hmm, less moderating? I mean really what drew me to the forum were the debates, any question was allowed, and we went as deep as we wanted to, but then again there were several non-Muslims around thus it was 'ok' to ask since they were doing it too, now no one asks it seems, for conformity or something else I'm not sure, but either way, I think we need to have deep, engaging debates,and not refer new comers to old threads, and tell them to read this link or that, they should debate it anew, I mean really, no one will bother reading a 20+ page thread, asking the questions and struggling with the problem is a much better way to learn and makes people come back to see what is being said and so on.
this is of course drawn from my experience, but yeah. also, people were less inhibited, or how to put it, more open to joiking and not taking themselves too seriously all the time, this wasn't just in the humor section, but in all sections, hence the mood was lightened, and those who made mistakes were tolerated instead of viewd negatively.
^this romanticizes a bit, but I want to capture the feelings we had early on, so that the new members can live that experience again, the reason I stick around-even though I don't post much-is usually to read an interesting thread/discussion, and I assume it's the same for everyone else., so plainly and in a nutshell:
1. new threads that deal with already dealt with topics should not be taken down, let people learn for themselves, even if we have the answers, they don't, and for the sake of the forum we should let them ask and wonder instead of directing them to a thread that's been dead for 3 years etc.
2. stop posting ultra-mega-gigantic copy-pastes unless it's entirely essential, people need to understand what they are posting, this seems strange, but if you paste a 50+ reply, chances are you don't need to post all of it.
3. more questioning, less inhibiting, this might lead to uncomfortable questions, but Islam is not a mystery, and there is no deep secret surrounding it's answers to life and everything, and again, people asking and learning would fulfill the point of this website being called 'Forum'.
4. more charismatic posting, I personally remember taking a break form the forum and upon return seeing someone called guven posting like crazy in every thread there was, it was mostly pictures of nature too <_< , the point? staying in one section instead of seeing the rest of them means people don't interact more, hence the quality of what's being said is decreased since the same people can't keep posting forever. ie. people should look in other sections as well.
5. continuing from 4: perhaps too many sections has contributed to this? I remember we had very few sections, hence I had to see others posts even if I didn't care much for reading them, and many surprised me with how witty/funny/deep they were.
for the first year I didn't enter the humor section once, mostly lurking in world affairs/comparative religion, I still do that mostly, but then I found that there were good posts, and that I could also contribute to the help section, since most people were asking for simple common sense, not elaborate complicated replies, though the latter are useful as well.
finally, I think the-radio?- audio program Rashad started was a really good idea, more things/events/etc that only need some effort rather than exceptional knowledge/skills would boost participation.
otherwise, life takes a toll, and it should, so being busy with special events like Ramadan or Hajj/exams/work/family/travel/good food/anime etc are all legitimate reasons for not posting, also taking a break every once in a while so that it doesn't get boring are good points to keep in mind.
