One of the biggest mistakes I've learn over the years in community management using a forum software is feature bloat.
What do I mean by feature bloat?
I mean by adding addons and plugins that take away from the main feature - the forum. These include chat rooms, shout boxes, directories, galleries, social groups, and other plugins that require members to use them away from the main forum.
This makes a forum less active and creates a user habit to use the feature more so than the forum especially if using the feature is quicker than the forum.
So, one might agree that getting ride of plugins might be the best choice.
How do you feel about this topic? I'd love to know your thoughts on it.
I can see how feature bloat can be detrimental. I've also seen forums have nothing but plug-ins & hardly no forum.
I do think there needs to be a balance. Have enough plug-ins to help the forum run smoothly as well as to make it easier on members but not so much that it detracts from what the forum is actually about.
I take a slightly different approach to the majority of forum owners.
I strip out functionality from the core software which I know is never likely to be used or that is undesirable if it is used i.e. Font size and Text Color. I also remove things that are detrimental to registration and posting such as CAPTCHAs.
I rarely use add-ons but if I do they are custom coded to cater for a very specific need like an image search.
Personally I don't think forum software in general is particularly well designed. Imagine a library that hides books which are more than a week old. That's how social media works but forums should be better than that. Most forums are just like libraries, containing a wealth of rich content and that content needs to be better exposed, not with add-ons, but by the core software.
Way back when forums were the big thing there had always been a debate between allowing a shoutbox, chat room, etc. I always was eh about the shout boxes but do use them to just say hello or good bye usually. I personally think when you do register you should add some form of a anti spam though.
I'm personally not a fan of shout boxes on certain niches of forums, such as general discussion ones. I feel that they take activity away from the forum. Anti-spam is a requirement for all forums, otherwise you'll get spambots trying to join and end up spamming your site.
I have ultimately decided to remove the XenForo Resources and XenForo Media Gallery addons from my installations as well.
These are official addons that make new features. They too take away from the main forum.
With custom fields for nodes, category system, and custom prefixes - I can easily replace Resources with the standards boards and categories.
My idea here is why make a new member learn how to use some new function of the forum when they can just use the main forum features for those sections?
The more I look at it, having very little plugins might be the best idea.
I have never been a fan of chat rooms, shout boxes, directories, galleries, or social groups on a forum. I have never used it on my forums. Even on the forums that have these features, I rarely use them. I believe all forum activities should happen in the main forum sections.
Removed Plugins that are no longer supported and the devs stopped it
Removed plugins when the Forum software has it built into the main system and see no point in keeping them.
Removed Plugins that are too costly to renew each time and ways to save money
Last Addon that I added was about almost eight months ago and the bad news for me is that the Plugin is no longer supported 😛 I end up having to disable it as it doesn't work on php8 ;( - I content the development team and nothing and also requested that another person take on the project and nothing ;( - ARCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Once I install a plugin, I "forget," I mean, once I install the plugin, I don't do anything with it. But, once you are thinking about resource usage because of cost cutting measures, you think about removing them.
That point came a few weeks ago. I got an email from Threadloom about their plugins winding and closing down. I went in and disabled the plugin for half of my forums. As closer I got to that date, I removed it completely from the others.
At the same time, I decided to look at inventory, and removed only plugins I DON'T use.
I can fully see where you are coming from especially with things like chat rooms or shoutboxes. I remember when I owned my general chat forum, I installed a shoutbox and that would get used way more than the forum itself. I ended up making the decision to take it away so that the forum saw activity again. It may not always be the case with all forums and it depends on the kind of forum you are running as to what plugins would work and which ones would just end up taking the focus away from the forum. Trial and error is the only way to establish what would work and what wouldn't.
