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Porn Users Forum » Biggest change since we took over is coming!
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10-06-15  12:08pm - 3327 days Original Post - #1
rabbit
PornUsers Staff




Posts: 12
Registered: Jul 03, '15
Location: Montreal
Biggest change since we took over is coming!

Hello everyone,

First off, I apologize for the click bait title lol

We are indeed gearing up for the biggest change but it will hopefully be transparent for most of you! When we took over the two sites, we didn't realize how antiquated the servers, technology and code were until we started digging deeper.

After intense 2 months of development work, we're getting ready to move TBP and PU to new server setup on Wednesday, October 6th. This includes upgrading to newer server technology & database, a lot of code cleanup and security updates.

I hope this move is transparent, but in case you notice lag time, slowness, bugs or functionalities which aren't working properly, please reach out to us and let us know.

This move put us back about 2 months as far as developing new features on the sites, but it was something that was very necessary and will allow us to focus on optimizing the site and adding new features going forward.

However, that is not the only thing we've done. You may have noticed some of these, but I'd like to point them out anyways

- We now have a total of 3 writers working full time on TBP
- We've identified a whole slew of discounts which we have access to on RabbitsReviews, but not on TBP which we'll be adding. So far, RealityKings and their bonus sites have 9.95$ scheduled to run every 2 weeks per month, ATK sites got discounts and many more are coming.
- We've cleaned up about 100 broken, inactive and fraudulent affiliate programs. This translates to over 500 sites removed from the database.
- We cleaned up the live cams category. I know this is not a very popular category for most of you, but I believe part of it may have been due to it being over cluttered with irrelevant sites and clones. We've removed a few hundred of them and now the category is much cleaner and highlights the sites that are truly live cams. https://www.thebestporn.com/categories_types/cams/all_sites/
-We updated TBP with new terms of service, DMCA, Privacy and 2257 policies (Similar ones will be rolled out on PU) https://www.thebestporn.com/privacy.html Nothing notable changes, we're just covering some basics.

I know many of you are probably wondering about the raffle. I hate to say this, but when raffle was stopped, the code for it was ripped out of the site and essentially has to be rewritten from scratch. Given how complex the current admin and site are, this will take time and we're still sitting on the fence about whether we'll do it. However, we are working on a separate project which will achieve similar end result and we're very excited to share it with you in due time.

I hope my staff has been taking care of all your needs and of course don't hesitate to post any feedback here.

10-06-15  01:29pm - 3327 days #2
biker (0)
Active User



Posts: 632
Registered: May 03, '08
Location: milwaukee, wi
Thought you were going to change the font. Warning Will Robinson

10-06-15  02:37pm - 3327 days #3
Wittyguy (0)
Active User



Posts: 1,138
Registered: Feb 04, '08
Location: Left Coast, USA
x Edited on Apr 19, 2023, 01:27pm

10-07-15  04:35pm - 3326 days #4
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by Wittyguy:


Glad to hear that things are moving along since there hasn't been much obvious change since August. I can't believe that Rick and Co. weren't constantly updating their code and servers over the years

My on the raffle (or similar project) is this: The raffle drove a lot of participation in the past that went away after it was dropped. In keeping with the original intent of PU (that being a consumer oriented site with consumer feedback as it's primary marketing model), then the raffle makes a lot of sense. It brings back those who don't contribute much any more and it draws in newbies. It goes back to the adage that if you want to draw the masses then nothing is better than free food or beer (or, with the raffle, cold hard cash). In some forum post long ago I advocated the point that participation is really the driving force behind PU because it generates a lot of basically free and insightful content for TheBestPorn that no other site really has.

If you're fine with the current level of participation then skip reinventing the wheel and ditch the raffle (I'd probably ditch the whole badge system as well too). We've learned to live without it.

There has been some talk about doing a big social media and other marketing push. While I expect it will probably draw some more eyeballs here, it probably won't pump up the participation level as much as might be expected.


