Improve Acorn Small Tweak: Now you can see who has read your content

[Admin]

Hello domainers,

We have included a new feature: you can now see who has viewed your content.

Just a small tweak.

Thank you
Acorn Domains

 

[Admin]

tell us how do you like this feature>> Thank you

 

[Helmuts]

Good job!!

 

[Helmuts]

Yet another nail in the coffin for the forum and yet another reason not to visit.

Hi, why?

 

[alan]

I think you should reconsider this feature. I think it comes across as invasive and surveillance-like, which might make users feel overly visible. This could end up further discouraging participation and limiting the sense of privacy and freedom to browse without feeling watched. Just be aware that small tweaks like this can have big impacts.

 

[aZooZa]

This is the craziest idea I've ever seen on a public forum. I can only echo what @alan has said. Why has the post by @boxerdog been removed?

 

[Helmuts]

This is not a new feature in the forum world It is mostly not used, as it is a paid feature, and even though the cost is not high for it > every little ads up for a webmaster, and many webmasters get in a zone staying stuck with free addons or no features at all on their platforms.

I have earlier noticed this feature at DN.ca forum, and at some point it starts kicking in (in the brain) - it just looks great for an outsider to see that posts are read by real forum members, and will encourage more registrations and more conversations. + Frank (@MapleDots) knows what he does - he has an unparallel experience creating and managing uber-sucessful communities. He learns from us, we learn from him, and we learn what looks cool by exploring other forums.

Please give it some time to get used to this.

The main thing, guys, is that you wish to know that there is business at Acorn, don't you?

And we want to show you and the world that there is traffic and business at Acorn > no guessing is needed now you know that the posts have been seen.

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Why has the post by @boxerdog been removed?

He removed it himself. We allow users to delete all their own posts. We offer freedom here at Acorn.

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I think you should reconsider this feature. I think it comes across as invasive and surveillance-like, which might make users feel overly visible. This could end up further discouraging participation and limiting the sense of privacy and freedom to browse without feeling watched.

Thank you Alan. Yes, I am already reconsidering this feature here at Acorn. We are all reasonable people here. This awesome feature shows you, the domain name professional, that your posts have quality eyeballs (and you get more and more eyeballs with time).

Do you remember launching Domain Parachute? Didn't you want to know where to post the most to be active? Simple analytics. You have few threads here to promote DomainParachute.uk (fantastic website and service!!) > post there updates and you will see that the posts start getting the attention of new and new registered users. It is valuable to use Acorn Domains for your business. Time well spent.

Does this help?

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This feature is just one of many that is being introduced > many addons we are buying (as this one), and many are developing ourselves so the community can have a good business environment. Some never flow, and we remove these.

And, the last - your reads and visits now also will get your profile more traffic (who see that you have read 1 or another thread), from both registered and unregistered members.

Thank you guys for your feedback - it is valuable.

Wishing everyone the best business!
Helmuts

 

[RB5]

Any way to opt out of this the same way you can change visibility on the "who's online" section?

 

[Helmuts]

Any way to opt out of this the same way you can change visibility on the "who's online" section?

Hi, currently the developers of this add-on don’t has this functionality.

We have a list of Xenforo features that we will develop ourselves - then we will be able to add “incognito“ mode.

I definitely plan to custom-build this add-on ourselves + add the private mode. Though, we have a number of more important tasks and priorities that need our time right now and today.

current priorities:smtp servers (we keep improving these, and occasionally they break), too large % of real unregistered people read Acorn (does disservice to our image and doesn’t allow to grow), account upgrade page needs to be redone, TOS need to be done, new live auction feeds are coming (+Dynadot integration), and few more.

 

[Adam H]

Nothing new in fairness to Hulmuts, Its highly likely most forums everyone has visited has this and has had it for the best part of 10+ years, but the only difference being, no one else has announced it to the masses as a feature.

current priorities:smtp servers (we keep improving these, and occasionally they break), too large % of real unregistered people read Acorn (does disservice to our image and doesn’t allow to grow), account upgrade page needs to be redone, TOS need to be done, new live auction feeds are coming (+Dynadot integration), and few more.

Just use a good Mail server, Sendgrid and SMTP2go are good. At least until you've cleansed the membership.

We use them both at Cpanel/EXIM level, the benefits are that they have supression lists so if you mass mail or even general transactional mail, all the bounces and invalid emails get put into a list and wont be sent to again next time the site tries to send an email. With SMTP2go they also send out weekly bounce lists so you can go through your membership and remove emails from accounts that are invalid.

 

[Helmuts]

Just use a good Mail server, Sendgrid and SMTP2go are good. At least until you've cleansed the membership.

