Webmaster Forums

[Jon]

Get to know your Webmaster forums...

Every forum serves it's purpose. Whether people like one or hate the other, it's part of the webmaster resource eco-system, and without one, it may disrupt the overall balance of choice that webmasters have when finding and contributing information to the community.

WebmasterWorld (WMW) - is good for people with no sense of humor and for people who like to write long posts about things they THINK they know more about than their peers. It used to be packed with some really great information, but that changed when lots of their good mods left, and about the time when Brett started those conferences. Too many long winded posts about nothing special. But hey, it's still got some good info deep inside if you have the time to check it out.

SitePoint (SP or SPF) - Used to be a really great place to hang out, even though they didn't allow swearing. Met a lot of great people from it, but around the time that they changed their layout and added more sections to break up the ever so popular affiliate and traffic sections, that's when the trouble really started to become public. I think a lot of the disgust also started to stem when their "mentors" became more or less like the SS, and started to ban and delete posts that made their site look bad or when people didn't agree with them. Charging for the marketplace was smart of them in my opinion, but I would have kept it free and just beefed up the ad placement. The news mentions in Business 2.0 as the internet marketplace definitely helped them gain more of a foothold in the webmaster resource world, but overall, their books are shit, their articles are usually written by total fools, and when they kicked off Chris (aspen) that in itself was dumb, and set off the end of a lot of their really good information contributors.

Digital Point (DP or DPF) - Good forum, always has been. Run by a guy who knows his shit better than most people in the industry. Very similar to WickedFire, but they are also more established with a ton of active users, and lots of close knit cliques. Good source for information, although I've never really actively took part in the forum and it's discussions, I have lurked for a while there. Lots of influential personalities and contests and ideas that have helped develop some really cool ideas across the webmaster spectrum. A really great alternative to those who cannot stand the annoying mentors on SPF and who aren't as serious as WMW posters. Has a cool vibe too, and their marketplace for domains is nice as well. Be wary though, that a lot of the newer guys on there are very into email spam and adult, but that's okay in my book as long as they keep it legal.

WickedFire (WF) - Not sure if I'm the right person to write this being that I own it, but we are still too new in my opinion to be dubbed as anything but the original goal and statement. We've had lots of blog and industry media mentions for being a really laid back and cool place for webmasters to let their hair down and just chill out. Just from the names of the forum categories you can see censorship is non-existant here. While the shoot the shit forum category is the most popular, the affiliate, traffic and content sections hold some really great information for people to learn a hell of a lot about the industry in general, and lots of good information from those practicing the dark arts. WF is definitely a good place to make friends and joke around with your peers, but it also acts as a good outlet for the dark arts guys to come out of their hiding places and share ideas about just about anything. You can post affiliate links in your posts and sigs, images in posts and sigs, and as long as you aren't blatantly harassing anyone too much or spamming, everything else goes. Again, too early to compare it to the big ones, but the word is, is that after Jan 2007, this place should become a staple in most webmasters arsenal of forums and resources.

EarnersForum (EF) - Owned by the ever so famous Lee Dodd, but originally the idea came from someone else I heard, even so, Lee put his magic of dominating forums and making bank from it, into EF. Making it a melting pot of people who are serious about earning cash from the internet. Although it's also just as new as WF, so it may be too early to guage whether or not it will go up against the big three or not, I can see that since it's a niche site like WF, it will definitely start to challenge the big boys in the years to come. Lee has tons of good ideas he has in the works, and although they do practice censorship, as far as language, no dark arts discussions, no adult or gaming either, and things of that nature, it's still a cool place to visit. They have a really cool and unique feature that posts the user's earning status by color, so you can see who the big and small players are. I personally use it as a resource tool to see what people in other industries are discussing. I think they need to focus more on traffic generation and content too, but hey, they are less than 3 months old like WF, so I'm sure they will grow and add more good stuff to the industry as time goes by.

