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| ZetaBoards dying.. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 15 2014, 05:37 PM (2,857 Views) | |
| Arrogant | Oct 17 2014, 10:48 PM Post #16 |
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Compare ZetaBoards to its competitors. It lacks in features and activity, pretty much community as a whole. Just because people use it doesn't mean it's alive and well -- it's dying. |
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| Ferby | Oct 17 2014, 10:52 PM Post #17 |
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Define competitors. ZetaBoards is a free & hosted forum software. I am aware of only one other free & hosted forum software that could match ZB (which I can't name here as the rules state). The rest are premium (paid-for) forum softwares which aren't even in the same league as ZetaBoards. |
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| Arrogant | Oct 17 2014, 11:00 PM Post #18 |
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There are two competitors that I can think of. As far as I know, one has been declining for a while now, but it still offers more in terms of features and customization than ZetaBoards (which is crazy because it's just a modified IPB 1.3). The second, on the other hand, is still going strong and offers even more than the first does, almost rivaling paid software in terms of flexibility and power given to board owners (and especially coders/themers ). As for mentioning competitors, it doesn't seem as though that rule is always enforced: As mentioned above, the Board Rules prohibit discussion of other software providers. Edited by Stephen, Oct 18 2014, 12:26 AM.
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| Stephen | Oct 18 2014, 12:35 AM Post #19 |
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Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall.
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I have been told this service is dying since 2004. ![]() 10 years later and here we are. Not dead yet. In fact, more alive than ever. New update out, several features out of the coding stage and into testing, another update planned. And a lot more focus aimed at ZB. As to the community- most of you have answered that before. When I joined this board, I was 15 years old. When Brandon developed it in 2002/2003, he too was in high school. As were many of the staff. In the course of these past 10+ years, we've had staff graduate college, marry and start families of their own. Likewise, many of our members have done the same. People have grown up and moved on. Software can stay the same, people can't. That doesn't mean new blood doesn't arrive to fill in the old. Plenty of members here have been around only a few months and made their various contributions. And there are plenty of boards sending in support tickets and request support in general. We're aware of many active communities throughout the service. One more thing. One of the software you mentioned is a modified IPB 1.3 board. Back when the license agreement was changed, our staff made the decision to either stick with IPB 1.3 and keep modifying it until we hit a wall OR make a brand new software. And so Zetaboards came into being. That's an incredibly time consuming effort for a free service with one full time developer. And we endured two years of being told ZB was a myth, that we were lying and deceiving members and that it would never happen. And then it came out. We're fully aware of the issues with Zetaboards and we've made changes where we can. In particular, Brandon has stopped making large update batches and is instead looking to do smaller updates more frequently. The most recent being the nightly search indexing for all boards which he announced yesterday. |
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| Pete B | Oct 18 2014, 06:39 AM Post #20 |
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I don't believe ZB is dying. But it is clear that activity on this board is far below what it was on its two predecessor boards (Support and Theme Zone); is that indicative of the network as a whole? If not, what changed about this board? |
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| Ferby | Oct 18 2014, 06:51 AM Post #21 |
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I completely agree with Stephen. And I think I must touch on the community subject... If you look at this thread, you'll notice a quote which I will quote myself... "Just has an awesome community behind unlike any other free forum site." The community is one of the best things about ZetaBoards and I have never thought otherwise. The community is what motivates me to provide support and codes and the only reason I haven't been doing so lately is because of other things I have going on. The community is what has kept me around (and many many other members too), or I would've gone more into playing GTA San Andreas online and becoming an immortal twelve year old online rager. Members have moved on because foruming isn't life - there are things more important. Families, education, relationships and personal life is just a few of the reasons why old members have decided to leave and I can understand why. Many new members have joined us since then to replace them and they themselves are about 15 years old. I work alongside two of these people on The Nerd Domain and they are the most mature and nice people I've ever met. The community is the biggest feature with ZB, without it nothing like this would be possible. Features have been lacking and I've personally pushed for more info and frequent updates which has gotten me into a bit of trouble, I will admit, but it's not what could be considered is killing ZetaBoards. ZB is not competing with paid-for competitors as they're providing a lot for free and most of which are unique features not found on any other free forum software. If the PR was a little better then it would easily take the crown of best free forum software. Let's take Outline for example. It was a huge popular forum on ZB and changed the game for everyone. I praise Cody for creating such a great forum which I wasn't able to be apart of for very long. Many people believe that the closure of Outline marks the death of ZB, I think it's ridiculous. Outline didn't close because there was no community (as shown by here) and it was never a problem they had. They closed because they were not able to run the site anymore. It got a lot of people sad and a bit depressed that their favourite forum had closed but it doesn't represent that ZetaBoards is dying. It had a community - which is what represents the life of ZetaBoards. Bottom line is: if you think ZetaBoards is dying and closed minded about it then maybe being a member of the community isn't the best option for you. I'm not a member of staff so my word doesn't represent everyone else's view, but it looks like majority of people agree just by looking at other forums. |
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| Helena | Oct 18 2014, 01:01 PM Post #22 |
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Good thing you quoted that one line, because guests can't access that thread. ![]() I think ZB has some catching up to do in the area of relevancy to mobile users, but its still a viable platform. And there are things already in the development pipeline to address the needs of mobile users. As for this board's community, its hard to say why its not as robust as in previous times. But this is my take on it. The whole face of the internet has changed since that time with the predominance of social media sites. I suspect it is just that in the earlier days, message boards did not have to deal with that competition for online time. @Stephen: loved the Monty Python pix. Quest for the Holy Grail is one of my faves.
