Ideas

[blue60007]

1) What about a poll that goes on the main page? Or do you think that might induce flame wars etc...? Like, have polls about what hardware you have (ie, brand, socket, etc), or what you think of a recent tech event...

2) What about quizzes? Have the results compiled after a while and see how the PCM readers rank...

Just some ideas

[rspassey]

I like the poll idea, but I really don't know what they would prove besides being a measure of interest in certain things (and help us see how many people actually participate and frequent the home page). The forums allow polls, so for the time being, if you want to gather some statistics, you can.

Quizes are a good idea - I think some good quizzes would be focused around computer security, with questions that help analyze the level of knowledge and protection one has about the dangers of the internet. At the end of the quiz, suggestions on how to improve can be given too.

I notified the staff of your ideas.

[Stuey]

Hmm. I second blue's quiz idea, but want to add to it.

How about quick quiz competitions or something of the sort, or an online treasure hunt of some kind? Perhaps a sponsor can be convinced to doll out free case badges or something to be the prize?

<-- Likes competitions and winning free stuff.

[kstatefan40]

I like the quiz idea!

As far as polls on our homepage, our homepage is so full of information and links as it is, I would hate to put another item on there for my sanity.....

Edit: How about a poll of the week (posted on the forums) in the newsletter? Would you guys like that?

Now, we could definately develop quizes, maybe even computer building ones (configuration, technique, etc) and maybe get a large enough one together to put on a competition... it would be fairly easy to google and cheat, though.

Thoughts? I will look into development of quizes...

[rspassey]

For the quizes, there are promotional codes on the net all the time - perhaps we can get a hold of a few promotional codes and say for everyone that tries they get a low level promotional code, then for ones that score between 60% and 80% get a medium range code, and then above 80% get a high level code for a bigger discount. We'd have to make sure everyone only does the quiz once, though.

Or, develop a Hall of Fame kind of thing... it will have to be dicussed more, obviously.

Agreed, the main page is getting too a point where anything else will be too much - putting the quizes / polls on a page of their own in an idea, such as Blog - Podcast - Store - Forums - Games / Contests -

[Stuey]

Maybe it would be possible to get codes exclusive for PCmechers? It wouldn't be too much fun holding a competition where the prizes are discount codes freely available to anyone who can google for it.

I don't see why advertisers/e-tailers wouldn't go for it - especially since it could give them a new audience.

[blue60007]

OK, you've got a point about putting more stuff on the home page. I like the poll of the week idea...that's kinda what I was thinking. Would you want to allow posting/comments, etc? Or just a pure poll. It might be interesting to get an idea of the reader's demographics (not so much age/gender/locale, but computer stuff, about their rigs, perferences, etc).

If there was a way to link quiz scores to our forum account, that might open up other opportunities.

[kstatefan40]

Look for a poll of the week in next week's newsletter, and a blog post about it. We're going to give it a try on a trial basis and see how it goes for a few weeks.

Thanks!

[blue60007]

Cool!

[Ghost(BOO!)]

how about options for different colors in the forums? How about making a database of peoples pc specs to see how your pc measures up to everybody elses (honor system lol)?

[kstatefan40]

Thanks for the suggestions! Here are my thoughts:

Forum Colors: Doubtful. We like to keep it fairly simple and straightforward. Adding stuff like that is not exactly professional, and adds a nightmare to when we have to troubleshoot things.

PC Database: Would it serve any purpose other than bragging rights? We aren't really set up to be a gamers bragging heaven, so I also doubt this idea would work out. We're looking for stuff that will be useful to the typical user that would come to PCM - the focus is much less on gaming.

Thanks again, and keep the ideas coming.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by kstatefan40 ... PC Database: Would it serve any purpose other than bragging rights? ...

I got a good laugh on that one! (in a good way) So many members have multiple machines... so I was wondering how many PIIs it would take to register as an EE?? or how many 586s it takes to make a FX62??

[Ghost(BOO!)]

Originally Posted by kstatefan40 Thanks for the suggestions! Here are my thoughts: Forum Colors: Doubtful. We like to keep it fairly simple and straightforward. Adding stuff like that is not exactly professional, and adds a nightmare to when we have to troubleshoot things. PC Database: Would it serve any purpose other than bragging rights? We aren't really set up to be a gamers bragging heaven, so I also doubt this idea would work out. We're looking for stuff that will be useful to the typical user that would come to PCM - the focus is much less on gaming. Thanks again, and keep the ideas coming.

I got shot down Also I mentioned the pc database so people that don't know what goes with what could get a good idea and they could see what the good brands to buy are instead of getting the almost exact same threads in the building a new pc forum

[blue60007]

How will people know who has a good rig? Many people (myself included) have older rigs with outdated technologies, so if people just randomly picked rigs with no prior knowledge then they might end up with something inferior for the money...

[Ghost(BOO!)]

Originally Posted by blue60007 How will people know who has a good rig? Many people (myself included) have older rigs with outdated technologies, so if people just randomly picked rigs with no prior knowledge then they might end up with something inferior for the money...

I was just explaining my idea. I never said it was a good one

[blue60007]

Ah, nothing wrong with bringing up ideas.

[Ghost(BOO!)]

How about a computer IQ test(for fun) for the casual guest? You could have 20 each questions for general software, general hardware, advanced hardware, and advanced software. These questions could be about the most commonly asked questions on this forum so the person might even get their question answered by the test instead of waiting for a person to reply to their thread.


Another idea is to make a new category in the forum for other electronics besides pc's since a lot of the members have a broad range of electronic knowledge that is not just pc knowledge. This could open up the site to a broader consumer group or someone that comes on this site for a pc question and also has problems with one of their personal electronic devices


My last idea is to have a weekly or monthly general knowledge (not just computer) question that members can answer and the members that answer correctly can be entered into a drawing for a prize. For example the winner of the drawing could win a free month as a pc mech supporter.


I think the first and third idea could make the site a little more fun to be on and nice for a casual guest that may want to join as a member