Hi everyone as mentioned in this thread I will be upgrading the forum to a new faster host and flexible platform at the end of the month. I have been brewing around a few ideas for a while about how I could improve the site to make it a better community for Bushcraft in Australia. The first step to this is the upgrade which will allow me to put some of these things in motion. I would like to open this thread up to members to post any suggestions or ideas about what they would like to see added. I would like to consider some ideas to make the site stand out from just a simple forum or facebook group. Social media platforms have obviously become more prevalent since the site launched but I think there is an opportunity for more of a centre for Bushcraft that helps users share their particular interests and be rewarded in some way for doing so. I want to be careful about this because this site has (nearly always :linguino: ) always been praised for its civility and core focus on bushcraft so I don't want to impact this.
I will start us off with a few ideas. Feel free to yay or nay, have a discussion or recommend some ideas. If you don't feel comfortable posting here you are welcome to PM me.
Forum Prefixes and rewards for bushcraft specific tasks
We sort of played with this with the initial implementation of the flora and fauna database but it became really time consuming to manage because the software just wasn't there and I didn't have the skill to implement an automated system for it. I think I can do this with the new platform. The idea here would be to allow users the ability to contribute content in a more formal way and be provided rewards for posting. Obviously the normal discussion threads all have their place and will remain. The thinking would be that content can be indexed easier and faster to find as well.
Take the Flora and fauna database for as an example:
Provide predefined fields for entry. Rather than a clunky "template" post which says "please post in this format" users would simply click "add new entry" and be provided a list of fields to enter in or select: scientific name, common names, habitat, field notes, photo entry...etc. The system can automatically categorise the entry, index it onto an easy to find page and assign the member a reward for making the contribution. What the reward is I'm not entirely sure as yet. It could be a points based reward that contributes to a forum badge which is tiered based on their contribution. This could also extend to other sections such as buschraft skill tutorials, bush cooking recipes, gear reviews etc. Each one providing unique badges depending on the type of contribution.
End goal here is: Reward users more for their contribution to build a bushcraft wiki if you like so this content is easier to find.
BushcraftOz Marketplace
This is a big one but I think its doable with the new platform. There is alot of members here with plenty of skill making various bushcraft items either on the side or as a hobby but setting up a store on ebay, etsy or shopify is a bit or work. These stores take a pretty decent commission (8% on ebay). Then you have to get people to find it. What about a marketplace, on the site where members (with enough time and posts) can create their own shop and sell their goods. Knives, pouches, fire lighting kits like flints and bow drill sets, equipment etc. The market place is right here on the site so your core market is already here.
Users can create a shop front free of charge and post their items. They would have their own dashboard to see new orders, manage products, setup automatic payments and users can leave reviews and feedback. I would have to do more research into this regarding the time on the admin side (if the site has to take a small cut or not) but if this could be done with a small 1-3% cut to the forum to support the site what do you think? Obviously keep in a contained section of the site so that there isn't advertising on the site still.
It would be important to have some rules about who can create a shop and I would like members feedback on this.
Anyway those are just a couple of ideas but keen to hear what everyone thinks about that and what other things members would like to see.
I will start us off with a few ideas. Feel free to yay or nay, have a discussion or recommend some ideas. If you don't feel comfortable posting here you are welcome to PM me.
Forum Prefixes and rewards for bushcraft specific tasks
We sort of played with this with the initial implementation of the flora and fauna database but it became really time consuming to manage because the software just wasn't there and I didn't have the skill to implement an automated system for it. I think I can do this with the new platform. The idea here would be to allow users the ability to contribute content in a more formal way and be provided rewards for posting. Obviously the normal discussion threads all have their place and will remain. The thinking would be that content can be indexed easier and faster to find as well.
Take the Flora and fauna database for as an example:
Provide predefined fields for entry. Rather than a clunky "template" post which says "please post in this format" users would simply click "add new entry" and be provided a list of fields to enter in or select: scientific name, common names, habitat, field notes, photo entry...etc. The system can automatically categorise the entry, index it onto an easy to find page and assign the member a reward for making the contribution. What the reward is I'm not entirely sure as yet. It could be a points based reward that contributes to a forum badge which is tiered based on their contribution. This could also extend to other sections such as buschraft skill tutorials, bush cooking recipes, gear reviews etc. Each one providing unique badges depending on the type of contribution.
End goal here is: Reward users more for their contribution to build a bushcraft wiki if you like so this content is easier to find.
BushcraftOz Marketplace
This is a big one but I think its doable with the new platform. There is alot of members here with plenty of skill making various bushcraft items either on the side or as a hobby but setting up a store on ebay, etsy or shopify is a bit or work. These stores take a pretty decent commission (8% on ebay). Then you have to get people to find it. What about a marketplace, on the site where members (with enough time and posts) can create their own shop and sell their goods. Knives, pouches, fire lighting kits like flints and bow drill sets, equipment etc. The market place is right here on the site so your core market is already here.
Users can create a shop front free of charge and post their items. They would have their own dashboard to see new orders, manage products, setup automatic payments and users can leave reviews and feedback. I would have to do more research into this regarding the time on the admin side (if the site has to take a small cut or not) but if this could be done with a small 1-3% cut to the forum to support the site what do you think? Obviously keep in a contained section of the site so that there isn't advertising on the site still.
It would be important to have some rules about who can create a shop and I would like members feedback on this.
Anyway those are just a couple of ideas but keen to hear what everyone thinks about that and what other things members would like to see.
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