Domer Domain Announcements & Updates (2023)

[stdntDrvr 12]

11 minutes ago, Mike said:

Can you help me understand what you mean by the recruiting section being a pain to click through? I'd like to get that fixed if the final redesign doesn't address it, as the current layout is a stop-gap.

 

You can disregard…it’s clearly been an iteration or two since I visited a recruiting thread

[Rocketsan 768]

Longtime user...can't put my finger on it, but something is lacking. I'm still here every day but there's not the same vibe as it used to be...

[coltssb 1,044]

1 hour ago, Rocketsan said:

Longtime user...can't put my finger on it, but something is lacking. I'm still here every day but there's not the same vibe as it used to be...

Completely agree.  My guess.. that's all it really is.  college football is becoming to much of a money grubbing business by all parties.  I don't want to constantly be involved in my favorite team and it's players and watch yearly as my team completely looks different every year.  If I wanted the NFL I would watch the NFL.  

As for this site.  Too many good posters left and nobody showed up to replace them.  I've been saying it for a year, need some new blood.  I came this site because Piratey said come here because it's the best.  You get insight, rumors, good people, everything ND football you can get.  I'm not getting that anymore.  The content has become dull.  Not that I'm blaming anybody.  Faith does a good job of trying to keep things interesting.  But, besides the 202...recruiting(which I'm starting to care less about because of NIL) I don't really look to see what people have wrote.  There's no banter.  There's no rumors.  There's no paid site info even if it is only tidbits of what's on there.  Frankly, the question is, why come here anymore?  It's a fair question and maybe if the guys running it can figure that out, then maybe this place will come back hopping?

[TexasDomer 1,290]

I’m working on supplying banter.

[SpeedsterX 652]

Following

[cali_domer 295]

I could channel my inner combative spirit and produce some banter, but then I may get banned.😀

[Mike 686]

2 hours ago, cali_domer said:

I could channel my inner combative spirit and produce some banter, but then I may get banned.😀

You'd have to try really really really hard to get yourself banned. Plus, I don't think you have it in you to make this place miserable for everyone else.

Bring on the banter!

[coltssb 1,044]

10 hours ago, TexasDomer said:

I’m working on supplying banter.

Does banter in Texas(writing) mean you type with a draw…..:)

[cali_domer 295]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

You'd have to try really really really hard to get yourself banned. Plus, I don't think you have it in you to make this place miserable for everyone else.

Bring on the banter!

Ask Faith, I can be a dick. Lol

 

 

He kicked me a couple times from the GameDay chat, totally warranted though.

Edited February 8, 2023 by cali_domer

[ND_JACK 321]

As a “long time” for me member I agree with most of Irishwavend comments. As an old boss of mine use to say when preparing to present to a large audience….KISS it…Keep It Simple Stupid. I come on here for the forums mainly. I enjoy reading other DD members view points at my leisure. I think that is the strength of your site. Good forum discussions  especially on recruiting (love you Big). 

 

[TexasDomer 1,290]

3 hours ago, coltssb said:

Does banter in Texas(writing) mean you type with a draw…..:)

Indeed it does, followed by shooting muh six-guns in tha aiiir.

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,710]

1 hour ago, cali_domer said:

Ask Faith, I can be a dick. Lol

 

 

He kicked me a couple times from the GameDay chat, totally warranted though.

nah you did help me learn how to restrict people from Donjuan's chat, I only got you for the 4th quarter of one game though. now someone else might of restricted you more. You were right though, I had no power to ban on that software in regards to the vbulletin software. 

[jessemoore97 1,287]

As an older member, '08 I think, love this board and check in multiple times a day like an addict sadly lol.  The changes take some getting used to to be sure, and I can be a bit of a phobe when it comes to change and technology especially.

There are things that I like with the new happenings and some that I'm indifferent to like other ND sports since I don't follow them.  I'm pretty football and wrestling centric in my sports interests anymore.  I used to love the off topic stuff on here especially in the off season where all sorts of discussion was generated.  I feel that's kind of gone away though unfortunately.  I totally get where Wave is coming from and agree with some of his points.  I also appreciate a vision to expand and make this site "better" to draw in more people.