I could not agree with you more. PU as it is needs a LOT more participation or it will become irrlevant.

10-07-15  04:37pm - 3326 days #5
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by mbaya:


I could not agree with you more. PU as it is needs a LOT more participation or it will become irrelevant.

10-07-15  04:46pm - 3326 days #6
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I see the edit tool is not functioning.

I want to clarify my point. I think what you guys have been working is great and undoubtedly necessary. Where I think you have been dropping the ball is in not focusing from day one on getting more participation. Witty is completely right when he states the business model of PU is of free honest consumer information, especially reviews.

Without more of what we really need, we will eventually have a well run, greatly programmed site with state of the art servers, etc., but a ghost site that no one cares about even if you get some new interest by using social media.

I have so far avoided being negative about the site as it means a lot to me and I know I am not the only one.

10-08-15  05:41am - 3325 days #7
Amanda (0)
Active User



Posts: 534
Registered: Jul 02, '15
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Originally Posted by mbaya:


I see the edit tool is not functioning.

I want to clarify my point. I think what you guys have been working is great and undoubtedly necessary. Where I think you have been dropping the ball is in not focusing from day one on getting more participation. Witty is completely right when he states the business model of PU is of free honest consumer information, especially reviews.

Without more of what we really need, we will eventually have a well run, greatly programmed site with state of the art servers, etc., but a ghost site that no one cares about even if you get some new interest by using social media.

I have so far avoided being negative about the site as it means a lot to me and I know I am not the only one.


Thanks mbaya, I agree with you 100%. I've let our dev team know about the edit function to get that fixed!

*dev edit, please ignore Edited by Staff on Oct 09, 2015, 08:12am

10-09-15  05:20am - 3324 days #8
rearadmiral (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,453
Registered: Jul 16, '07
Location: NB/Canada
I appreciate all your efforts in improving the site. Obviously I have no idea how things are going but consider the value of bringing the raffle back. That could be a monumental task and may need to be delayed and maybe it isn't financially viable right now, but consider it for the future. For right or wrong reasons the raffle seemed to drive a lot of participation here. It was unique (I think) among user-driven sites and there were a lot of regulars who made daily contributions. This place was pretty busy with activity. That all stopped immediately after the raffle ended. The site has certainly gained new members, many of whom are genuinely interested in contributing valuable reviews and comments, but the site has never really recovered from the loss of the raffle.

As I said, I don't know the economics of it, but it seems possible that with more traffic that there would be more people buying memberships through TBP/PU to generate income for the site.

I'm not sure that this would even be possible, but what if the raffle wasn't a cash-value gift card outside of porn? What if you were able to get a pool of sites willing to offer a free membership for a month and the winner(s) of the raffle could choose a membership from that pool. I'll admit that there are problems with this, but they aren't insurmountable.

Final note to all the PU members who visit here, whether you contribute or lurk: ALWAYS buy your porn memberships by clicking through from TBP/PU. Those referrals are, I assume, this site's lifeblood.

Thanks again for all the work you're doing to keep these excellent sites going.

10-09-15  05:55am - 3324 days #9
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
Originally Posted by rearadmiral:


I appreciate all your efforts in improving the site. Obviously I have no idea how things are going but consider the value of bringing the raffle back. That could be a monumental task and may need to be delayed and maybe it isn't financially viable right now, but consider it for the future. For right or wrong reasons the raffle seemed to drive a lot of participation here. It was unique (I think) among user-driven sites and there were a lot of regulars who made daily contributions. This place was pretty busy with activity. That all stopped immediately after the raffle ended. The site has certainly gained new members, many of whom are genuinely interested in contributing valuable reviews and comments, but the site has never really recovered from the loss of the raffle.

As I said, I don't know the economics of it, but it seems possible that with more traffic that there would be more people buying memberships through TBP/PU to generate income for the site.

I'm not sure that this would even be possible, but what if the raffle wasn't a cash-value gift card outside of porn? What if you were able to get a pool of sites willing to offer a free membership for a month and the winner(s) of the raffle could choose a membership from that pool. I'll admit that there are problems with this, but they aren't insurmountable.

