Improvement Ideas

[Willy The Londoner]

In view of the turmoil on the original thread I have reproduced my offering. I invite others to reproduce your original thread here referring to improvements only.

Willy

'Maybe it is time to revamp the site.

As it is a free site then I wonder how money can be forthcoming to have SEO's working on it. Bearing in mind a lot of the SEO offering their service are on the same lines as dating scammers.  Getting the opening page is right, some people overdo the number of words in the hidden headings but 25 well scripted phrases is best. And these same words need to be in the opening page and or other pages.

What is needed is an opening page that leads to the revamped forum.   

I think Gerry is right in one way, the site needs to be more active.  Blogs are a good way as long as they are updated regularly. The major search engines love finding updated items.   Going back to Facebook and utilising what is there is another and also Twitter.

After seeing that the other chnlove forum goes a couple of weeks sometime without any new entries then I came to the conclusion that Finding a Chinese wife was no longer what it used to be.  I even stopped posting controversial items that were only designed to get some activity on here.

Maybe it is time to revamp the mods as well. Even the US President only gets 4 years unless her is re-elected for a second term.

Maybe two mods and the administrator is all we need at this time.

Maybe we should rename the site and open it to all who are looking for a foreign wife.  A lot of the info that we available from our own experiences would be suitable in many cases to relationships with other than just chinese ladies.   I do know that some on here have given up on finding a Chinese Wife and have gone to other countries to fulfill their needs.

The UK has now opened it borders to nearly 30 European countries now, that has made marriages a lot easier but no doubt the persons from the EU countries need green cards for the USA etc.

My vote would be to open the forum to men looking to marry a foreign wife.  Period.  There are now many years experience in terms of marriage years amongst us. Ok but lets glean then info from others who have or are looking to other countries.  I am sure that the experience of Robertt is not just restricted to US/chinese relationships.

The choice really is simple.  Revamp the forum or let it suffer a lingering death.

Let us have  some positive ideas come in.

Willy'

[maxx]

I'm all for getting the site listed on other search engines. It is free. And it do's drive more traffic. There are places on the internet that will help you get listed on other search engines.

 It probably wouldn't hurt. If somebody posted something on chinalove website. That has worked before. Not everybody is a fan of the guppy. So they all don't follow his wacked advice. I'm sure the guppy has driven off more people then he has helped. Put something up on facebook. I think the original site is up and running.

The powers to be mite think about signing up with mailchimp It is free. You can do email mailers free up to 10,000 a month. In the members area is a list of email addresses for everybody who ever registered for this website. So that is where I would start. It would drive the ranking up. Because even members who haven't ben here in a while would probably like to come back and tell there stories. And wither they post anything or not. It will drive the rank. When they click on the link in the email. Get enough clicks and you can get first page ranking.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how much money you spend. Or what promises are broken from a S.E.O company, It all comes down to the number of clicks you can generate in 24 hour period.

Willy I also liked your idea of opening up the web site to a broader audience. All of Asia would be a good place to start. The only problem with this. Is I don't know anybody who is up on the rest of the female population of Asia. If you can find somebody that knows something. It would probably work.

Martin could probably fill the rest of us in on P.I. ladies. Or Dave aka super B or Ed. All members or former members of this web site. He could probably even invite them back. And they could post there adventures with the P.I. ladies.

The first thing they are going to have to do is get this place easy to find. As it is now if you loose your link. This site can be hard to find. Or it will lock you out. Until somebody tries to decide if they are going to fix it. And get it listed right.

[Martin]

In an effort to breathe new life into this forum, there will be a big change coming up.  There will be an announcement very soon.

[JohnB]

Martin,
Do Mod's mod other Mod's. Or are all Mod's equal,
subject to the site admin? YOU.

It seems, as if Willy writes, one of the Mod's is awol.
Then there is Maxx.
There are quite a few very good members in this fishbowl
who would be excellent Mods.

I will not assume what direction of this site you go,
am curious as to the structure of the board as it exists now.

for what it is worth Martin, you do a commendable job.

[Martin]

Mods generally do not moderate other mods except under extreme circumstances. There have been issues in the past where such measures were taken. We do have an AWOL mod...Chong hasn't been on the forum in a year. I hadn't replaced him. Generally, names for future mods are put forth, and the mods and I discuss and vote on who should fill the position. With this site being somewhat quieter lately, the need to fill Chongs spot didn't seem so necessary.

In times when we have had to let a mod go, it was discussed, and voted on, and the vote making the final decision.

