I'm tired of this mess

[KronoLeginaire]

I've had the website Teen-Moods for several months now. I've been doing everything I can to get and retain visitors. I've tried banner networks, meta tags, mass-submitting to search engines and telling everyone in newsgroups, and on other msg boards. Its been up since June and has only 32 members!! Of wich only 5 post atleast once every 3 months or so. I can run a search on google for teen depression forum(s) and come up with all sorts of results, but my site ends up at the bottom or even on the next page. People rather go and post at banner-filled, pop-up agitating bummy sites on servers such as ezboards. The site goes on for weeks at a time without a single post. Its like, people never come anymore, but its not like the ever did. I pay 10 bux a month for a good host and 20 bux a year for the domain. If it takes more money to get hits than forget it, that site means allot to me btu I don't have credit cards let alone the actual money to pay for advertisement and such. The internet officialy sucks right now in my mind.

[TwoRails]

Hi KronoLeginaire,

First, I know nothing 'bout doing what you want to do. I did checkout your site, even though I'm not a teen. Maybe my impression will help.

To me, it was spooky! So spooky, that I did not stay long atall. I don't have a degree, but I know that human nature is to not admit one has a problem. Maybe a change in the name of the forums would help. If I had a suicide thought, teen or not, I definitely not click on that thread. Maybe I would want help, but I'm not going to admit it. So maybe something like, Talk About Jumping Off the Bridge without a Bungie Card, or something... I'm grasping at straws here.

Maybe more upbeat things on the site (there may be some, but like I said, I didn't stay long). Maybe some distractions, Happy things, would get them to stay longer. I'd imagine you want your visitors comfortable, not more scared.

Finally, my kids are grown and gone, but I doubt I'd know your site. http://www.thescreensavers.com recently did a little dittie on getting your site recognized / in more view. It was on the TV, but they most likely have the story online. That may help.

Sorry, but I don't have anything more concreate for you, but hang in there!!

TwoRails

[ZANEY123]

want is the url to the site!!

Zaney123

i did the search and could not find it like you said

[Streams]

www.teen-moods.net

[mattg2k4]

The reason so few people are joining this site is because it's freaky. I read some of these posts about people who seem to be contemplating suicide and other such idiotic things and getting all depressed cuz their gf/bf left them.

Maybe you can put in a more lightheated section for people that merely have a few social difficulties, instead of raging depression, and you can rake in a few more members.

Its also so confusing, with so many different sections that to my eye are not terribly different. Paring down the number of sections will reduce the complexity, and in my opinion, increase the readability and friendliness (if such a word can be used to describe that site) of the site.

[Charger]

All the choices seem to point to a "negative" forum. Maybe a more positive outlook would help?

[lpc300]

Hi KronoLeginaire,

As I've posted before, I'm an adolescent psychotherapist. Most of my clients are very computer-savvy and spend time posting at teen message boards around such topics as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc... I will often check these sites out to see what teens are talking about and whether these sites are helpful or not. I just visited your site, and I'd like to give you some feedback. Your site seems very well organized and very inviting, with many diverse topics. The one criticism is (as has been already posted here) that it is somewhat negative and the language doesn't seem to promote a supportive environment. The teens that I work with, look for sites/message boards that promote improving ones mental health and giving caring support to others. You may accomplish this better by changing the subtitles under each forum heading. If the subtitle under the 'Depression Forum' was 'A place to get support for your depression and to talk to others who can relate,' you may get more teens who want to stay. This is just an example, but, in my experience talking with teenagers, this is the kind of message board they seek out.

I'm impressed that you would develop a site like this. It can often be a great way for teens to 'test the waters' of exploring their issues. Have often thought of doing one myself, but I have no time. Hope your site becomes popular...just don't run me out of business. ;)

[Force Flow]

Here's my blunt, cynical view of the site:

The setup is good, I like the blue color scheme, but it's the way the content is presented that scares me away. I wouldn't consider posting with those kinds of negitve discriptions. May I suggest a more uplifting view of things?

The idea itself isn't a bad one, it's just the way it's presented. Good luck! :)

[KronoLeginaire]

I've changed the style, editied the forums and changed their descriptions. Please take anther look at the site and give me some more hard hitting critisim, don't hold back because I need to fix this site.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Back in july a couple of friends and me opened a web site for support on personal problems. We have only 19 members.