AffiliateTip (AT) - Owned and operated by master and commander of the affiliate managers world, Shawn Collins. I have been lurking there for a while, and I gotta say, it's a great idea for a forum. A place where affiliate managers can get together and discuss trends in campaign management, ways to attract bigger and more profitable and even more serious affiliates into their programs, and just ways on how to better their programs. I think Shawn is doing great things by continually educating those sometimes naive affiliate managers to better understand their affiliates. Also, a pretty new forum, but definitely the first of it's kind. If an affiliate ever needs to contact a manager, well, now you know where they are hanging out at.

v7 Forums (v7) - I never actually posted there, just lurked for a few hours every few months, but they are just too friendly and cheery for me to look at. Although they definitely do have by far the best active users to overall members ratio than any other forum around, a lot of their posters are from DP and SPF. They also have a large concentration on hosting resellers and domainers, something that I'm not particularly big on, but those that are may want to check them out to learn the game and ask questions to get answers from people who really know their shit.

[DruSam]

I've really been like Earner's Forum lately, a few good posts buried deep in there.
Good analysis Jon, but you forgot one important webmaster forum. Syndk8!

[Indy]

You forgot TalkFreelance! Although it's not huge, it still has some brilliant designers and such...

TF is where my WM home's at!

[John]

There are tons of little forums jon could have added to the list but I think the main goal of the post was to list the industry's main, most well known and visited forums.

Great Post

[Jon]

Yah I know there are a few smaller favorites I "forgot".. but I'm not going to go through every one of them, you can if you like.

[ChrisS]

Good list.

I missed the aspen thing. What the heck happened? That was stupid of them if they kicked him off the forum.

[Dave]

Sitepoint is becomin' a hole. I've taken a likin to Earners Forum tho

[rosem]

what? no links in the forum titles?


I'm also a fan of TalkFreelance, and have been starting to visit WeLoveCSS more and more, and the Typohile forums.

[DruSam]

Originally Posted by ChrisS

Good list.

I missed the aspen thing. What the heck happened? That was stupid of them if they kicked him off the forum.

I think it was because his site, webpublisher.net was creating competition for sitepoint.

[DruSam]

Originally Posted by rosem

what? no links in the forum titles?

We already criticized him enough...lol

[joe]

pretty good overview of the forums. You got all the big ones though I had never heard of AfTip or V7N. Digitalpoint is my second favorite one on there.

[sknydave]

I only visit sitepoint these days to check and see if any big sites are for sale..

[Mill]

about EF.... And although they do practice censorship,

Yea lee Closed a damn thread today because someone asked a general question about what was thought of the Adult Industry. People weighed in and told the OP what they thought then lee comes in and says

"
I decided to close this thread. I really don't want ANY discussion of adult sites or making money in that arena on EF. There right ways to earn and wrong ways, and I have this topic on my list of those that are wrong.

What the Fuck! Dont push your fucking beliefs and Morals on to other people. I started a thread called Lee: Locking Threads announcing my displeasure.

How can you have a webmaster forum where one is not allowed to ask a generic question regarding the largest market on the web, and the most searched for terms on the web?

Pisses me off, I dont mind if he doesnt allow talking about how to build or promote a porn site.. what I do mind is the fact that some asshole is trying to push their beliefs or morals on other people.

Aughhhh,, PISSES ME OFF
I posted that Lee needs to post his " LIST" of topics that one can not be allowed to discuss since they would go against his opinions are beliefs.

[sknydave]

Well... It's his forum he can run it as he pleases

[Tyler]

He must not like Pornrangers.

[A-D]

Originally Posted by Mill

about EF.... And although they do practice censorship,

Yea lee Closed a damn thread today because someone asked a general question about what was thought of the Adult Industry. People weighed in and told the OP what they thought then lee comes in and says

"
I decided to close this thread. I really don't want ANY discussion of adult sites or making money in that arena on EF. There right ways to earn and wrong ways, and I have this topic on my list of those that are wrong.

What the Fuck! Dont push your fucking beliefs and Morals on to other people. I started a thread called Lee: Locking Threads announcing my displeasure.

How can you have a webmaster forum where one is not allowed to ask a generic question regarding the largest market on the web, and the most searched for terms on the web?

Pisses me off, I dont mind if he doesnt allow talking about how to build or promote a porn site.. what I do mind is the fact that some asshole is trying to push their beliefs or morals on other people.

Aughhhh,, PISSES ME OFF
I posted that Lee needs to post his " LIST" of topics that one can not be allowed to discuss since they would go against his opinions are beliefs.