I hope this answers your question.  You are right, there are many excellent members on this site who would make fantastic mods. I am always keeping an open mind to adding someone new to the ranks.

[fivetrout]

I will be the first to admit...the popularity of this site for me, stems from an emotional perspective, usually when one of the brothers is in trouble, has a hardship with his lady, or has been bamboozled by the system of finding a Chinese wife. Happiness and fears is something we all can relate to. Success's are shared with all of us here and a job well done is earned by our members that helped with advice or perspectives given. Failures are shared by many of us as a whole, as many here have worn and walked in those same shoes and have shared the similar outrage.

The site's humor is of importance also, and there's plenty to laugh about with the different views... "west to east" and visa-versa. Not to mention the different degrees of humor level we share.

The most important aspect of this site is the..."must know" information, legal matters, traveling, culture, and help when needed. This forum allows others to follow in our footsteps with reasonable comfort and assurance of which they may not have proceeded with prior to coming here.

In my opinion, the forum is something I take a quick look at daily in hopes of finding something of interest, something perhaps I can contribute to, or... to just laugh with. The nonsense of late... serves no one and contributes nothing but a degrading of this site. I for one agree there is a need for Mods to keep this site focused to the tasks this site provides and that which will attract new members.

Chris

[shaun]

I've been reading some of the comments about improvements and had a few thoughts I'd like to express.

Though this site belongs to Robert now we are all members of this community and a community it is with common interests shared by most of us.  Up until recently it was simply Chinese women but we've grown to Asian women. Growth is good and I like some of what I am seeing.  Some of course I don't much care for but I think we can all claim that in that we are not all the same.

But in being a community in sharing in similar ideas there needs to be rules and laws that govern us or the site if you will.  In the past we've learned them as we participated on the site. Martin that isn't a negative comment toward you.  But the site grew in ways that Martin didn't consider and we found ourselves having to deal with issues we never imagined we would have to deal with.  Most everything has been good but there have been a few bumps and bruises along the way.  We've all learned from them and have grown.

We are becoming a more complex community now and the issues have become more complex and will continue to do so as we grow.  I think we've come to the point now that there needs to be ground rules established in print so that everyone who communicates on this site and see and adhere to.

Robert I would like to suggest that you conduct a straw poll on a variety of subject to see where the belief system of the community is.  I will make a few suggestions as an example but at the same time I think the suggestions should be considered and are not necessarily something that I would want to personally point out as an issue.  Please take them as suggestions only and let's not get into an issue of whether I am trying to promote an agenda or not.

1.  Politics - Should we talk about it or not.
2.  Religion - The same idea as #1.
3.  Foul language
4.  Sexually suggestive material either photo graphs or talk.
5.  Promoting one's business.   (I do it as a couple of others do but in general do the members of the community like or dislike it.)
6.  Attacking or chastising another member.  (Verbal abuse should be included.)
7.  Attacking or chastising a new member who say's something off the wall.   (It has happened many times here. I've done it myself.)
8.  Threatening others.

I'm sure there are many other suggestions that I can't think of right now.  The reason I bring up a few of these is because I thought we had certain rules to abide by but it seems that they have, for the most part, gone by the wayside.

At the same time I would see a list of ideas that are used when selecting who is or who is not a mod.  Now listen closely because I am not complaining who is or who is not a mod.  I am not one, don't want to be one and would refuse the position if offered.  I don't have the time or the interest in being one.  That being said I do, as a member of this community, have an opinion as to who should be one and want to know what qualifies them as one.  So knowing the ground rules in selecting one would be helpful.

It is time with the changing of the guard to establish the parameters of how this site operates to help us in future growth.  I do think that is what we all want here.

One last thing to post.  I would like to see this site become a place where one can feel safe to post about issues plaguing them with their visa applications.  There are a few of us who don't and won't because of past issues.  It is a shame.  This is a site was designed to help people achieve bring a wife home.  Some of us have been sabotaged before and won't post anything.  PERIOD!!!!!!!

[Robertt S]

Shaun,  I thought about adding a politics and religion thread, but I am attempting to retain current members and attract new members to this site. My father told me a long time ago, that the fastest way to lose a good friend was to sleep with his mom, sister, or wife.( This could be 3 people or 1 according to how far into Appalachia you venture! The second and third methods respectfully was discussing politics and religion with them. This is an international site with members from all over the world and I think if people are that interested in sharing their political views they should join an additional site or sites that would cater to that need. If this site was just one nationality then the political thread might be fair since everyone shared the same government, but since we have many countries represented here I think it is in the site's best interest to let sleeping dogs lie.

