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Brandon

Dec 4 2008, 10:52 PM

Posts:: 22,393
Group:: Admin
Member: #1
Joined:: September 14, 2002

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There has recently been a lot of demand for email-based topic and forum subscriptions. I wanted to explain the new spread of subscription based features and our plans for the future. We understand that boards converting from InvisionFree have become used to email-based subscriptions. We have carefully taken into consideration the benefits and drawbacks of each type of subscription notice. I will do my best to convey to you the careful planning that led to the system we have come up with.

Subscription Notices
Notice Type	Availability	Benefits	Drawbacks
Email	InvisionFree & ZB Premium	Reaches inactive members.	Can lead to inactive members. Too many subscriptions slows down posting. Interferes with delivery of important emails. Generates spam complaints. Not ideal for active members.
List	ZetaBoards	Great for keeping track of topics	No true notifications.
List 2.0	ZetaBoards (later upgrade)	Excellent for keeping track of topics	No true notifications.
PM	ZetaBoards (later upgrade) & ZB Premium (now)	Excellent for active members.	Not ideal for infrequent visitors.
Facebook	ZetaBoards (later upgrade)	Good alternative for less active members who frequent Facebook.	Not ideal for active members.
RSS	ZetaBoards (later upgrade)	Good alternative for less active members.	Not ideal for active members.

During our research we identified 5 main types of members who use the subscription system.
1. The inactive lurker. This person posts once and expects a reply and has no intention of participating in your community. Ideally you would give him no subscription options to help him.
2. The active member. This person is on your board all the time. His subscriptions have two purposes. A) To keep a list of topics to look at later. (For this the ZetaBoards list works best). B) To wait for a reply to one of his topics or replies. (PM based subscriptions work best since he is already on the board.)
3. The semi-active member who is online a lot. This person may stop by your board and participate but he also visits a lot of other websites and/or boards. (Facebook or RSS based subscriptions work best for him.)
4. The semi-active member who is not online much. No traditional subscription type is very effective for this member type. Using browser bookmarks is best. Email subscriptions also are somewhat effective. When combined with the small size of this group this is why email-based subscriptions were brought back as a ZB Premium feature.
5. The inactive member. Subscriptions have minimal effect on this user. Email announcements that entice him to come back are most effective. Facebook or RSS based subscriptions are best otherwise.

Finally I wanted to go over in detail the drawbacks of email-based subscriptions to show why we have avoided using them in ZetaBoards as a whole.

Can encourage inactive members. Allows a user to post 1 topic and then leave with no intention of coming back to the forum except to get his answer.
Too many subscriptions slows down posting. If hundreds of people are tracking a forum or topic then a new topic or reply can take several seconds to minutes to post while emails are sent.
Interferes with delivery of important emails. Password reset and email validation emails are much more important to be delivered promptly. Some ISPs limit the number of emails they receive from one server. Thus subscription notices in large amounts can hold up or block more important emails.
Generates spam complaints. The majority of spam complaints we receive are from people who have subscribed by email and then didn't like getting emails when replies or topics were posted. Spam complaints can lead to other legitimate important emails being put in a user's spam box instead of inbox.
Not ideal for active members. An active member who just wants a list of interesting topics to remember will prefer the list of subscribed topics currently offered. An active member who wants to be notified of replies or new topics will prefer receiving a PM notice since he is already on the board.

In summary, on ZetaBoards Premium and the next ZetaBoards upgrades, many new types of subscriptions will become available. Combined, these are much more useful and effective than email based subscriptions. Email based subscriptions were traditionally avoided on ZetaBoards because of their long list of drawbacks, but ZetaBoards Premium resurrects email subscriptions.

ZetaBoards Premium · Service Announcements