Well he is really religious so you would expect him to think like that but i agree with you i think its bullshit to stamp out any talk of adult sites just because of his own views. I could bet out of all the EF members atleast 30% own adult sites or have in the past. If every forum member had to have the same views as the admin it would be a pretty shitty forum. I think that forums pretty crap now with such a holey and strict ruleset. Did he delete your thread aswell?

[Payton]

What does it matter? The same people post on all the forums haha... So talk about it here instead of on EF

[dreamedia]

Whilst we are on the subject of porn...

jon, how can you not mention the pimp of webmasters forums with 10 million+ posts, gfy.com [Go Fuck Yourself]

[Payton]

I must be retarded, don't see any forums at affiliatetip.com

Someone link it

[Jon]

Originally Posted by dreamedia

Whilst we are on the subject of porn...

jon, how can you not mention the pimp of webmasters forums with 10 million+ posts, gfy.com [Go Fuck Yourself]

Because although this forum was inspired by GFY, it's a strictly adult forum, and nothing more than that. You can I suppose discuss other topics, but let's face it, with all of the ads for porn webmasters, they aren't exactly going to have many threads on how to monetize an arcade site on there.. I kinda wish some of the porn chicks from there and guys who are interested in mainstream would come over here and liven this place up even more (not that we need livining up..).

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Mill

about EF.... And although they do practice censorship,

Yea lee Closed a damn thread today because someone asked a general question about what was thought of the Adult Industry. People weighed in and told the OP what they thought then lee comes in and says

"
I decided to close this thread. I really don't want ANY discussion of adult sites or making money in that arena on EF. There right ways to earn and wrong ways, and I have this topic on my list of those that are wrong.

What the Fuck! Dont push your fucking beliefs and Morals on to other people. I started a thread called Lee: Locking Threads announcing my displeasure.

How can you have a webmaster forum where one is not allowed to ask a generic question regarding the largest market on the web, and the most searched for terms on the web?

Pisses me off, I dont mind if he doesnt allow talking about how to build or promote a porn site.. what I do mind is the fact that some asshole is trying to push their beliefs or morals on other people.

Aughhhh,, PISSES ME OFF
I posted that Lee needs to post his " LIST" of topics that one can not be allowed to discuss since they would go against his opinions are beliefs.

You have to understand that while you may not agree with his terms, it is in fact his forum, and I think those rules of his are laid out pretty well in his forum rule section.

Lee is a religious guy. I've heard stories about him mentioning scriptures and stuff during conference calls, how true it is, I don't know. But he's still a friend of mine. I started to notice that sort of stuff when he says "God Bless" at the end of his voicemail message prompt. Some people are religious, some aren't. We are not the ones who are supposed to judge others on what they can and cannot believe or preach about.

Are a lot of the people on EF former adult industry guys? No idea, but I would say yes if I had to guess. As long as they don't mention stuff that are banned there, then they will do fine. Can they come here and discuss it? Fuck yeah! (that phrase is banned there).

[Mill]

Originally Posted by A-D

Well he is really religious so you would expect him to think like that but i agree with you i think its bullshit to stamp out any talk of adult sites just because of his own views. I could bet out of all the EF members atleast 30% own adult sites or have in the past. If every forum member had to have the same views as the admin it would be a pretty shitty forum. I think that forums pretty crap now with such a holey and strict ruleset. Did he delete your thread aswell?

The original thread was locked because a member asked a generic question about the adult industry, and what people thought about it. Then I went and created another thread that stated how I thought it was a bad move to push your beliefs and morals onto others. One person disagreed while the PM's and replys in the thread stated others thought as I did.

Yet that thread was Locked also, fuck them. Atleast here I can tell someone what the fuck i think without the risk of the thread getting locked because a Mod dont want to hear the facts or someone elses point of view. Kind of Hitleresk <-- maybe not a word... but fuck em to each their own. But I want have someone doing that shit to me...lol.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Mill

The original thread was locked because a member asked a generic question about the adult industry, and what people thought about it. Then I went and created another thread that stated how I thought it was a bad move to push your beliefs and morals onto others. One person disagreed while the PM's and replys in the thread stated others thought as I did.

Yet that thread was Locked also, fuck them. Atleast here I can tell someone what the fuck i think without the risk of the thread getting locked because a Mod dont want to hear the facts or someone elses point of view. Kind of Hitleresk <-- maybe not a word... but fuck em to each their own. But I want have someone doing that shit to me...lol.

