Do you have a shoutbox?

[Aragon Burner]

I've always seen shoutboxes as a great way to help user engagement and I honestly don't think I have suffered for it. Use a shoutbox as a 'Hook' to bring people into the community and tell them about where they should go on the forum to find interesting content they may like etc.. Post links to new threads too. Plus the shoutbox I use actually creates a new post each time you use it, so there is no loss in overall board posts just because people choose to use the shoutbox.

 

[Nebulous]

Plus the shoutbox I use actually creates a new post each time you use it, so there is no loss in overall board posts just because people choose to use the shoutbox.

I do the same thing. *high five*

 

[Deleted member 49125]

I've always seen shoutboxes as a great way to help user engagement and I honestly don't think I have suffered for it. Use a shoutbox as a 'Hook' to bring people into the community and tell them about where they should go on the forum to find interesting content they may like etc.. Post links to new threads too. Plus the shoutbox I use actually creates a new post each time you use it, so there is no loss in overall board posts just because people choose to use the shoutbox.

I do the same thing. *high five*

I've seen that on your forums. Proboards doesn't have that capability that I could see. I wish they did 🙂

 

[Kale]

I used to. I think profile updates are good enough. The shoutbox/chatbox from what I remember really took away from the forum's main feature, the actual forum.

Yes, one reason I don't like shoutboxes and chatboxes on regular forums. It's different if it's an RP forum.

 

[Eclipse]

I don't personally have one on my site yet, I am thinking of adding one when it picks up activity

 

[Shortie_]

Back when I first started my forum in 2009 I used to have a shoutbox on the forum but I found it took away from the discussions on the forum. I ended up taking the shoutbox away and activity picked up on the forums again. A shoutbox may work for some forums but I found it didn't help my forum as more people interacted in the shoutbox over the actual forum so I lost activity whilst I had the shoutbox enabled.

 

[Gizmo]

I would but unfortunately Xenforo has no free add-ons so I just stick with discussion topics for now.

 

[PGen98]

I would but unfortunately Xenforo has no free add-ons so I just stick with discussion topics for now.

You're better off, especially in the early days, not having a shoutbox of any kind. It detracts from the forums.

 

[Gizmo]

You're better off, especially in the early days, not having a shoutbox of any kind. It detracts from the forums.

I have always had it set to only allow VIP members to use it. If others want to use it they can make an effort to contribute to the forums to the point they are awarded the status OR they can pay for access.

 

[PGen98]

I have always had it set to only allow VIP members to use it. If others want to use it they can make an effort to contribute to the forums to the point they are awarded the status OR they can pay for access.

Yeah, that's definitely a decent approach, but I feel like it's something to add down the road. Get everyone used to posting in the forums and not the convenience of the chat/shoutbox. The easier it is to access, the more likely it is to be used over the forums.

 

[Page]

Yeah, that's definitely a decent approach, but I feel like it's something to add down the road. Get everyone used to posting in the forums and not the convenience of the chat/shoutbox. The easier it is to access, the more likely it is to be used over the forums.

People do not want it anyway...

 

[PGen98]

People do not want it anyway...

You'd be surprised, communities come to a standstill at time with a chat/shoutbox. My forum at first races to about 15,000 posts, then I added a chat and now my forums have only grown by about 9,000 posts in the subsequent 5 years while the chat is now past 442,000 messages. It's easy to see it as a nuisance and then suddenly it is the very lifeblood of your community.

 

[Cory]

I don't use the shoutbox feature on my forum because I don't see the need for it on a resource board. If I had a general discussion board, maybe. Our "chit-chat" topic is basically our shoutbox.

 

[Jay™]

I have a few premium ones for Xenforo but uninstalled them, No need to use them when we have tools like slack.

 

[Ja sa bong]

Why or why not? I have it enabled on my forum. I do wish Proboards was like others where the person got a notification & even sets it up in its own thread. I mostly say Good Morning & Good Night so that people know the forum is active. I do have a few people I talk to on it every so often.

I hardly make use of shoutbox on any forum. I prefer being more active on threads. They are just distractions for me.

 

[Nebulous]

I hardly make use of shoutbox on any forum. I prefer being more active on threads. They are just distractions for me.

Certainly it’s a good distraction because it gives you another venue to connect with your community members.

 

[Deleted member 60612]

I've typically preferred shoutboxes over off-site comms such as Discord or Skype servers. Keeps members on the forum, and engaged with your forum -- and if you have ads enabled a few extra impressions on those too. I think a place to chat is important for forums generally too, so shoutboxes are a good way to do this