Comments on: To Portal or Not to Portal? http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/ Cutting edge advice on community management, monetization, and buying / selling websites Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:02:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Laura Alter http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1386 Laura Alter Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:49:05 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1386 We have a portal now: http://www.notebookforums.com/ We didn't up until a couple of months ago. We had to in order to get exclusive ad representation (among other reasons listed below). Large advertisers simply don't want standard forums... MOST people come to the site off search engines, so they don't see the portal page. We set it so members can choose in their profile if they go to the forum index upon arriving at the notebookforums.com URL, so they can bypass the page. We designed it so that we could help people get where they needed to go easily if they hadn't visited the site before (we are still tweaking - I feel like we have a lot of work to do still). It used to be when you arrived at the forum index, there was an overwhelming amout of forums and millions of posts. Where do you start? It overwhelmed me, even. Of course, old members don't need this page, but our goal is to make sure that people who haven't been with us for a while are comfortable getting whatever information they need. I will say that advertisers (big ones - Dell, Alienware, etc.) have responded VERY favorably to a standard homepage design. For what that's worth to you... Laura We have a portal now:

http://www.notebookforums.com/

We didn’t up until a couple of months ago. We had to in order to get exclusive ad representation (among other reasons listed below). Large advertisers simply don’t want standard forums…

MOST people come to the site off search engines, so they don’t see the portal page. We set it so members can choose in their profile if they go to the forum index upon arriving at the notebookforums.com URL, so they can bypass the page.

We designed it so that we could help people get where they needed to go easily if they hadn’t visited the site before (we are still tweaking – I feel like we have a lot of work to do still). It used to be when you arrived at the forum index, there was an overwhelming amout of forums and millions of posts. Where do you start? It overwhelmed me, even.

Of course, old members don’t need this page, but our goal is to make sure that people who haven’t been with us for a while are comfortable getting whatever information they need.

I will say that advertisers (big ones – Dell, Alienware, etc.) have responded VERY favorably to a standard homepage design. For what that’s worth to you…

Laura

]]> By: Lee http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1385 Lee Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:28:07 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1385 That is a nice portal page...a bit overwhelming though in terms of information offered. That is a nice portal page…a bit overwhelming though in terms of information offered.

]]> By: mickey http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1384 mickey Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:55:10 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1384 @nathan, tx for your suggestion. That's indeed a nice example (althought hunting ain't my cup of tea) @nathan,

tx for your suggestion.

That’s indeed a nice example (althought hunting ain’t my cup of tea)

]]> By: Nathan http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1383 Nathan Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:45:13 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1383 "Do you have some examples of "good" portals?" - Mickey YES! http://www.huntingnet.com “Do you have some examples of “good” portals?” – Mickey

YES!

http://www.huntingnet.com

]]> By: IMPAQ http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1371 IMPAQ Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:24:48 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1371 I like a good portal page. It's more inviting to the common user. If it's just a forum listing, the common user feels overwhelmed at times. I use my wife as a "case study". She's not a forum "veteran". She tends to join up sites that have portal pages. I like a good portal page. It’s more inviting to the common user. If it’s just a forum listing, the common user feels overwhelmed at times.

I use my wife as a “case study”. She’s not a forum “veteran”. She tends to join up sites that have portal pages.

]]> By: Scribbller http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1382 Scribbller Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:51:08 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1382 I have always been impressed by bigblueball.com the portal is made from vbadvanced. I have always been impressed by bigblueball.com the portal is made from vbadvanced.

]]> By: mickey http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1381 mickey Mon, 13 Nov 2006 07:45:25 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1381 Do you have some examples of "good" portals? Do you have some examples of “good” portals?

]]> By: Nathan http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1380 Nathan Mon, 13 Nov 2006 02:43:27 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1380 Once again... I know I'm out numbered here and I'm not saying it's the only way to do things. I just know when I visit a website, any website, I want to get to the content I came for. Once again… I know I’m out numbered here and I’m not saying it’s the only way to do things. I just know when I visit a website, any website, I want to get to the content I came for.

]]> By: ghoti http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1379 ghoti Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:10:51 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1379 I think it's a terrific idea to have content that complements a forum. It doesn't have to be a "portal" per se...it could be a blog or a wiki or just something else that provides value to the community. In many cases it's the presence and popularity of a blog that spawns a successful forum (StevePavlina.com is a recent example). I think one of the few ways it could hurt a site is if the portal/blog/wiki hides the forum in some way from casual visitors. But I would assume that if someone sees an unusually high bounce rate off their main page, they would re-design it so it's both valuable in terms of content and also pointing visitors to the forum. I think it’s a terrific idea to have content that complements a forum. It doesn’t have to be a “portal” per se…it could be a blog or a wiki or just something else that provides value to the community. In many cases it’s the presence and popularity of a blog that spawns a successful forum (StevePavlina.com is a recent example).

I think one of the few ways it could hurt a site is if the portal/blog/wiki hides the forum in some way from casual visitors. But I would assume that if someone sees an unusually high bounce rate off their main page, they would re-design it so it’s both valuable in terms of content and also pointing visitors to the forum.

]]> By: Scribbller http://www.leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/comment-page-1/#comment-1378 Scribbller Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:13:15 +0000 http://leedodd.com/2006/11/10/to-portal-or-not-to-portal/#comment-1378 Agree with Lee, I am all for a front page as long as there is something worthwhile on it, if you are just going to pull out latest threads from your forum then its pretty useless. Agree with Lee, I am all for a front page as long as there is something worthwhile on it, if you are just going to pull out latest threads from your forum then its pretty useless.

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