Motorcycle Nerd 24 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Hey Fans and welcome the our reimagining of fan forums. There's still a lot of work in progress, but please share any questions or feedback you have here. It could be anything from 'like-to-sees' to small annoyances. It's all valuable and appreciated. Thank you. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worm 17 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 I found the forum looking for active communities, a reddit post got me here. I thought it was a new forum but there are posts from 2006, so what's the story? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcycle Nerd 24 Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 11 hours ago, worm said: I found the forum looking for active communities, a reddit post got me here. I thought it was a new forum but there are posts from 2006, so what's the story? Hey @worm. Thanks so much for joining! I'll do my best to give the cliff-notes version. I've been working on building a community for fans since 2013, which started under the name Deadicated Fans. It was blog-focused to start, with the goal to be a community for Die Hard fans. If you hang around, you'll probably see it referenced here and there. A multi-community forum has always been something I tried to make a reality, but I've never been able to get much traction. Forums aren't really booming at the moment and many of them have been killed off by social media. Having an empty forum with one registered user and no content didn't really bode well for me. In 2020, I came across an inactive forum for sale that was a decent fit for my target audience. I was able to work something out with the owner and began merging it with Deadicated Fans. With the existing content, I've been working on cleaning up the structure and building some of the existing sub-communities that had enough existing content to fill it in a bit. The name Deadicated Fans is close to me since it's been with me from the start, but it's not very brandable or easy to explain to people. I finally was able to get a domain that ties everything together with FanClubs.org, rolled out a new platform site-wide, and I'm just continuing to push forward. That's the best I can do to summarize the last 10 years working on the site. I'm hoping you decide to stick around for a while. It'll take some time, but new posts are what's going to help this community come together. Roadmap: I still have more in the pipeline that I'm working on getting into place. Once I figure out the requirements, I'll allow members to create their own Fan Clubs. They can set their own community leaders and moderators, have their own blog, events, etc. Along with these features, I will eventually open up monetization options for Fan Club owners, as well. Thanks again for taking the time to sign up and hope to see you around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worm 17 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 16 minutes ago, Motorcycle Nerd said: In 2020, I came across an inactive forum for sale that was a decent fit for my target audience. I was able to work something out with the owner and began merging it with Deadicated Fans. With the existing content, I've been working on cleaning up the structure and building some of the existing sub-communities that had enough existing content to fill it in a bit. Oh I see, now it makes sense to me, because I saw all these old posts and I could not connect the lines, now it makes sense. 18 minutes ago, Motorcycle Nerd said: The name Deadicated Fans is close to me since it's been with me from the start, but it's not very brandable or easy to explain to people. I finally was able to get a domain that ties everything together with FanClubs.org, rolled out a new platform site-wide, and I'm just continuing to push forward. I think I get the name but I understand it being difficult to explain to everyone. Although I think FanClubs does a great job of explaining the intention of the forum. 19 minutes ago, Motorcycle Nerd said: That's the best I can do to summarize the last 10 years working on the site. I'm hoping you decide to stick around for a while. It'll take some time, but new posts are what's going to help this community come together. I'm a fan of forums, I don't get the same feeling in sites like Reddit. I browse them, yes, but I rather participate in this style of community. I've been looking for a good active forum for a while now, and I found some but they die out after a few attempts at reaching the golden years. If you've been working in this site for 10 years, if you are that passionate, that makes me wanna stick around. You might not reach the golden years of forums but I'm sure this place can become a great community, at least I like what I see so far. Thanks for your answer, and for your 10-years-hard-work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcycle Nerd 24 Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 1 hour ago, worm said: I'm a fan of forums, I don't get the same feeling in sites like Reddit. I browse them, yes, but I rather participate in this style of community. I've been looking for a good active forum for a while now, and I found some but they die out after a few attempts at reaching the golden years. If you've been working in this site for 10 years, if you are that passionate, that makes me wanna stick around. You might not reach the golden years of forums but I'm sure this place can become a great community, at least I like what I see so far. Thanks for your answer, and for your 10-years-hard-work! Thank you! I was lucky enough to be a part of the golden years of forums and nothing has come around to recapture that sense of community. Online communities can be more than just a place to read and post on the topics you love. For starters, a profile photo helps give people their own individual personality and you start to get recognized as part of the community. People should be able to easily find a community that fits them and join in the discussion (looking at you, Discord). It should be easy to set up gaming sessions, join a clan and have tournaments, set up watch parties, tailgate for games, concerts, etc. There's so much more that can be done to make an online community actually feel like a community. It's ambitious, but it's something that that everyone should have the opportunity to be a part of. Thanks for joining the ride! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcycle Nerd 24 Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 Follow this topic to see new feature announcements and notable changes. Fan Clubs: A Fan Club is a community of passionate fans created and run by our members. Fan Clubs can be created for multiple different categories such as Entertainment, Gaming, Sports, Celebrities, and Content Creators. What does a Fan Club include? Forums Photo Galleries Community Events Blog Club Leaders and Moderators Social Info in your profile [Trial] I added the ability to add Social Info to your profile. Social Info can be seen by hovering over a member's profile on Desktop or by visiting their profile page. Social info is only visible to members while logged in. Feature Roadmap Paid Clubs - Fan Club owners will have the option to earn revenue via Club Fees. This is likely most suitable for Content Creators, Musicians, Celebrities, and Journalists who have a following, but it will be an option for all categories. I'm also exploring additional opportunities for Club Owners to make revenue through the site. Digital Downloads for Fan Clubs (In Consideration) - This can be in the form of free fan art, original creations, or digital media files you own the rights to distribute or sell. Free and Paid Downloads Fan Club creation will be enabled in a future update. Contact @Mike if you're interested in running a Fan Club before then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcycle Nerd 24 Posted September 6 Author Share Posted September 6 Just got back from vacation... and I made the most of it . Notable changes are below. Vacation Updates : The homepage just received a major facelift On desktop, I made it easier to quickly access your Fan Clubs, displaying up to clubs sorted by their latest update. Removed scrolling carousel for Fan Club Categories Added a grid for the Primary Fan Club Categories. Removed scrolling carousel for General Forum Categories. Removed Fan Club Topics from the Forum Updates Block. Added a sidebar widget to display recent Fan Club Activity. Removed the Most Popular Fan Clubs section Put a larger focus on showcasing New Fan Clubs and Recently Active Fan Clubs. Removed the 'What Are Fan Clubs" explainer in the sidebar. Condensed it to a brief description near the top of the page. Fan Clubs get more upgrades! [Trial] I added the ability for Club Owners to create two forums within a Fan Club if needed. This will eliminate the need to have multiple Fan Clubs for one property, such as Movies and Games. If more than two forums are needed, reach out to @Mike and I'll get it added. Lots of experimental SEO wizardry . Aka, trial and error to figure out how to create the best experience for our members. Added Recently Active Topics to our article sidebars for added visibility. Added Recently Active Fan Clubs below articles for additional visibility. Examples of multi-forum Fan Clubs: Starfield - General Discussion / Starfield Mods The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Gaming / Movies Xbox - General Discussion / Looking for Group The Last of Us - Game Discussion / HBO's The Last of Us Rocket League - Discussion / Tournament Play Batman - Movies & TV / Games / Comics Harry Potter - Movies / Literature / Games 2K Games - General Discussion / WWE 2K Forum / + Games if needed If a Fan Club grows to the point where a Forum needs to be moved to a new Fan Club, I'll help get that set up. Our General Fan Forums are being renamed to General Discussion Most forums live within Fan Clubs, which made it a bit odd having a Forums page that excludes most. The name General Discussion better fits the intent of the main forums. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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