I am starting up my site, and amazed at all the versatility of class creator. So this is a pretty minor question.

I am trying to immediately communicate to the user the difference between the message forum and the user forum, because most are not going to take the time to read about the differences.

One way to do this is to simplify navigation, and to do that I am trying to standardize terminology. I am adapting the word 'classmate' that is used a lot, so I changed title/navigation from 'User Forums' to 'Classmate Forums'. (Guests can just figure out they can participate in these - my primary focus is 'Classmates').

Next step was to change 'Message Forum' to 'Message Board', which would immediately communicate to visitors that this is a simple 'tack a bunch of stickies on the board' type page. In the world I come from, the word 'forum' indicates a more specific (and complicated) process like the user forum, not the simple process like the message forum.

I was able to change the introductory text, but it looks like I can't change the page title for the Message Forum like i did for the User Forum.

Any ideas for other ways to accomplish my overall objective here without a lot of text that users probably won't read?

Then my next step will be to do the same to differentiate between 'Message Board/Forum' and the Member Function section 'Message Center'. For example, I might change 'Message Center' to something like 'Private Messages', because the term 'private message' is used when the message is sent from the Profile page.

I'm not trying to redesign the system here. But I have been working on this system a lot, and I am just figuring out the fine points of these differences. So a user that just visits a few times will probably never get to to my level of understanding.

And maybe there is a different approach than mine to solve this.

A second issue, for fun, is what I view as a pricing dilemma. $100 is minimal for a year's subscription, and I was not expecting nearly the number of features that I am getting. This is worth a lot more. Is Class Creator like the cell phone and cable providers, and provides the first year for an introductory $100, then charges more beginning year 2? What am I missing here? Is this some kind of bait and switch tactic? They can't be doing all this for a crummy $100. Maybe they are going to send me a surprise bill as soon as I finish all this scanning / entering / verifying / uploading etc? They will have me hooked by then, and I will pay anything.

Randy

I decided to just have one of the forums. When the new forum came on board, I stopped using the old one to avoid confusion.

As far as the name... I call it the Redford59 Forums.

Class Creator websites are one of the greatest values out there. In fact during the first couple of years the sites were free.

$97 a year is what you'll pay for the greatest collection of features for High School Reunions. Many classes are paying for 5 and 10 years in advance and that makes it even a better value.

I doubt that you'll see much increase in the coming years. With almost 12,000 classes using Class Creator and with over 850,000 classmates there's a lot of people who also think that this is a great value.

It was just announced that I will be partnering with Class Creator in starting a Reunion Favors website where we'll sell products that can be used for promoting a reunion and also for memories from a reunion. If you feel bad about paying so little, I'm certain that you will enjoy supporting this new effort by buying products from it when we launch later this year.

Randy, I also would like to be able to change "Message Forum" to "Message Board". Somehow, the term Forum seems uncomfortable for many of my classmates. I would also change "Post a Reply" to "Enter a Message" or something similar, and I like your idea of "Private Messaging".

This might seem trivial to many seasoned users, but it is important for those less experienced in the world of computers. Remember, we are getting old (!) and some of us are just now entering the computer world. My goal is to do what I can to ease the way for my classmates.

I am really looking forward to the "redesigned system" to be rolled out early next year. I'm thinking much of what we are wanting will be taken care of then.

what a wonderful idea.Since I launch my website nobody has ever used the "User Forum".somehow,the term forum is very intimidating.I hope you don't mind if I change mine to classmate forum as well.thank you.

Some quick history: The original Class Creator only had the "Message Forums." A couple years in we retired them and replaced them with the "User Forums" that were threaded and had a lot more options. Only to find many people really preferred the "one big board" simplicity of the Message Forums and wanted them back. We put them back and discovered the two boards often filled different needs and many sites started using both of them. The name was never changeable and still isn't because the feature works largely like it did from the start. The upcoming system restructure launching in 2011 will allow for unlimited pages, changing of all page names including the default pages, sorting of all links, new designs and more. So all of this will be moot some time in the first quarter of 2011.

Yes $97 is the yearly cost, and the second year cost too. Just wait 'till the third year though -- that's when we really sock it to ya! I'm only kidding of course, unless we raise the rates (which is possible although if we did that any increase would be nominal). People are beginning to run out of File Vault space though thanks to features like Gallery Creator, MP3 Playlist and other recently added new features so we will be launching a new Platinum Level membership largely for "power users" who need up to a gig of storage and transfer. That option should be live in the system before Christmas and will cost more. The most expensive Platinum plan will cost $999 for a 10 year subscription.

Ken:

12,000 classes? That's a lot. I had no idea. But that helps explain the lack of bugs and lots of features. And it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that the software will continue to advance - costs a lot to keep updating the software.

My initial reaction to removing the Message forum is 'no way' - that's the easy one that most people will use. But then the poor User Forum will just languish with maybe a few propeller heads like me occasionally posting.

But as I think about it, that solves my problems.

First, the word 'Message' only appears once in the navigation - in 'Message Center', because 'Message Forum' is no longer used.

