Off Topic Posts
- Thread starter Baw$e
- Start date
If I have a niche forum, then yes, it bothers me and that's because I'd rather have more discussions that will be picked up by the search engines.
For example, on Christianity Haven, if someone posts a distinct question about salvation, it might come up in the search engine results and I might get a new member out of it. But no one is going to sign up on the site with questions about my favorite soup.
That doesn't mean that all off topic threads are bad, because sometimes members want more than just the deep discussions. So the question about favorite soups is more for them so they can have fellowship with one another.
For example, on Christianity Haven, if someone posts a distinct question about salvation, it might come up in the search engine results and I might get a new member out of it. But no one is going to sign up on the site with questions about my favorite soup.
That doesn't mean that all off topic threads are bad, because sometimes members want more than just the deep discussions. So the question about favorite soups is more for them so they can have fellowship with one another.
I commonly ignore the off topic sections on my own forums.
I'll just keep posting in the niche-specific boards. Usually, people congregate where the admins are congregating.
If I do post exchanges, and the exchanger just posted in the OT section, I usually won't exchange with them again.
I do have an off topic forum now, though, so that makes that part easier haha
I'll just keep posting in the niche-specific boards. Usually, people congregate where the admins are congregating.
If I do post exchanges, and the exchanger just posted in the OT section, I usually won't exchange with them again.
I do have an off topic forum now, though, so that makes that part easier haha
Same here.
Could it be that you have SEO optimisation for specific forum sections? I know Forumotion allows you to have this for specific forums and even specific threads as well.
You can set certain threads to “noindex” with the new version of Xenforo if you’d like and they won’t be crawled by the search engines.
This is a feature that’s enabled on Xf 2.3
Allow search engine indexing
- DefaultAllows search engines to index this thread based on the settings of the forum it belongs to.
- YesAlways allow search engines to index this thread
- NoNever allow search engines to index this thread
I think it’s dependant on your forum niche? If I visit a General Forum then I expect a fair amount of off topic discussion, if I visit a specific niche forum then I’m expecting the majority to be about that and just a little off topic stuff and I’d be disappointed if it was the other way around.
All the forums I run or own serve a very specific purpose which to provide a service or customer support so the off-topic areas are very much secondary to the forum's main purpose. They are also member only and hidden from crawlers.
I rather like off-topic content because it helps create a sense of community especially when the main forum sections lean towards the formal.
I rather like off-topic content because it helps create a sense of community especially when the main forum sections lean towards the formal.
I don't mind off topic posts on my forum, though having more posts that are on topic are better of course. I know once the Gex Trilogy finally comes out next year, my forum's main topics will be booming with more activity.
For niche sites, a little bit. Mostly if it's getting more attention than the on topic sections. The off topic posts aren't necessarily bad, but if I'm joining a niche site, then I'd expect it to have some sort of activity, especially if there's something new related to that niche that would be a hot topic (like on a gaming site, if a new game were to be dropping).
I used to focus on sections that didn't get quite as many posts or topics when I would go to post new content on my site. Sometimes, it'd require me to do a little research if I wasn't as invested in that part of the niche compared to others, but I also wanted to ensure that the topics were there for people to post in to facilitate discussion. I would post in the off topic sections too, but I didn't stress about those as much as the niche sections.
I used to focus on sections that didn't get quite as many posts or topics when I would go to post new content on my site. Sometimes, it'd require me to do a little research if I wasn't as invested in that part of the niche compared to others, but I also wanted to ensure that the topics were there for people to post in to facilitate discussion. I would post in the off topic sections too, but I didn't stress about those as much as the niche sections.
That's probably what @Scaredy Kat has done. If she hasn't, her favourite soup will end up in the search results and may get fellow soup lovers coming along 😂
It's understandable if people post more off-topic than they do elsewhere depending on the niche. If they do not know about the site or understand what to say they end up not going near the category. However, for me, it's mixing the posts and topics up so that not one part of the forums looks busy and the rest is dead.
Gaming niche is easy I say even those that are not into gaming. I would also say to these that do paid or exchanges with posting end up researching if they do not know about the subject before posting as it's gonna look bad if we end up paid to post and end up making 50 posts in the off-topic board lol
THen again we have a option to approval it or not
Gaming niche is easy I say even those that are not into gaming. I would also say to these that do paid or exchanges with posting end up researching if they do not know about the subject before posting as it's gonna look bad if we end up paid to post and end up making 50 posts in the off-topic board lol
THen again we have a option to approval it or not
Does that help give boosts to content related to your niche? I don't mind people finding my site through off-topic posts too.
KnownSyntax
Resident
Since I run a specific niche site, I tend to only allow posts that are on-topic and don’t really have any off topic areas. Yes, this may detract members at the start but as the forum and community grows, it tends to be more beneficial since you have a lot more unique on-target/brand posts than not.
BeautifulAngel
Resident
I don't mind at all. I mean yes, I'd prefer they be posting in the other sections but I'm just thankful that they are posting at all. So even if they generally just post in the misc. or off topic section I'm still grateful that they are posting.
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