and marketplace) all other topics are 'content'. No chit chat, just forum and blog management ideas.

    The link: www.topadmin.net

    The forum started on February 1st (under 3 weeks old), but is slowly growing. Thank you in advance for your ideas and feedback.
     
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  2. cpvr

    cpvr Regular Member

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    Looking real sharp!
     
  3. LunarScorpio

    LunarScorpio The Counselor

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    I absolutely adore this site. There's so many helpful people there will to help you with anything you may need. A great place that I'm glad to be a part of.
     
  4. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    cpvr, thank you for your kind words and all the support these years (we actually know each other for a while now :))
    luna, I appreciate your kind words. You are a terrific members, I have enjoyed your posts and threads.

    As an update: We have a 'cash' system installed now on the forums. Each post/thread receives points and these can be used to buy advertising on the forums and pay other members for various services. I plan on adding some more features to it, but now it's good to get the members accustomed to it.
     
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  5. cpvr

    cpvr Regular Member

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    Yup, and you're very welcome. I'm still quite glad that you're still running online communities. You've always been a very dedicated owner!:thumbsup:
     
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  6. Dan Hutter

    Dan Hutter aka Big Dan

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    +1 @cpvr is a good dude. I don't care what @Brandon says about him. :D

    Didn't mean to derail. Very clean looking site Dojo, I like what you've done with XF. :)
     
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  7. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    We passed our first month with flying colors. Got accepted in BuySellAds, we have more new and (I hope) useful articles for members. The cash system can be now used to buy domain names and hosting accounts and we have the trader plugin installed so that members can give feedback to their partners.
     
  8. Brandon

    Brandon Regular Member

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    Dan Hutter likes this.
  9. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    Brandon, I really appreciate the kind words and helping with promoting on Twitter. it surely helps a lot.

    I have created a new article detailing all the bad things I've done as a forum admin (I presume some of these mistakes were made by others too).
    The 10 mistakes new forum admins make
     
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  10. KW802

    KW802 Regular Member

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    HHHmm.... a quick read shows I've been guilty of 4/10. On the topic of promotion, I wonder if anybody out there has a tried earning a few bucks by helping to promote sites who are reluctant go over-board with self promotion. [Makes mental note to look around later to see if anybody is offering that as a service so I can check them out.]
     
  11. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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  12. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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  13. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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  14. cpvr

    cpvr Regular Member

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    I've updated your thread title to include the new name and everything.
     
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  15. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    Thank you for your help :)
    It's better this way. true I have the old domain name and a permanent redirect, but this way people won't get confused.
     
  16. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    Phew, haven't bored you with updates for weeks :eek:

    - JOB BOARD - working great, got used to the script, we have 20+ payments already made, tens of members and 40 jobs you can choose from. Some amazingly talented editors are offering their services and all got positive reviews. The job board is similar to Fiverr's, but it doesn't have ANY commission and all jobs are webmaster related. You can easily hire people for your sites or provide services yourself. You can withdraw money or use it to pay others for your site. All you need is a paypal account.
    - ADMIN FORUM - we're getting close to 7K posts. Over a thousand threads that are interesting and on topic. Some experienced webmasters who are there to help.

    We've passed 3 months since we were open and are going strong. More features are in the 'oven' and the plan is to show that, even if we started so late, we really mean business. While people have started losing faith in new admin forums, since most seem to close down or sell out in 2-3 months, TopAdmin.net is here to stay. I have invested a lot of money in it and am very serious in my attempt to make it a community that's respected and not let down our members who have also invested so much time and effort into helping us kick start the community
     
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  17. Brandon

    Brandon Regular Member

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    I like the idea you have with the jobs, good move on that part ;)
     
  18. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    Thank you. Well, installing it and designing it weren't fun at all, the script is pretty badly designed and it cost me 80 bucks extra to have it installed. Running it also takes time, since you need to validat each job, make sure people are pleased etc. So it's gonna be a 'fun' time. Anyway, now that I got it running, should stick to it :D
     
  19. Brandon

    Brandon Regular Member

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    I've ran into that a number of times, I find a good looking script to add or modify and the code is so poorly written that I end up giving up on the idea or get sidetracked.

    Maybe you can get a few mods to help out with approving jobs and promoting. :)
     
  20. dojo

    dojo Regular Member

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    I'll certainly need to think about something in the future. Right now it's not a pain to manage yet, but it will surely take some more time in the future.

    How to promote your forum in other communities
    This is a new article I wrote for all people who use forum posting to market their site. Some tips and good business practices anyone should have in mind :)
     
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