Here: www.viviremejor.com

[KronoLeginaire]

umm... i never knew you were in Mexico

[lpc300]

Hi KronoLeginaire,

Really like the changes that you made...things sound more positive and inviting. I went through the forums reading random threads and posts. Some threads/posts were the kind that would probably make one want to post...members were very supportive, helpful, and even when feeling crummy were able able to relate. You may want to alert the moderators to watch threads that may encourage negativity or harmful behavior. On some eating disorder message boards I've been to, if someone either encourages or tries to teach harmful eating habits, the moderators step in quickly. Creates a safe place where people want to remain. Kinda like here. :)

Just my 2 cents. Good luck with things.

[KronoLeginaire]

thanks and don't be afraid to tell others about the site.

[CorruptedSanitY]

KronoLeginaire, lots of cursing there..
I dont think depressed ppl wanna say more curse words..
Who would ?

[KronoLeginaire]

yeah, its a way of letting off steam. I'm not going to stop them from expressing themselves, I'm not going to be a hard-hat moderator. Its a long story but I know whats approprate and whats not.

[Nuclear Krusader]

In my forums I don't allow cursing and swearing. I somewhat agree with you Krono, it's a way to cool off if you are irritated. I think that as long as no one is insulting one another, there will be no problem.

However you should watch those threads constantly to prevent the atmosphere from getting agressive or uncomfortable. Just my thoughts.

[KronoLeginaire]

well, here is the thing, right now I don't even have to check in to my site for days on in, since it goes for days without a single new post.

[homer15]

hey krono, i appreciate what you're trying to do. just the fact that you're trying to help troubled teens is admirable. but it is really creepy. when i was going through my troubles, the last place i would ever have looked for help was through a forum full of other depressed teens.

[mairving]

I think that you need to drive the site. It seems like you are letting others run the site through the forums. Why not have some content on the site in addition to the forums. This way you can drive a positive message or any other message that you want. It will be more work for you but it should be worth it. You could probably even get some of the guys here that posted to write some articles.

As far as the cussing goes, PHPBB has a censored words list that you can use or add to.

[KronoLeginaire]

yeah, i'm ver filimiar with the things PhpBB2 can do...
But as you were saying about that content, could you elaberate on that for me? I'm not sure what you mean or how it could be applied in this situation.

[mairving]

By content, I mean that instead of just having a forum, expand the site to include other things of interest to teens. You could probably use Nuke or Post-Nuke to do this if you didn't want to code it yourself. Have teen related news stories and articles.

[KronoLeginaire]

oh gosh, thats really qalking away from the main forcus of the site: a forum for teens who suffer from depression. I really do not want to treat this like its imperiative that I get more visitors, like this is some kind of business, its just a forum.. I've done all I can in the way of advertising it without taking it overboard like spamming. If people don't like the forum I'll just have to face that fact. I'm pretty depressed right now. Someone came the the forum and posted a list of helpful sites, sites more helpful than mine, but I made it a stickypost and thank he/she for making the post because its about the people, not me. One of those sites looks really good in the way of talking a person out of suicide, heh, i NEED to read that...

[kittyfire]

I haven't been to the site yet, just surfing around pcmech between tech calls but you look like you could use a hug. ::huggles:: I'll check out the site. I agree with Homer. The fact that you're doing something to help others is great! I admire that.

[KronoLeginaire]

thanks kittyfire
((((huggs)))) back at ya!

[Nuclear Krusader]

I hear you, Krono. Been at the frayed ends of sanity myself (being there now, in fact).

*Sigh* that was one of the reasons I decided to cooperate with my friends on that VM forum. To try to steer others away from painful experiences. I applaude you on your efforts trying to make a difference in someone else's lives.

Have another hugh from me. :)

Cheers,
Henry.

[lpc300]

Hey Krono, hang in there, pal. Sounds like you've got some of your own stuff going on. Just keep talking. :)

Here's a suggestion or two for your site. You may want to focus people towards these two links: Online Psyc. (http://www.onlinepsych.com/home.html/) and Psyc. Central (http://psychcentral.com/) .