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| nogats07 | Oct 18 2014, 01:57 PM Post #23 |
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I think zetaboards is still in beta version , because of its few features and frequent updates
Edited by nogats07, Oct 18 2014, 02:02 PM.
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| Jonathan | Oct 18 2014, 02:48 PM Post #24 |
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I take it you mean "infrequent" updates? To an extent, I agree in terms of software updates, but there have been a lot of behind the scenes changes over the past year. Changes in how ZB is developed, changes in how features are tested and more staff involvement should see updates turning up more regularly. |
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| Ben | Oct 18 2014, 02:55 PM Post #25 |
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Quantum-locked when observed.
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This is a salient point: namely, it is very difficult for anyone to get a good estimate of the activity of the network. One theory might be that people tend only to seek out a support board when they need support. (I know that’s how I found this board!) So maybe the decline in activity here actually shows that most people are happy with their boards. Perhaps the continual improvement of ZetaBoards is making it easier for people to accomplish what they need, so fewer people look around for support forums, code and theme resources, etc.This is just a theory, of course. It would be difficult or impossible to test experimentally without a control (and it wouldn't really be ethical). The majority of board creators are just looking for a free discussion board, and maybe they’re interested in a custom theme. We members of the support board have a biased view of things and tend to think about the board in terms of how we can add cool functionality using codes. And it’s true that many board owners want those things. But most board owners don’t care, or don’t know. And that’s why ZetaBoards is successful: at its core, it is a message board. There is plenty of room for improvement, especially for that minority of valuable users who want those bells and whistles. But as long as people want to make message boards and don't want to pay for their own hosting to do it, ZetaBoards is going to remain a viable option. I’m often puzzled by people who say: “ZetaBoards isn’t doing what Forum Service X is doing!” or “Forum Services X and Y both have features A, B, C. Why doesn’t ZetaBoards? ZetaBoards is so slow at getting new features! ZetaBoards is dying!” I’m heartened, because it means they care—people who have really given up on a service shouldn’t waste their time posting on its support board. But I admit to being puzzled as well. These people seem to be projecting their own assumptions about success and the goals that Brandon has for ZetaBoards onto the service. And while those goals might be nice for them, it’s a mistake to assume that they are the goals for this service. Maybe ZetaBoards is growing at just the pace Brandon wants it to grow. Maybe it isn’t, and he’s cooking up plans to address that. Maybe he’s just very passionate about making good message board software, and he’s taking his time about it, and working on his schedule rather than others’, and the metrics don’t matter all that much. I don’t know.Finally, let me just add: the number of support tickets we get from new board owners asking for a bit of help far outstrips the number of tickets people send asking if they can leave ZetaBoards and take their data with them. This suggests, anecdotally, that the service is growing (i.e., not dying). Again, we don’t have hard metrics to say for sure. Maybe the number of registrations is actually down, and people are fleeing ZetaBoards in droves, just abandoning their boards willy-nilly in a type of post-apocalyptic hellscape full of empty cars and spent shotgun shells. I doubt it. And it doesn’t really matter. Because people are still registering boards, and sending in support tickets. And as long as there are people sending in tickets, I will be here to answer them. Dying or not, ZetaBoards is here, and there are happy customers. We will work to keep them that way. All you zombies can stay or go as you please. |
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| Arrogant | Oct 18 2014, 03:30 PM Post #26 |
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That's how it works for many goods and services. If Brandon doesn't care about those things, you can't really call other services your "competitors" when you're not actually attempting to compete with them. There's a chance Brandon does genuinely care about making a good message board service.. but then staff members make comments like this: "To an extent, I agree in terms of software updates, but there have been a lot of behind the scenes changes over the past year. Changes in how ZB is developed, changes in how features are tested and more staff involvement should see updates turning up more regularly." If ZetaBoards truly is getting better behind the scenes, why not tell us? Why is it all being kept a secret? If you go to the support boards of other forum services, their staff members actually talk to the community about the service, not just random forum games that few people still participate in. They actually have development blogs and frequent updates to keep people informed. If Brandon cares, why isn't ZetaBoards doing that? For months at a time, I can visit ZetaBoards without seeing a new thread pop up in the Service Announcements forum -- unless it's about server issues, of course. In my eyes, ZetaBoards seems like it's Brandon's hobby on the side that he's more content with than the people actually using it. Edited by Arrogant, Oct 18 2014, 03:37 PM.
