Omnimaga > Site Feedback and Questions

General Decrease in Omnimaga Activity from 2011 levels - What can we do?

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Jonius7:
Fellow Omnimaga Members,

After a discussion with DJ_O, he and I (Jonius7) have come to the conclusion that something must be done about the general decrease in activity on Omnimaga.

For those of you that need a little background info (DJ_O may be able to provide some more), Omnimaga reached a peak of around 400-500 posts per day in October - November 2010. This was mainly due to a surge of interest in the TI-nspire with significant ndless and nDoom and other TI-nspire hacking tools releases, though at this time z80 projects were also thriving too. However over the course of 2011 interest in the TI-nspire began to die out in general, and also combined with DJ_O's retirement from manager, several active members leaving Omnimaga or becoming inactive have lead to this gradual decrease in posting activity. Even with the opening up of the Lua programming environment on the TI-nspire, projects and forum activity in Lua are not as widespread as they could be.

In February - March 2012, Omnimaga is barely attaining an average of around 150-200 posts a day.
The stats graph illustrates this trend: http://www.omnimaga.org/statsgraph.php

Even activity on OmnomIRC is enough to show a general decrease in activity. The time period between 3am and 9am (IIRC in UTC-5) is often quiet, and even sometimes in some peak hours activity is low.


So I guess we need to collectively form a plan to tackle this. The big problem is that while we have more members joining than ever before (the rate of registration is exponential like), many of these members have only posted minimially or not at all and have left, leaving the older members to hold up most of the website activity. And when even some of the older members have become inactive, including some staff, there doesn't leave that much left of who remains.

What could we do to bring these inactive members back? What incentive would work? And how would we entice new members to stay and bring some new young blood to omnimaga?
Programming contests are one thing, however DJ_O and I have both agreed more action is required.

I leave these questions with the Omnimaga community. If anything is incorrect, feel free to correct. :D

Regards,

Jonius7 and DJ_O

Spoiler For PS: DJ_O also wanted to point out that in the Programming Contests last year in 2011, there was very little activity in the TI-nspire Lua contest, with many entrants remaining inactive on the forums until the submission date. From what I have heard, precautions will be taken this year to ensure that this does not happen again.
Spoiler For Log of Conversation with DJ_O: For those who want a clearer picture of the situation, read the logs here:

[02:57:28] <+Jonius7> activity has decreased or something. It does seem quiet even at times when it's meant to be busy
[02:57:44] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> yeah D:
[02:58:00] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> especially during morning from 4 to 11 AM it used to be quite active
[02:58:40] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> I think the Nspire community started to die, as someone else mentionned recently to me, like if no more Nspire projects were being worked on except for a few
[02:58:49] <+Jonius7> true
[02:58:50] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> kinda like if everyone decided to abandon the fight against TI
[02:59:05] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> because if you notice, there are still a bunch of z80 projects in the works
[02:59:06] <+Jonius7> there are lots of Basic programs I could port to Lua
[02:59:16] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but barely any Nspire ones, even Lua
[02:59:20] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:00:56] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> and Prizm... well... most of the development moved to Cemetech (dunno if it was another round of mass-invite via PM like 2 years ago or just most of our prizm coders having moved on like z80man), although there are some topics here too from time to time
[03:01:08] <+Jonius7> Hmm
[03:01:11] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> even there it's quiet regarding prizm
[03:01:20] <+Jonius7> wow
[03:01:27] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> it's Casio, after all
[03:01:42] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> since ti got the monopoly casio calcs usually have much less coders
[03:01:57] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> But the sucky thing is how the Nspire scene seems to be dying like the 68K one
[03:02:12] <+Jonius7> I hope not
[03:02:23] <+Jonius7> there were lots of those boot2 and other tools released a week ago
[03:02:26] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> that would pretty much leave us only 83+ expertise for the most part
[03:02:27] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> yeah
[03:02:34] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> well there was Ndless, nDoom, etc
[03:02:44] <+Jonius7> Those are big ones
[03:02:52] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but then nobody made custom programs like RPGs or arcade games
[03:02:55] <+Jonius7> but it's true there hasn't been that much other games and dev stuff
[03:03:01] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:03:14] <+Jonius7> and the nspire has so much potential now
[03:03:19] <+Jonius7> hope it picks up
[03:03:20] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> ndless probably had a novelty effect that weared off over time as newcomers didnt see any new stuff
[03:03:29] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> what we need I think is another contest
[03:03:32] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but this time
[03:03:34] <+Jonius7> yeah
[03:03:42] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> to avoid last year's activity drop
[03:03:54] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> force every contestant to post about their entry on the forums
[03:04:12] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> last year only like 2 contestant did, the others worked behind the scenes, leaving the site for months
[03:04:13] <+Jonius7> Good idea, but "force" isn't the best word :P
[03:04:23] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> well i mean like last year on cemetech
[03:04:36] <+Jonius7> Ah Ok
[03:04:38] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> if someone wants to submit an entry he had to create a topic announcing it there
[03:04:58] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> this was most likely to prevent lurkers from participating
[03:05:17] <+Jonius7> I thought most people did post something and there was that list of entrants
[03:05:42] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> not really for the nspire iirc
[03:06:19] <+Jonius7> o
[03:06:24] <+Jonius7> disappointing
[03:07:26] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> anyway i have to go to bed. What you or me could do if we have time is post a topic in site feedback regarding the dropping activity and what we could do to bring the people back, why has most people became quiet including some staff and what could attract
[03:07:28] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> more ppl back
[03:07:58] <+Jonius7> Yeah.
[03:08:03] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but again if nobody bothers to reply then that would mean nobody cares if the site becomes inactive
[03:08:13] <+Jonius7> waaaaa lots of unreplied topics
[03:08:15] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:08:16] <+Jonius7> OK
[03:08:21] <+Jonius7> cya DJ_O
[03:08:27] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i guess a title like "Why has Omni activity dropped so much"
[03:08:35] <+Jonius7> nobody cares if the site becomes inactive
[03:08:38] <+Jonius7> NOOOOOOO
[03:08:39] <+Jonius7> I care
[03:08:59] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> well i mean if such topic gets posted and nobody bothers replying
[03:09:34] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> we kinda need ideas on how to bring the ppl back, bring new ones back and stuff (not just contests)
[03:09:38] <+Jonius7> Hmm
[03:10:02] <+Jonius7> Admittedly I don't see the managers around that often. BUt that's my perspective
[03:10:35] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> I mean if the removal of negative rating is what made ppl leave silently, or if it's due to the projects section split into categories, the bunch of inactive staff, or me not being admin anymore (I hope not lol)
[03:10:53] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> and it's best the ppl speak their mind so we know what happened
[03:10:58] <+Jonius7> "or me not being admin anymore (I hope not lol)"
[03:10:59] <+Jonius7> I think that does make a difference
[03:11:06] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> that could maybe be the case
[03:11:06] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:11:12] <+Jonius7> sigh
[03:11:30] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but would the managers (besides deep thought) be willing or be able to be more active?
[03:11:42] <+Jonius7> Deep Thought is alright I think
[03:11:46] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> yeah
[03:11:52] <+Jonius7> I don't see EEems much tho
[03:11:53] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> same for qwerty and to a lesser extent shmibs
[03:12:07] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> (shmibs has sudden periods of inactivity sometimes tho)
[03:12:21] <+Jonius7> I've seen Qwerty but not really shmibs, yes
[03:12:29] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> and in my case i doubt i would get hired back considering how unstable I am (and my uncertain stability in short terms)
[03:12:35] <+Jonius7> hmm
[03:12:57] <+Jonius7> I have a feeling that ARS should have some role somewhere
[03:13:00] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> and idk if i would want to take over the job again (although I guess if netham45 is the leader that could help)
[03:13:10] <+Jonius7> in between Managers and CoT
[03:13:14] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> maybe
[03:13:21] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> well they do but mostly moderating
[03:13:28] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:13:38] <+Jonius7> Though I do'nt know