Mill-

Your right winger antics and adult industry conversation is always welcome here.

[$5 Submissions]

Great list of forums, Jon. Bookmarked

[A-D]

Originally Posted by Mill

The original thread was locked because a member asked a generic question about the adult industry, and what people thought about it. Then I went and created another thread that stated how I thought it was a bad move to push your beliefs and morals onto others. One person disagreed while the PM's and replys in the thread stated others thought as I did.

Yet that thread was Locked also, fuck them. Atleast here I can tell someone what the fuck i think without the risk of the thread getting locked because a Mod dont want to hear the facts or someone elses point of view. Kind of Hitleresk <-- maybe not a word... but fuck em to each their own. But I want have someone doing that shit to me...lol.

Yeah you know that, from the start WF was obvious as laid back and EF as professional but really from what ive seen on that forum so far nothing any better then whats been posted here. I also think there layout looks gay but thats probs just me

[John]

Originally Posted by A-D

I also think there layout looks gay but thats probs just me

I actually think the latout is nice.

[Michel Z.]

Jon,

Great explanation about the forums!

I never looked at it that way! I remember once that I posted in WebmasterWorld just after I signed up and the very next day someone send me a PM complaining about my post or whatever. I was thinking what's going on here! Sitepoint was always my favourite place to be, but the last few months I am most of the time hanging out here hahaha...

I noticed that WF increase in members lately is not that fast anymore as it was in the very beginning. Any plans here or 'word-of-mouth' will finally do the job?

[sknydave]

On the topic of forums... Jon, what happened to your famous thread on sitepoint?

[Brad101]

EF ...so I guess Blackhat is out of the question?

[Indy]

I think the original EF design concept was so much better than their current one:

Original - http://www.microvisuals.com/portfolio/web_earners/
Current - http://www.earnersforum.com/

[logiik]

SP - I used to visit there a lot but not much anymore since they changed their layout. Now everything is all over the place and it's hard to keep up with anything.

TalkFreelance - HAHA. I was one of the first members that joined this when Anthony launched it back in '04 I believe. Discussions on freelancing and webmaster stuff were good back then but ever since Robson took over.. the kids from ClanTemplates started coming over and now they always have a thread like "OMG, some kid scammed me out of $10, I'm sooooo pissed right now."

And it's always the same shit over and over. They really don't have any good discussions on affiliate marketing and content or any of that. Just a bunch of people asking "how mcuh do you make THis week!?"

DP - Probably my favorite webmaster forum. I have an account there but I don't post much.. because I only post a lot if I feel I know what I'm talking about. DP guys, a lot of them are really smart and know their stuff.

EarnersForum - Lee is probably one of the nicest guys ever. The thing with the badge is nice but I always get a feeling that some of the guys are faking their earnings and I can't stand reading posts/threads.

A lot of the discussion on there (public ones) are good but they're wayyyy into MySpace spamming (regardless of what they say). Almost in every forum, there's a thread asking about MySpace bots and all that.

I still visit every day but don't post much anymore though. I've had a few people PM me and ask "what sites do you own and how mcuh do you make? show me your sites." and i'm like "uh, no?" LOL, and they'll randomly attack me in a thread I posted in.

WW - When I first started with AdSense, a lot of the info was good.. now it's just a bunch of crap.

[sknydave]

Maybe it's because I never bothered to receive my badge of honor over at EF and I don't have secret club access, but for making 10k+ a month online some of those guys seem clueless.

[jamiejelly]

glad v7n got a mention, it is a great forum, very community focused.

edit: I would like to add, I come to this forum because of the "loose tongue" attitude. You don't have to watch what you say. At least I don't think you do. Maybe I am wrong?! But it seems like a cool place to hang out.

Jon, I really like the set up of the different forums here.

[logiik]

Originally Posted by jamiejelly

glad v7n got a mention, it is a great forum, very community focused.

edit: I would like to add, I come to this forum because of the "loose tongue" attitude. You don't have to watch what you say. At least I don't think you do. Maybe I am wrong?! But it seems like a cool place to hang out.

Jon, I really like the set up of the different forums here.

shut the fuck up. does that explain everything?



everything is pretty laid back here as mentioned before.. that's why I like it.