increase forum participation

[bristweb]

i always prefer to hunt in a forum when i have a question. this way i'm bound to find someone who has already run into the exact same issue and i can see the steps taken to resolve it. since the forum keeps growing, it can track thousands of issues and provide instant resolution

to the contrary, customer support is slower, and requires the support to have a memory of a similar situation and what was done to resolve. i do admit that 3dcart support tickets are usually surprisingly quick (thanks jimmy!), but they could never be "instant"

i have noticed very little participation by 3dcart staff in the forums. i'm sure the staff is very busy, but still think more forum participation is needed. it is also valuable to 3dcart for several reasons

• provides better feel for what customers are experience
• forum will snowball, so the more participation you put, the more participation you will see
• builds content for 3dcart to recieve free traffic from SE
• provides faster resolution to customer problems
• ultimately reduces workload for 3dcart staff

[mueller]

I agree, but since they do not participate much these days in the forums (they used to be more active on here) they might not even see this post.

[GonzaloGil]

Hey guys, we do read, and when possible, post, but, yes, recently we've been extremely busy between supporting our increasing client base, and working on the new release.

We are working on adding more staff, and this will give us more time to spend here. I know that the forum could be a very good tool, and we are not getting the benefits by not spending as much time here. We'll fix that soon

[mueller]

That is good news Gonzalo. I am sure you are particularly busy with the impending release.

I personally prefer to go to the forums before I even think about contacting support and as they become more active they will be more and more useful.

[bristweb]

Originally Posted by GonzaloGil

We are working on adding more staff, and this will give us more time to spend here. I know that the forum could be a very good tool, and we are not getting the benefits by not spending as much time here. We'll fix that soon

Thanks for the response
I know you have been busy interviewing, i'm looking forward to it!

also, although it is tricky to do without offending your customers, i think directing people to a forum post rather than answering questions in a support ticket might also improve participation. or by answering forum posts more quickly, you may receive less support ticket request...

anyway just my thoughts, thanks

[ScribeTime]

Great suggestions! I agree with everything already said and it's good to hear Gonzalo's input and future plans.

An idea for the 3Dcart staff (once things settle down a bit):

What about sending an email invitation (or even something like quarterly email invitations) to all new and existing 3Dcart customers to participate in the forums? Invite others to contribute as well as ask questions with the goal of course being to build a more comprehensive knowledgebase maintained not only by 3Dcart staff members, but those of us working with the cart day in and day out...

Just a few thoughts

[Inviting Ways]

Another suggestion...appoint a few of the 3dCart customers to be moderators. I mod a few other boards (both personal and business related) and it definitely gets me more involved, and more apt to encourage others to participate.

Once a person is made "a part of" something, they tend to get very involved with it.

Just my 2 cents

[ontiltcasinogear]

thanks for the response gonz... i suppose i'd rather him spend time getting the updates bulletproof than see him in here addressing problems with it after the launch, lol

[bristweb]

Originally Posted by ontiltcasinogear

thanks for the response gonz... i suppose i'd rather him spend time getting the updates bulletproof than see him in here addressing problems with it after the launch, lol

touché hopefully they bring on additional bright staff soon