New members

[Nick]

Actually, self praise is no recommendation, but I have given the matter some thought and come up with the following..


Each tub is about 35cm in diameter, so 2 tubs mean 1.6 kg ever 70cm or about 2.3kg per metre. Which is not bad for first earlies. And it is a sight easier topping the tubs with grass clippings than digging trenches and earthing up and all the rest.

So I am glumly content 

Are content about your potatoes 🥔 or the big spoon in your hand? 😉 

[Borchester]

Actually, self praise is no recommendation, but I have given the matter some thought and come up with the following..


Each tub is about 35cm in diameter, so 2 tubs mean 1.6 kg ever 70cm or about 2.3kg per metre. Which is not bad for first earlies. And it is a sight easier topping the tubs with grass clippings than digging trenches and earthing up and all the rest.

So I am glumly content 

[Nick]

People who for whatever reason might go looking for a politics forum will likely use the word "politics" in their search.

They are unlikely to use the term "pol-tics".

This simple fact is a reason why people are struggling to find us.

After a very long absence I went looking specifically for this forum to sign up again a couple of years or so back. It took me ages to find it even though I was specifically looking for the place because it never occurred to me to use "pol-tics" as a search term.

I think that if this forum included both "UK" and "politics" in it's title it would be more easily found by people looking specifically for UK politics forums. How about "Politics Forum UK and Abroad" ?

We'd get more search hits.

Another factor is that this forum is heavily dependent upon the same few half a dozen members posting prolifically. Even if one of us were to leave it would be a loss. If the wrong 6 people all left at once this forum would die. Just two or three more active members would make a substantial difference. As wide a range of views as possible is also desirable. Without that we could risk becoming seen as an echo chamber. I left for a short time but am pleased to recieve such a warm welcome back. If this welcoming attitude is standard for all it would represent a huge positive. But potential members need to be able to easily find us.

How to encourage this is difficult beyond changing the name so that we are easier to find on search engines. Is ad space on Facebook in any way doable?

Sorry Steve but that's not how it works. Search Engines use Meta Tags and SEO to advertise their website. The name of the website is almost irrelevant unless you search for the exact name, which is pretty pointless.

[Borchester]

What about "buy one get one free"?

You could have special offers on the posts? Like Borchester giving free pictures of his allotment, Patman Post giving gratia virtual tours of Londons up and coming areas, or Thomas telling these anglish can't to fack aff twice for no extra cost?

You've got to have imagination.

Well, since Deppity is desperate to know, I have just lifted some first earlies.

Yield wise, I was not impressed. I had grown them in 30 litre tubs and only got 1.6 kilos out of two tubs. That said, the soil was as dry as a bone as I had clearly under estimated  the amount of water they needed. Plus, they were Jazzy Salad Potatoes, which has never been a high yielder. So I will give it another shot next year, assuming that my lad can rig up an automatic watering system.

[patman post]

It was good to see Baff post on here earlier because I knew him from another forum and he isn't common.

Really?

Compared to the select few on here, I'd say Baff is definitely common!!!

But I guess he has to pose as something while waiting to go back to class...

[B0ycey]

People who for whatever reason might go looking for a politics forum will likely use the word "politics" in their search.

They are unlikely to use the term "pol-tics".

This simple fact is a reason why people are struggling to find us.

Totally agree. If Nick says we are still getting new members, then F@@@ knows how that has happened. You need to be page one on the search term "Politics Forum" IMHO, but whatever, who are these members to ask how they found us?

But in any case when I joined it must have been high up on the search engine cause I wouldn't have joined if it weren't. That was before Pol-Tics I will say. It was good to see Baff post on here earlier because I knew him from another forum and he isn't common on here. There are great users on here so it is most definitely worth posting on here in terms of enjoyment whatever the footfall. But I doubt we have much of an audience to change the political spectrum given it's too niche.

[srb7677]

People who for whatever reason might go looking for a politics forum will likely use the word "politics" in their search.

They are unlikely to use the term "pol-tics".

This simple fact is a reason why people are struggling to find us.

After a very long absence I went looking specifically for this forum to sign up again a couple of years or so back. It took me ages to find it even though I was specifically looking for the place because it never occurred to me to use "pol-tics" as a search term.

I think that if this forum included both "UK" and "politics" in it's title it would be more easily found by people looking specifically for UK politics forums. How about "Politics Forum UK and Abroad" ?

We'd get more search hits.

Another factor is that this forum is heavily dependent upon the same few half a dozen members posting prolifically. Even if one of us were to leave it would be a loss. If the wrong 6 people all left at once this forum would die. Just two or three more active members would make a substantial difference. As wide a range of views as possible is also desirable. Without that we could risk becoming seen as an echo chamber. I left for a short time but am pleased to recieve such a warm welcome back. If this welcoming attitude is standard for all it would represent a huge positive. But potential members need to be able to easily find us.

How to encourage this is difficult beyond changing the name so that we are easier to find on search engines. Is ad space on Facebook in any way doable?

[Nick]

What about "buy one get one free"?

You could have special offers on the posts? Like Borchester giving free pictures of his allotment, Patman Post giving gratia virtual tours of Londons up and coming areas, or Thomas telling these anglish can't to fack aff twice for no extra cost?

You've got to have imagination.

You know how to cook a chicken?
First get a chicken 😉. 

[Borchester]

What about "buy one get one free"?

You could have special offers on the posts? Like Borchester giving free pictures of his allotment, Patman Post giving gratia virtual tours of Londons up and coming areas, or Thomas telling these anglish can't to fack aff twice for no extra cost?

You've got to have imagination.

I am not sure that anyone wants to see 20 rods of bindweed, but I like the idea. In another month or so I will be lifting the spuds, harvesting the fruit and all the rest. Provided that the wildlife hasn't scoffed the lot, I will be happy to produce a few snaps. Failing that, I will give an account of my visits to Waitrose to stock up on fruit and veg

And Deppity can do a petrol head column

[Nick]

Except Yanks.

They are nuts on politics.

Dunno if I have posted this before, butJoe Biden is currently the most unpopular president in 80 years. And that includes Trump.

And it is not as though Joe has done anything, good or bad, other than sleep.

Which is strange cause all he does is sleep 💤 

[DeppityDawg]

Would be nice to have some. What can be done to encourage them?

What about "buy one get one free"? 

You could have special offers on the posts? Like Borchester giving free pictures of his allotment, Patman Post giving gratia virtual tours of Londons up and coming areas, or Thomas telling these anglish cants to fack aff twice for no extra cost? 

You've got to have imagination. 

[Borchester]

No one is interested in political forums other than a very small core, of which we have maybe 20 members that log in on a regular-ish basis.

Except Yanks.

They are nuts on politics.

Dunno if I have posted this before, butJoe Biden is currently the most unpopular president in 80 years. And that includes Trump.

And it is not as though Joe has done anything, good or bad, other than sleep.

[Nick]

See we've now hooked someone claiming to be from the Netherlands. Not posting yet. Let's hope our stimulating posts get some welcome action...

I doubt it, they'll all bots. But we've had 8 new members in 3 days which goes to show we have a presence on the web.
The SEO was/is handled by Google for which I paid a small fortune last year, we were getting thousands of login page views but only one sign up...Sean
No one is interested in political forums other than a very small core, of which we have maybe 20 members that log in on a regular-ish basis.

[patman post]

See we've now hooked someone claiming to be from the Netherlands. Not posting yet. Let's hope our stimulating posts get some welcome action...

[Nick]

Have removed elements of the security settings set by previous Admin. 
Couple of people signed up, so we are not that invisible. 
Shall wait to see if they are genuine or just bots.