The first site is a good basic source of mental health info, disorder descriptions and, most importrantly, THE BEST therapist locator I've seen. You may want to direct people to find a counselor to talk to if their symptoms are especially severe (or even not...it's never a bad idea). Your site may turn into a springboard for teens to get needed help. I've seen it happen before.

The second site is one of the most, if not THE most well-known psyc. site on the web. John Grohol does an excellent job of describing disorders, telling one what to look for in a therapist, and some mental health quizzes. It is very well organized and one of my favorite starting points.

Hope this is helpful.

[KronoLeginaire]

sweet, thanks

[KronoLeginaire]

well what do you guys think of the current layout now?
I've been getting allot a negitive feedback on it. Its like I can't do anything right.

[lpc300]

Hi Krono,

Definitely darken the header...make it stand out more. You may want to match the section headers to match that. I, actually, kinda liked the dark blue. You now have a much lighter background, so the dark blue may contrast and may, unconsiously give the impression of calming blue ocean. On the other hand, blue is a metaphor for depression. They always tell us that the best colors to decorate our offices are in greens and yellows. Green is a color signifying life and yellow is bright and happy. No, I'm not kidding. I'm not suggesting that you totally change things to green (yellow looks terrible as a web page) but consider it or at least going back to dark blue for contrast. One other thing, and this is just personal preference. I tend to like vertical rather than horizontal navigation bars.

BTW, thought your FAQ was very informative and noticed you've picked up a new member or two. Keep plugging away.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[reboot]

Here's my impression. Get a start page, with a little content on it. Big link to your forums somewhere on it. Catchy titles/colors too.
Make it fit on a standard 800x600 page with no scrolling.
Carefully choose your meta tags, and even include misspelled words in them. Literally beat them to death with every instance of content you want your visitors to see (wether you provide it yet or not). Don't repeat though, that is a guaranteed way of not getting listed. Make the list concise, about 12 to 20 key words that YOU think people use to type in a search engine. Don't change them once they're up, because a site that is re-indexed every week will never get a high ranking.
Once you've done everything perfect, sit back and wait about a year. Once it's indexed in Yahoo, Google, and a few of the other more notable ones, the visitors will crawl out of the woodwork.
Resubmit your site to every search engine you can find, at least once a week for 2 or 3 months (unless it's against their TOS).
I run a specialty site. It's got a definite purpose, but a very narrow audience. It took forever to get listed, and now it's in the top 10 of just about every search engine around. What was maybe 10 visitors a week for almost a year, finally blossomed into 7000 per month, steadily, repeat visitors, even though the content hasn't changed all that much in over 3 years.
The idea is to provide something nobody else does, and/or do it better than everyone else.
Keep in mind that most of your visitors may NOT be computer/internet savvy (the K.I.S.S. rule applies).
Attempt to seek out other similar sites. Don't copy stuff, but offer to exchange links. Set up a guestbook. Make an email address readily available for any visitor. Answer all email, respond to anyone that posts in the guestbook, thanking them for their input. Encourage them to post in the forums. Have a "comment of the week", something serious, yet humorous on the front page, maybe something from one of your members.
Offer to make one or two of your regular posters, moderators of a forum or two.
I'm not sure how clinical you want to keep the site.
I would rename "Suicidal and Homicidal Thoughts" to "Jump off the bridge, or Kill something and eat it!"
How about "I'm Sad", instead of "Depression"? "What, Me Worry?" instead of "Anxiety Issues".
The forum descriptions can remain the same, but a slightly more lighthearted facade to encourage people to go in and read/post.
That's all I can think of for now. I hope this helps, and I can understand how frustrating it is to "get noticed".

[KronoLeginaire]

ok, thanks allot reboot!

[KronoLeginaire]

what do you guys think of the site now?
check

[KronoLeginaire]

what do you guys think of the site now?
check out

[reboot]

Most excellent. I can see you've done a TON of work in the past few days. Now it's looking like a site with lots of content, easy to navigate, easy to read, with just enough of a lighter side to make it enjoyable.
Personally, I think you've done a great job.

p.s. The link to the chatroom doesn't work...maybe it's just not set up yet?
p.p.s First paragraph should read: "This forum is administrated and funded by one person, me; a teen who suffers ..."