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| Ben | Oct 18 2014, 04:12 PM Post #27 |
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Quantum-locked when observed.
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I’m glad that works for them. Genuinely, it’s great they chose to do that. And if Brandon is interested in launching a development blog, then I’m sure he’ll do that sometime.Just because some services choose to create such channels of communication, however, does not mean that they work for all services. No, we don’t have a development blog. That doesn’t mean we are dying. And yes, you’re right. All of the posts by staff in this topic in which we talk to the community about the service are actually part of a new random forum game we are going to be announcing shortly. Unfortunately, because the game has not yet started, you are not eligible for a prize. I’m kidding, there isn’t a prize. I was kidding about that too. There totally is a prize. But I’m keeping it for myself.
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| Jason | Oct 18 2014, 04:25 PM Post #28 |
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I think, and it's a thought I've held for a long time now, that Zetaboards has great potential, but it ABSOLUTELY has to work on the mobile market and make it more accessible. Mobile access for any business is crucial nowadays, and while we have heard rumours about an app (and apparently it's just an IOS app which will alienate many users), and to a lesser extent about Tapatalk being implemented (which will cover ALL mobile users), there is very little communication with the members of when this will ever come to fruition. I think that this is a major shortfall on ZB's part, the business I work in has seen mobile access overtake web access in a very short period - it's clear that mobile is the preferred platform for many but still we wait for a viable option. |
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| Stephen | Oct 18 2014, 04:27 PM Post #29 |
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Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall.
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Stephen steals the prize. Anyway, Ben actually hit it directly on the head. I have spoken to members in person on occasion. I'm also a part of a few of the smaller communities. And the thing most have in common is this: Most don't visit the support board. Some don't even realize it exists. They won't come to the Support board unless they need something. And once they do, they will leave. And that's fine. Over the years, we've documented just about everything. If you were to search for your problem before making a topic, chances are you would find a similar question and get the answer you seek. And for those who want staff responses, tickets generally get a response within 24 hours or less depending on the nature of the issue. Additionally, the gallery for themes and codes remains open for anyone to view without registration required. So that eliminated a lot of inflated activity from users who chose to register, spam the needed posts and then move on once they got what they came for. What's also interesting is the idea that our Community is less active than other support boards. I have not seen anything to indicate that. I've seen other boards go months without activity. So we're pretty much right in there. The bulk of the issue is one we've gone over: time. Many have grown and moved on. Life happens and so things change. For example, aside from Brandon and Brian, not a single staff member on this board was hired when I joined the team. All of my predecessors have long since resigned and moved on to other things as many of us have. This board is first and foremost about offering a service. We don't try to get members to stick around, because that's up to them. We don't play games like forcing them to register and putting post counts on forums because that just leads to more problems. We are simply providers. We give them the tools and resources needed to make their communities and we help them when they need it. That's the bulk of it. The Community is around for those who choose to stay. And we do events when we can, but that too depends on activity and marketing. I have no doubt I could run another large event and get users in here. But there really isn't a need. We have a game forum for those who wish to participate, IRC for those who wish to chat, facebook for the social networking. It's all resources for others to utilize. We'll continue to focus on providing quality support and a stable software. |
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| Jason | Oct 18 2014, 04:55 PM Post #30 |
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I completely agree that the nature of any support board is that the vast majority of users won't visit, and of those that do, many will visit just once or twice, get the support they needed and be on their merry way. What I find odd Stephen is that you claim "The bulk of the issue is one we've gone over: time. Many have grown and moved on. Life happens and so things change." So what - people come and go all the time. If they grow and move on they would be readily replaced with new members wouldn't they? Unless the software wasn't really attracting that many new board owners, which given the issues the server that new boards are placed in is hardly surprising. As long as I can remember the server for new boards has had issues, it was 13 once, then 4, now 11 - kind of off-putting if you are thinking about joining the service and have done your homework. But the bottom line (in my opinion) is this - the service just isn't evolving as fast as it needs to in this day and age. As for the whole "hold you to ransom" attitude about moving your data elsewhere - it's really easy to get a database dump if you know what you are doing, but surely it would make sense to offer it, obviously at a cost? |
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8:54 PM Jul 10
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![]](http://b1.ifrm.com/0/1/0/p601690/pipright.png)









Quest for the Holy Grail is one of my faves.

Perhaps the continual improvement of ZetaBoards is making it easier for people to accomplish what they need, so fewer people look around for support forums, code and theme resources, etc.
Genuinely, it’s great they chose to do that. And if Brandon is interested in launching a development blog, then I’m sure he’ll do that sometime.

8:54 PM Jul 10