Re: Encouraging newcomers
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:15 pm
Hi
There are a lot of good ideas in this thread - important to remember that potential newcomers will have very different sites to grow things on and in and very few will (or maybe should) go straight for a largish allotment plot (even if they can find one).
Several years ago some Forum contributors argued for a section specifically designed for newcomers - it can be quite daunting to post a query when you feel that everyone else on the site is an expert. So as a first step please set up a newcomers section to the Forum and introduce a similar section to the magazine which is explicitly linked to the forum. Then market the magazine as being newcomer friendly with the forum as the 24hour helpline manned by friendly volunteers (the members).
Chris
There are a lot of good ideas in this thread - important to remember that potential newcomers will have very different sites to grow things on and in and very few will (or maybe should) go straight for a largish allotment plot (even if they can find one).
Several years ago some Forum contributors argued for a section specifically designed for newcomers - it can be quite daunting to post a query when you feel that everyone else on the site is an expert. So as a first step please set up a newcomers section to the Forum and introduce a similar section to the magazine which is explicitly linked to the forum. Then market the magazine as being newcomer friendly with the forum as the 24hour helpline manned by friendly volunteers (the members).
Chris