Second, I get visitors where they really want to be, even though they don't realize it - the User Forum. I can even change the User Forum title to something more disarming and intriguing, maybe something catchy like 'Tiger Den' (our mascot is tiger). Visitors will click on that menu selection just to see what it is. Put in some good introductory text at the top of the page (oops, just checked, can't do that, but that's ok), have a General discussion as the first listed, and then the visitor will see a whole list of high school special interest groups, clubs, what happened to teacher xx inquiries, junior high feeder schools, etc. And they can, if they want, eventually figure out how to post a message, subscribe, etc.

Anybody see a problem here that I am not anticipating?

Reunion Favors sounds interesting.

You might want to check on the use of the word 'Favors' among the younger set of students coming out of high school / college - I have daughters in both. I think the word may have a connotation for that generation that my generation does not conjure up.

This may be out of the realm of what you are considering, but what has already come up for my new website is records that were recorded annually by the choir. Some choir members saved the records, and others would like a copy. Problem is, converting the vinyl record to digital, and how to distribute - send someone a mp3, make a cd - print on cd? casing / mailing / recover costs, etc. While we could do this on our own, and someone may volunteer for it, I began thinking of this as a potential money maker to help pay for the site or reunion. Doing this on our own might make more profit for the site because it would depend on a lot of volunteer labor. A third party handling this could add legitimacy and assure better quality control and distribution.

Devee and Vicki:

Wish I could trademark the name 'Classmate'! But, now I am thinking of removing the word 'Forum' also, and changing to a catchy title - maybe something cozy like 'Tiger Den' (our mascot is tiger, so we can all 'growl' in there). I think visitors will click on that menu item just to see what it is, then see all the interesting discussions, and start clicking away.

And I would also inactivate the 'Message Forum', and use the 'General Discussion' in the 'Tiger Den' (grrrr) for that.

Brad:

Replying on a weekend? I didn't anticipate that. But thanks for doing so.

I did guess that the history was behind this, and I appreciate having a series of quick incremental changes between major updates. In previous posts to others, I have come up with a strategy that fits me - remove Message Forum, and change title 'User Forums' to 'Tiger Den' (our mascot, grrrr...)

And, now with your post, I realize that when the vox populi cry out for a message board, I will respond 'Ok, I am working on it'. Then in 2011 when you come up with the new release, I will insert the new enhanced message system, and then I will try to usurp the credit that really belongs to your staff. I think my strategy is airtight here.

On the pricing... I am paying for the first year (so little money that it is easier to spend it than solicit it), and current idea is, if the value to classmates has been established after a year (and our 40th reunion), to solicit classmate contributions. Or a classmate with a business might just offer to donate in return for some name recognition.

One of the reasons for choosing Class Creator was the absence of uncontrollable solicitations - one competitive provider controls a donation request that first pays for the class site way into the future, then just keeps soliciting for other class sites, or something like that. Maybe 'scam' is too strong of a word, but I didn't trust that competitive site, and like the wording on your site of 'free' to classmates.

Considering the time value of money and inflation, $999 for the 10 year top end option is a good deal. I like good deals, but that's still a lump of money that would need spousal review in my household. So, based on my current plan, I appreciate the an annual funding option, even though it looks like you offer a lot of flexibility even down to a monthly payment. And if a business donation kicks in, I want to go for that good deal the ten year option.

I do like your option of low initial startup costs, then options like more file storage that can be added as needed. Visitors like images, and in this ramp-up phase for my site, I am still learning about how CC handles user uploaded images. I can get any multi MegaByte image down to 100k or less without any noticeable loss in screen quality, so the 200MB provides almost limitless storage. But I fear that a classmate will upload a group of multi MB images that will quickly deplete vault storage. I'll figure out more about that as I progress on building the site.

Randy Willis wrote:

I think that's a great idea for you; a nice tie-in.

Here in the Help Files, we've also discussed naming the forums "Don't Click Here" or "Private - Keep Out"... trying for a little reverse psychology that might get more of them participating.

Not sure about the others in those past threads, but I returned to "Classmates Forums". Ho-hum. Still very little participation.

John:

Yes, I like the term 'Tiger Den' - lots more words that can be used that are more homey.

And that may be needed to get more participation. Getting lots of views, but in this early stage only posts are me trying to get the ball rolling. I have had a few 'replies' where someone pressed the 'Contact Us' option, and sends me a forum post reply. For now, I am then copying them into a forum post, adding 'From ...' and adding text that encourages a visitor to click on the 'Reply' button.

I also moved a few entries from the Message Forum, then deactivated the Message Forum. I will probably rue that move.

Couple things to note:

1) Classmate Profile photos are not counted in your File Vault at all. Those are free.

2) Classmates posting photos to a Community Gallery ARE counted in File Vault space, but there is no chance of Classmates uploading multi megabyte images. They will do it, but our system immediately resizes all images greater than 1,000 pixels wide down to exactly 1,000 pixels, meaning the typical image may be around 100K or so based on color and complexity in the image. So there's room for a couple thousand photos or so even at the max image size allowed by the system.