Yes! This makes 100% sense. The business part starts with costs > these costs add up significantly when you are sending 250k-500k emails/month

The memberships are cleaned (despite many being against this) - we have invested in a professional email list cleaner. For example, the DNF bounce rate is 3.7%

I am sure that a professional like you who also provides services to your communities will understand how proud we are of this

Acorn bounce rate currently is 5.8% .. also super-proud!!

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@Adam H have you ever tested the "Who has viewed this thread" addon on your forums? Cool, isn't it?

 

[Adam H]

Yes! This makes 100% sense. The business part starts with costs > these costs add up significantly when you are sending 250k-500k emails/month
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Costs using a service that does it automatically and is realiable vs time/cost saved messing with your own SMPT server, validating and cleaning is often outweighed unless you've got staff constantly on it.

I mean realistically SMTP2Go for 500k emails am month is just over £215 a month, for 500k emails you should be making way more than costs to cover it.

Yes! This makes 100% sense. The business part starts with costs > these costs add up significantly when you are sending 250k-500k emails/month
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@Adam H have you ever tested the "Who has viewed this thread" addon on your forums? Cool, isn't it?

To be honest, I had it on some forums years back, but i prefer the less clutter approach, realistically no one ever looks down there unless there is a specific reason to do so. Id imagine if you used hotjar or mouseflow to see how people used the forum, very few actually take notice of that area of real estate.

 

[j13]

Helmuts,

This feature is creepy. This forum isn't Linkedin. Lean in to what make forums different to social.

You want to show sellers there is business at acorn.... I visit daily and am a prolific domain buyer - I won't be visiting until this is removed.

Knowing there is zero chance of this happening. I'm out

 

[Helmuts]

Helmuts,

This feature is creepy. This forum isn't Linkedin. Lean in to what make forums different to social.

You want to show sellers there is business at acorn.... I visit daily and am a prolific domain buyer - I won't be visiting until this is removed.

Knowing there is zero chance of this happening. I'm out

Thank you; I understand. Would you benefit from having more domain names listed here for liquidation or wholesale prices?

 

[Helmuts]

@Admin, good morning! A quick thought: can we make this feature optional for Premium Members?

 

[RB5]

@Admin, good morning! A quick thought: can we make this feature optional for Premium Members?

So premium members would have the choice for privacy but normal users can't?

Curious has anyone voiced a positive opinion on this?

 

[diablo]

Good job!!

More like

Seriously though, it baffles me why you would think this is a good feature.

Not a single person has given it a thumbs up out of "9,500 members". That surely tells you something.

 

[Admin]

So premium members would have the choice for privacy but normal users can't?

Curious has anyone voiced a positive opinion on this?

I think he meant -> only premium members can see who viewed the thread. Am I right @Helmuts ?

 

[Helmuts]

Seriously though, it baffles me why you would think this is a good feature.

Good morning,

One thing about the online world is that people usually only comment when they’re unhappy - especially regarding new features! Most feedback tends to come from people who want to help improve the platform by pointing out things that might need tweaking.

Think about the live auction feeds that so many of you enjoy and use on daily basis. How often do we see “Thank you” messages for those? Rarely.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and feedback. Let’s give this new feature a bit of time to settle in and see if it’s really as concerning as it might seem at first.

Why it is a good feature? Because it is clear proof that Acorn has quality users. If you wish to sell your domains > you want to know that the place has eyeballs, don't you? If you wish to advertise your dropcatching service, dn marketplace or other service > you want to know that Acorn has your users. And we do. The fact that 200 dedicated Acorn members know this is enough for you > not the world.

Do you wish to do the best possible business? .. A person who doesn't post his domains here, or doesn't talk here (while representing his brand) = is missing out.

This feature is to bring in more business here. To sell > you need leads, leads and more leads (prospecting is the start point of every sales process).

Acorn is a domain name business forum.

Analytics and more data are always needed when you do business. Don't you agree?

 

[RB5]

This feature is to bring in more business here.

You've been told by several members though that they have reduced their activity, which in turn leads to less business.

A practical example as to why personally I am uncomfortable browsing with this feature. What if prior to this feature the way I use the forum is just to keep up to date with the market and view all of the for sale posts. Previously you'd be able to just click through the list and get on with your day. Now with this feature you have the risk of two things, one the owner of the domain directly messaging you and two being spam further down the line of someone with a similar domain trying to sell a different domain.

So now I have personally adjusted how I browse these forums, I am not interacting with these posts due to the above scenario, as someone who has spent comfortably over £10k on domains from this forum it's lost a potential buyer, based on the replies above it's lost numerous. A good feature should increase engagement and visibility which based on public opinion this has not done.

Why it is a good feature? Because it is clear proof that Acorn has quality users. If you wish to sell your domains > you want to know that the place has eyeballs, don't you?

It doesn't show that it has quality users though, that's done by people posting. If anything it's leading to potential confusion, you've got the typical "views" that show as of right now 494 views. However there are only 36 members who have viewed the thread.