[Rocketsan 768]

When Gabe bailed...and Schell bailed...parts of the heart and soul left...

[TexasDomer 1,290]

So we need to step up!  Don’t make me bring out the BoyzIIMen picture again…

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,710]

41 minutes ago, Rocketsan said:

When Gabe bailed...and Schell bailed...parts of the heart and soul left...

I've tried dude on both fronts. All can say is they are hall of famers. I'm in contact with 2Lakes too.

[Mike 686]

HEY! Let's talk ads some more 👀

I'm still going through touch-ups to try to show the right type of content in the right places while improving the advertisement options on Domer Domain. I made some simple, but important changes to the way advertisements work on the site.

As of today, members will see significantly fewer ads than guests.

I am trying to make the ad situation as lean as possible and still support the site. The most important ads for the site are the sticky ads at the bottom that you can close, and the interstitials (full-screen on mobile, between links). I got to thinking, and I think I've come to a solution to make it work.

Members will no longer see the ads, below:

1. Sticky Advertisements on the bottom you can close
2. Advertisements after the first topic in the forums view
3. Advertisement after all the forums on the homepage.  The footer one still exists.

There is one that I'd like to tie to guests, but I don't have the power to do so, and that's those interstitial ads on mobile. It's an all-or-nothing ad since it goes through the advertisers. If the site gets to a certain point (TBD), I'll disable it for everyone.

I hate ads as much as anybody, but they are necessary to sustain the site. I hope this solution works for everyone. And as a bonus, maybe it will encourage some additional members to join Domer Domain. Some stuff is subject to change, but I want to make the ads flow with the content, but without ruining the experience. Still working away to get to perfection.

If you want to see how it looks for guests vs members, you can view the forums while logged out.

Thanks, everyone!

[Rocketsan 768]

put as many ads as needed...

[Mike 686]

On 2/8/2023 at 6:53 PM, Rocketsan said:

When Gabe bailed...and Schell bailed...parts of the heart and soul left...

I'll address the comment earlier about @Donjuan and @jfschellcrna no longer posting, first. They're both still extremely welcome to return, and I really hope they do. I have some thoughts as to why Gabe is no longer active, and I don't blame him if my thinking is right. I'll leave the details out of it, but I get it. I don't have too much knowledge about Schell's decision, but I'd love to hear if he has issues.

1 hour ago, Rocketsan said:

put as many ads as needed...

I get it. Ads suck. I am investing a ton to make the forums a better experience, while also trying to go the extra mile to avoid making it feel like another adpocalypse of a site, especially for the members who are the reason this place exists in the first place.

Limiting the site to a few ads, as well as switching to cheaper software and hosting options will allow me to keep the site running with the current daily visitors, but expect activity to continue to drop, as well as the number of posters. I wouldn't be able to afford to invest in turning things around and the forums will die. Maybe I need to be more vocal about that.

Go to any other forum and you'll quickly notice that they're littered with ads to support the cost of the site. As activity drops, more ads are required to recover for the lost traffic. That is not what I want for this community. Or any. I will also never require a subscription to participate at Domer Domain. I'm working to figure out a solution to save Domer Domain, and bring it back to being the place for intelligent Notre Dame Discussion. This requires investment, and there's no other way to spin it.

I'm not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. Domer Domain has declined rapidly in users for 6 straight years until 2021. I acquired the domain when it became available because of my love of forums and sports. I was also very excited about the opportunity to do something good in the forum community, considering all my favorite forums from the 2000's are dead or no longer exist.

I tried a lot of things over the last 2 years that didn't work. I learned from them. I cleaned them up. I hear the feedback on the ads. I believe @SpeedsterX pointed out the sticky ad being an annoyance on the gameday threads, so I killed that one, despite it being one of the most important for the site.

There have been complaints and missteps, and I made sure to address each and every single one in the best way I could. If anybody has any suggestions on how to both stop the decline of forums, avoid making it ad-hell for members, avoid requiring a subscription, but still make the revenue needed to bring in new people, I'm all ears. In the meantime, that's what I'm trying to do.

For the curios, here's the daily users trend going back to the start of 2008:

[Rocketsan 768]

you misunderstood my comment...I welcome ads