Should We Add an Open Forum to Daily Writing Tips?

Lately we are getting flooded with emails from readers. Most of them contain really smart questions or topic suggestions, but unfortunately we don’t have time to answer them all. Thinking about that problem I started wondering if perhaps it could be a good idea to add a forum to the website.

The forum would enable readers to ask questions and get them answered either by our authors or by other members, and it would also be a nice place to socialize with fellow English learners and lovers.

What do you think? Let us know, and if enough people think this could be a good idea, as soon as we reach 10,000 subscribers (currently at 8,286) I will open the forum.

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Daniel Scocco on April 15, 2008 | Filed Under General

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29 Responses to “Should We Add an Open Forum to Daily Writing Tips?”

Joshua on April 15th, 2008 6:30 pm

Sounds like a grat idea to me!
Rhonda on April 15th, 2008 8:38 pm

I too think this is a great idea.
Dave on April 15th, 2008 8:40 pm

No doubt. I’m surprised a site like yours didn’t have one awhile back!
Krissy on April 15th, 2008 8:43 pm

Sounds great, I would love a feature like that.
nova on April 15th, 2008 11:02 pm

Great idea!!
Mikael Høilund on April 15th, 2008 11:08 pm

Notion seconded!
Alex on April 16th, 2008 2:21 am

A forum would be a great idea, but waiting to get 10,000 subscribers is not. There are plenty of other message boards with 2-3k active members that become unreadable because of the many posts a day. I suggest that you start smaller, and include an extra registration with confirmation in order to post in the forums.

Then you need to think about moderators. Do all the authors from DWT have the time to go over all the posts and delete spam and other inappropriate content? The question was raised a few days ago, about the necessity of editing user comments for grammar and spelling. A forum would increase the ‘workload’. You may think about going through the comments in earlier articles and see if there are people leaving useful comments on several topics. They may volunteer as low level moderators. If you want to keep the style and manner of the forum at the same level as the main site, you’d like to think about things like submissions needing to be approved by a moderator before they ‘appear’ in the forum. Otherwise, the forum may take a life on its own that you may not like.

Also, think about the structure of the forum. You’d need areas dedicated to different topics, like grammar, spelling, usage, writing, editing, publishing, etc, and then even sub-topics like, for example in grammar: verb tenses, articles, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and so on. Following an structure like your ‘categories’ on the left-side navigation bar would be a good start, but may need some modifications. A badly structured forum would make finding the right place to post a question quite difficult. I’ve seen many clustered boards, with little or no organization, that are a nightmare just to browse through.

Also, these articles should then be linked back to the forum for comments and so on, and not just articles ‘floating’ on the main site, apart from the forum.

Running a forum is easy. Running an effective and professional forum is not.
Olive on April 16th, 2008 3:36 am

I agree with Alex. Forum is a Good idea and its best to start with something small and then modify to create something Big.
Vismay on April 16th, 2008 8:32 am

Sure you need to start a forum as soon as possible.
I can’t wait!!!!
There is no need to wait for 10,000 subscribers.
It is brilliant idea!!
NOTION SECONDED!!
Daniel Scocco on April 16th, 2008 9:48 am

Thanks for the input everyone!
alleks on April 16th, 2008 11:56 am

Yes, that would be a great idea.
Sudheer on April 16th, 2008 1:02 pm

+ for forums and -i to wait till you get 10000 subscribers
Charity on April 16th, 2008 1:42 pm

I agree that it might be better to start small… I’m currently an active member of a forum with just over 2,000 members, and it’s difficult enough to keep up with even the relatively small percentage of those members who post regularly.

I also agree that it might be best to ensure that any forum that you do create is very well-moderated. Just as in any crowd, the “undesirables” tend to be the most vocal– and often end up steering a forum in quite the wrong direction.
Pete Bollini on April 16th, 2008 2:43 pm

Yes! Absolutely. I believe that a forum woud enhance the web experience, as well as be fun and intellectually exciting.
Traci York on April 16th, 2008 3:08 pm

I agree that a forum would enhance the experience of this already wonderful website. I also agree with the other respondents who don’t see a need to wait until more subscribers are signed up - I joined a local newspaper forum when there were less than 20 people, and it took very little time to get conversations started.
shelly funk on April 16th, 2008 3:51 pm

I think that would be a dandy idea!!! A forum sounds helpful along with all the other items we have to explore and consider.
Jamila Sial on April 16th, 2008 6:51 pm

Its a great idea! I would love to be a member of such a forum. I dont think its right to make it conditional. Hope to see it carried out soon.
biya on April 16th, 2008 7:42 pm

its a great idea and very helpfull
Vanamali.S Neo on April 17th, 2008 1:29 am

I agree with Alex and Charity.

A forum will just complete this site. It will bring all of us who are like-minded and fill the gap for good authoritative explanations for English.

We have a long way to proceed and a well moderated and regulated forum is a Giant step in the right direction. While this is a giant step, we also need to take the smaller steps like moderators, administrators who decide the direction of the forum. This can be done by pro-active and productive participants.

Let us not wait till we touch the 10K mark. I am pretty sure that quantity does not equate with good quality. The sheer number of useless forums is a testimonial for this fact.

I second Alex’s idea of linking articles with specific posts in the forums. That will add credence and coherence to the entire process. I am a subscriber and a loyal follower of the posts in DWT. I look forward to participate and contribute towards making DWT an authority like OWL, in the field of Writing.

Let’s work towards Success… Our Success… One step at a time…
PreciseEdit on April 17th, 2008 1:41 am

Another great idea. We actually just opened ours about a week ago, and while our subscriber base is only a fraction of yours at this point, it is already proving useful to those who participate.

At this point, we have the major topics of Mechanics, Grammar, Editing and revising, Quality resources, and (of course) Everything else.

As shown by the large body of comments on this site, readers and subscribers have much information and knowledge to share with one another–which is why we participate.
John on April 17th, 2008 2:07 am

Good idea, except… I’ll be wondering if people who answer my questions are qualified to do so. How will that be handled? Majority rule?
Urvashi R on April 17th, 2008 3:57 am

I think it is a great idea!
Amit on April 17th, 2008 4:19 am

Please go ahead.
Kashif on April 17th, 2008 4:33 am

You are right, thats a great idea.
Abby on April 17th, 2008 1:48 pm

I think a forum is a great idea. I’m not sure of the technicalities, but if there was a way to “close” a question once it was answered adequately, that would be ideal. Can’t wait to see what you do with it - it will be a great reference tool!
cindy on April 17th, 2008 4:30 pm

Please, add a forum. I’m all for it,
A fellow learner and lover of English
MidnightMarauder on April 19th, 2008 2:01 pm

I think a forum would be a good idea, but who will keep an eye on the content? What about grammatical and spelling mistakes? And what about inappropriate content?
K.Vee.Shanker. on April 19th, 2008 4:22 pm

I welcome the idea of starting a forum here.