[JohnB]

Shaun,
Site improvement always good. I think there are a ton of suggestions out & about about what we (as a group) can do to
improve our worldly experience on this site and to keep the read interesting. I think it safe to say that Robert is very open
to any ideas that will be beneficial to our general membership & the welcoming to new members who wish to participate. We
are here to help the inquisitive. We are here to support our brothers. There is always the 'open door' for anyone, anytime. 
Just looked...there are a grand total of 397 registered members. This very moment 25 guests, 3 users (inc Robert). It is a
general assumption that this site's membership & viewing audience comprises a population across the globe...a very diverse
group we are but with a shared common interest. That being said, in one of my recent posts, I wrote the following "The forum
needs to refine it's structure. Discipline. Order. Immediate corrective action to counter any instabilities. I mean does anyone
still believe in good forum stewardship? The membership is across the globe. Everyone is different, the only common element
shared, the China woman. Religion & politics can be contentious. What I think, what others think, does not necessarily
correlate common thought. But the one determining factor that is a constant anywhere, is good citizenship. We owe it to ourselves
& others to behave decently."
http://www.chnromance.com/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=544
While I agree with you about your suggestions for 'site discipline' I disagree with you about the "rigidity" of an established formal
behavior. I do not believe in a "strait jacket" site structure for member behavior. It takes away from the free give & take of the
posts.  It does not lend itself to the free flowing of ideas that, or should be, that makes any forum, fun & interesting and someplace
where potential new members want to place their cursor.

That being said, I commend you for your stated interests. All ideas are good! Then again it is about what Robert feels is necessary
for the forum continuum. If it is a poll so be it. I am not one to stand in the way.
John

[Robertt S]

Here is the registration agreement everyone here signed when they joined.

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That answers most of your questions since this is the guidelines I will use a BASIS for any administrative decisions in the future. As far as ideas or guidelines for mods. I appointed a few new mods and they were picked based on their location and their specific knowledge of the subject matter of their respective boards.

Concerning posting immigration questions; Maybe in the future when we get more members who are pursuing their visas we can start a board for that.

[shaun]

Well you completely missed my point as I expected.   Thanks John for the brow beating.

[JohnB]

'Thanks John for the brow beating.'
you are welcome Shaun, happy to be of assistance. 

[Happy]

My opinion on mods...They should be people that have actual experience with this whole process and not be one-sided when there are disagreements. What I don't like are brown-nosers. You see them in all forums. They don't contribute anything positive!

Shaun,

Politics and religion suck! They have no place in these types of forums and I'm sure my feelings about these two subjects are much different than yours or most on this forum. I posted in the visa section on this forum on something that is false and very political. Yes, there are very isolated cases like I read on that post. I see this post comes from the new admin of this forum. Perhaps, my post will be moderated or deleted...LOL! It doesn't matter!

I wish everybody Happy Everyday!
Jim 

[mpo]

Since this site is highly moderated it would be fair to explain this to people up front, so that they are aware of it.
It is extremely annoying, and discomforting, as well as hurtful, for people to have posts deleted without any reason or explanation.

I would suggest the site be formally placed into a moderated format:

Moderated discussions

Moderated discussions are discussions where message postings are monitored and controlled. When you post a message to a moderated discussion, it must be screened by a moderator before it can be posted to the discussion.

How moderation works
When you post a message it is not immediately made public.
Instead, the message is archived in an unmoderated state.

Note: If you are the moderator of the discussion, you don't have to moderate your own messages.

The moderators of the discussion read the message that you have posted. A moderator may either approve or reject your message.

If the moderator rejects the message, he can include his comments or reasons in the moderation rejection and the message is removed from the archive.

If the moderator accepts the message, it can then be made public

[Robertt S]

I think this site is going through some changes at this time, the idea is to open our doors to new ideas and members.I also think that the fastest way to run potential members and existing members off is to over-moderate. This site is fully capable of running in a civilized manner without previewing and approving every post. When people start calling each other out or attempting to instigate an argument with others is when moderation comes into play. To my knowledge everyone here is an adult and will be treated as such until they show just cause to be treated otherwise. The rules here are very simple and limited so that members can enjoy their time here. A simple rule I have always used for posting is " If I have to really think about whether my post will offend someone, then it probably will! I do not plan to punish everyone here because someone posts something that offends someone else, those cases will be dealt with individually instead of locking down the forums in the fear of offending someone. I remember one of the main reasons this site came to be was due to the over-moderation and censorship of ChnLove and other similar sites, so why would we want to go against our founding principle and become like them and attempt to control our members.