Forum Toolbar Testing Invite

[P®od]

Ok, i just logged onto my forum and in the Administrator messages box FreeForums has asked if i wish to participate in the Toolbar testing. It says there is a possible 20% increase in activity.
Should i take part? Is it a good idea or are toolbars just a waste of time?

 

[Brack]

Toolbars are one of these personal choice things.

You either like them or loathe them.

Some toolbars have been known to have spyware etc hidden within them.

 

[P®od]

I think i'll keep away from the toolbar then.

 

[Fergal]

If your forum is hosted with a reliable free forum host the toolbar should be spyware free. Have you asked the site how they increase activity?

Provided that you are confident they are bug free, you could try a toolbar for a week and then evaluate whether it helped or harmed your forum.

 

[P®od]

Thanks Fergal. I'll look into. It will be going for a while so i'll wait and see what the other users say.

 

[CyberFreak]

They claim it increases activity as when people install it, it shows all the time in your browser. If the forums toolbar is in their browser, they are less likely to forget about the forum and therefore return.

As for testing it, i would say leave it to other people. Testing things that are new usually can lead to some problems. Alot of people aren't fans of toolbars though so when the feature has been tested, i wouldn't be surprised is the admins and mods ar ethe only ones with the toolbar installed.