Final note to all the PU members who visit here, whether you contribute or lurk: ALWAYS buy your porn memberships by clicking through from TBP/PU. Those referrals are, I assume, this site's lifeblood.

Thanks again for all the work you're doing to keep these excellent sites going.


I second the idea of a free membership. Is this idea feasible?

10-09-15  01:34pm - 3324 days #10
rabbit
PornUsers Staff




Posts: 12
Registered: Jul 03, '15
Location: Montreal
Thanks for the feedback guys. We are hearing you
Next week we'll analyze how to bring some form of raffle back asap. Unfortunately it will be a manual process, so we have to figure out how to best do it. Will keep you posted. Enjoy your weekends y'all!

10-11-15  06:08am - 3322 days #11
rearadmiral (0)
Active User

Posts: 1,453
Registered: Jul 16, '07
Location: NB/Canada
Originally Posted by rabbit:


Thanks for the feedback guys. We are hearing you
Next week we'll analyze how to bring some form of raffle back asap. Unfortunately it will be a manual process, so we have to figure out how to best do it. Will keep you posted. Enjoy your weekends y'all!


Thanks for listening to us. I think both mbaya and I want to see the raffle back because we were here when this place was constantly buzzing with activity and also so how that activity plummeted after the raffle ended.

I don't want to sound contradictory, but please don't build a manual raffle system if it will slow down your other improvements. I think you can rely on us regulars to keep the lights on here while you work in the background to reshape the site.

Thanks for all your efforts. Seriously. This site is a gem and will continue to be even without a raffle. The raffle is just a bit of extra lustre on that gem.

10-11-15  07:19am - 3322 days #12
mbaya (0)
Suspended



Posts: 891
Registered: Jul 07, '08
Location: new jersey
I firmly believe that some of the improvements that are being discussed need to be prioritized. Deleting links to dead affiliates can wait as they will still be there when you have more time.

Further, participation grows in multiples and is not a matter of addition. An example would be that I am less likely to take a few hours to work on a review when I think that no one will read them or find them useful. As a general statement, the number of replies to reviews is pathetically way down compared to the past.

Along the same lines, we see reviews or comments from newbies that go unnoticed. In the past someone would wish a welcome to PU or suggest improvements to the writers contribution. If I were a first time participant and got no response, I would never bother again. We also see questions going unanswered.

In contrast, my first participation on PU was a comment that drew numerous responses. I complained about a billing problem, and quickly saw this was a much better place to vent than any other. I stayed on and continued participating as I saw what a friendly place this was.

Another issue that should be addressed is that I have seen participation that violates PUs policy of being only about pay sites. NO promotions of free porn were ever permitted in the past.

Lets not lose our way during this time of transition to a new PU. Edited on Oct 11, 2015, 07:49am

10-11-15  04:12pm - 3322 days #13
Capn (0)
Active User



Posts: 1,740
Registered: Sep 05, '09
Location: Near the Beer!
Well..

It is nice to know that the motor is still running anyway!

Thanks for starting this thread. It is good to know something is happening beneath the surface, even if it is largely silent running.

I hope to see more activity here, which would encourage me to visit more often.

Admiral of the PU Hindenburg. 2009 PU Award
Hilarious Post of the Year 2010 PU Award
( I would have preferred it to be Helpful Post of the Year for Guys who Hate 'Retail Therapy' ) :0/
Sanity is in the eye of the Beholder!

10-13-15  02:51am - 3320 days #14
elephant (0)
Active User



Posts: 583
Registered: Jan 11, '07
Yes thanks for letting us know there is things been done for the future of the site. I'm another one who is all for the raffle been brought back, it was a great idea and so much encouraged people to make good reviews and visit and participate much more. When it went the site very soon went awfully quiet it seemed. "Women are like tricks by sleight of hand, Which, to admire, we should not understand." WILLIAM CONGREVE

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