09-26-2013, 09:39 PM
Thanks so much, guys. This is really excellent feedback. I really want to be sure that the site is meeting people's needs.
EricL -- You are completely right that, as a very general matter, my vision for the site is to stay focused on dividend growth investing. There are plenty of sites and forums out there about investing generally, and I started this up because I really felt like it was an under-served niche. My personal opinion is that this site would have less to offer if it tried to be a "jack of all trades" investing site. That said, I would be dumb to ignore the interests of the community here -- without the people there is no site to worry about in the first place! If it looks like folks really want a place to discuss non-DG stocks, we'll explore the idea.
Thanks for the optimism, Ok Red! Things are already starting pick up a little, it seems. Like I said above, if the site really starts to generate a ton of members and threads and posts, we'll have to consider expanding the forum structure.
When I first set up the site I had come up with tons of different categories in a pretty complicated structure, but then read what a terrible idea that was. So I pared it down to just a handful of categories. I think that was good advice and seems consistent with your experience, hendi_alex. As the site grows we can expand to meet people's interests and needs. I think the "options" area is a good example of the right way to grow. Where a clear interest emerges that doesn't fit well in an existing category, we can try out having a new area.
(09-22-2013, 10:49 PM)EricL Wrote: In my opinion it would be better to have a separate section for other stocks, the name of the site is dividendgrowthforum.com, I assume that is what focus you are looking for with members.
EricL -- You are completely right that, as a very general matter, my vision for the site is to stay focused on dividend growth investing. There are plenty of sites and forums out there about investing generally, and I started this up because I really felt like it was an under-served niche. My personal opinion is that this site would have less to offer if it tried to be a "jack of all trades" investing site. That said, I would be dumb to ignore the interests of the community here -- without the people there is no site to worry about in the first place! If it looks like folks really want a place to discuss non-DG stocks, we'll explore the idea.
(09-25-2013, 08:33 PM)Ok Red Wrote: Or we could go with Small cap DGR stocks... midcap DGR... large DGR.... small cap high yield... etc. Lots of ways to dice this stuff. But, if we have a good structure it will make things less confusing once the board gets busy. And it WILL get busy....
Thanks for the optimism, Ok Red! Things are already starting pick up a little, it seems. Like I said above, if the site really starts to generate a ton of members and threads and posts, we'll have to consider expanding the forum structure.
(09-26-2013, 11:44 AM)hendi_alex Wrote: I've been a member of Investor Village for several years and have also been a member of a gardening forum called Helpfulgarden.com. I.V. has struggled to survive, while helpfulgardener has thrived. One difference that I see is in the forum structure. This forum is arranged more like helpful gardener with limited boards. IMO that is helpful as posting volume is not diluted over an almost infinite number of boards that exists at I.V.
My suggestion is that you give a lot of thought to the main board categories, and never let them grow beyond 12-15 boards. Perhaps even reserve one an an archive board, where minimally active boards get placed if they don't make it as a stand alone board on your main page.
When I first set up the site I had come up with tons of different categories in a pretty complicated structure, but then read what a terrible idea that was. So I pared it down to just a handful of categories. I think that was good advice and seems consistent with your experience, hendi_alex. As the site grows we can expand to meet people's interests and needs. I think the "options" area is a good example of the right way to grow. Where a clear interest emerges that doesn't fit well in an existing category, we can try out having a new area.