[03:14:17] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> ARS technically only started to exist because of the nDoom troll invasion tho
[03:14:38] <+Jonius7> yes
[03:14:47] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> otherwise it would probably not even exist
[03:14:53] <+Jonius7> but they are the moderators level type thing
[03:14:56] <+Jonius7> So Hmm
[03:15:06] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> of course a bunch of our activity decrease was probably due to the many bans of active users tho
[03:15:22] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> Ashbad ans SirCmpwn had a quite high activity rate until their final months
[03:15:44] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> Also maybe the site got blocked at more schools so that won't help x.x
[03:15:46] <+Jonius7> sad to see those two go
[03:15:59] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> but staff had to enforce rules so...
[03:16:13] <+Jonius7> they're both on cemetech right?
[03:16:16] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> yeah
[03:16:19] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> er not sir
[03:16:25] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> he's banned there too
[03:16:27] <+Jonius7> o
[03:16:39] <+Jonius7> Yeah I've seen ashbad there.
[03:16:41] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> anyway if you want I guess you can create a topic about the 3 things I mentionned earlier or something
[03:17:01] <+Jonius7> Ok. I'll do that for Omnimaga :D
[03:17:23] <+Jonius7> I just hope it doesn't add to the list of topics where you and I are the active posters
[03:17:29] <+Jonius7> and Yeong a bit
[03:17:57] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> why the site activity dropped so much (like from 400 posts a day to barely 150), why the formerly active users and staff rarely post anymore, what could bring them back and what could help bringing more members again to get some young blood
[03:18:32] <+Jonius7> Ok
[03:18:45] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> there's the how to improve omni topic but it only emphasises on site suggestions, not the activity and stuff
[03:19:07] <+Jonius7> I agree a new topic has to be created for this
[03:19:19] <+Jonius7> Like those news topics with the change in activity and other things
[03:19:20] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> heck maybe it's because of Netbot always breaking
[03:20:17] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> the issue is not when people leave due to moving on after a year or two of calc programming, then new ones coming. It's more when a shitload of people, even younger users, leave, then barely anyone remains from the ones who arrived
[03:20:49] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> cya now
[03:20:50] <+Jonius7> Oh about the ARS I was trying to say. I don't really know half of them such as rcfreak0 and Tribal
[03:20:54] <+Jonius7> Yeah
[03:21:01] <+Jonius7> Sorry for holding you up on sleep
[03:21:06] <+Jonius7> Good night :D
[03:21:10] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> it's fine
[03:21:21] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> plus i wanted Omni to be independent from my lack of activity
[03:21:31] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i mean i stayed around the community for 11 years
[03:21:41] <+Jonius7> Yes :)
[03:22:01] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> in 2006-07 as soon as I left Omni it would immediately drop by 60% activity
[03:22:14] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> then slowly die until i return
[03:22:46] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> now even when I left it still remained somewhat active at the same level as before, but afterward I discovered it kinda dropped slowly
[03:23:13] <+Jonius7> Wow tribal hasn't posted since October
[03:23:25] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> not sure if it's due to me not being as around or not but that would suck if I was "doomed" to stay active like I used to be to keep omni active
[03:24:09] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> especially considering at one point my health was preventing me to do so (and still does sometimes)
[03:25:12] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> I wonder if there's a way for admins to grant full admin privileges to a member except for anything involving moderation (except moving topics) and banning members
[03:25:17] <+Jonius7> tricky situation in general I guess
[03:25:32] <+Jonius7> so what rights would that leave?
[03:25:48] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> that would probably be the only safe way to let me back in the team, if that was ever needed to save the site or something
[03:26:01] <+Jonius7> Hmm
[03:26:16] <+Jonius7> You are the founder, I guess you deserve something like that
[03:26:26] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> rights to edit EzPortal blocks, the about page, adding new subforums, removing dead ones
[03:27:11] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i gave away the site tho so the new owners have every right to do what they want with it, including not ever hiring me again (i guess they would have a point tho, considering I blew up often before)
[03:27:22] <+Jonius7> So the general site template and pages but not getting "dirty" in all the forum post management stuff.
[03:27:44] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> yeah, plus I got sick of the moderating. It'sjust not my task
[03:27:57] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i mean it was not a task for me
[03:28:06] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i rather leave that to others
[03:28:11] <+Jonius7> I know
[03:28:30] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> anyway gonna let you post the topic I guess unless i manage to have time tomorrow and you didnd
[03:28:42] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i might have to go shop for food before working during evening tho
[03:28:51] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> good night
[03:29:23] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> and the site stats btw http://www.omnimaga.org/statsgraph.php (scroll right, if necessary, since the graph doesn't fit the page)
[03:29:51] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> the peak spike in the 700s was a month after you joined, I believe
[03:30:14] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> the last 500 post days were around oct 2011 (a year afterward)
[03:31:35] <+OmnomIRC> (O)<DJ_O> i really should post about that life topic one day (I was supposed to do so last may but it took too long to write), although part of the issues (IRL) were solved a year ago

Yeong:
Well, in my opinion, TI-nSpire's programming couldn't get much because they're not that simple to program with. (Lua needs computer, and so does C.)
If someone comes up with programming language on-calc for nspire, it could bring more people (Just like how Axe did)

Jonius7:

--- Quote from: TBO_Yeong on April 05, 2012, 08:27:15 pm ---Well, in my opinion, TI-nSpire's programming couldn't get much because they're not that simple to program with. (Lua needs computer, and so does C.)
If someone comes up with programming language on-calc for nspire, it could bring more people (Just like how Axe did)

--- End quote ---
True, this may change with being able to edit the lua script inside the tns file in OS 3.2

Yeong:
OS 3.2 can do that? O.o
I never heard anything about that.

Juju:
I totally agree with Yeong here. A Lua on-calc editor or something? Or even gcc? EDIT: ninja'd

Also we should come up with cool awesome prizes for the contest.

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