Lost
06-08-2009, 01:53 AM
Well, I have a long story. This is pathetically keeping me up and from sleeping. It's all I can think about, and so I just wanted to write it out and have people read it, people I don't know. So, I entered "Website Forum" into google, and I got this. So hey to all you.
Anyways, I've wanted to be a website publisher/designer since I was 14. I remember I had a who showed me this old "Homestead Website Builder" that was free. And we ran a stupid little website based on pokemon or something. Ever since then, that was one of the biggest things I loved to do. That, and build computers, which I learned how to do at 11, from my other friends dad.
I've almost always had a website up since I was 16 and able to pay for my own hosting. Mostly nothing more than a small website to play and tinker with. Sometimes I would invite friends and we'd use it for fun. Over the years, I've had websites with higher purposes and more members than that. Recently, with most of my friends in college and off getting married and whatnot, I made a forum using a basic CMS just to have everyone keep in touch and write about what they were up to. Maybe not things that would be wanted on Facebook, or so that more people could read them, things they would have shared with the group as a whole. It was fun and easy to begin with, not all of my friends cared for it, just a few. And I got that urge again, the one I had when I was playing with the stupid Homestead Website Builder, of building and creating a successful website, with a community on the forums just to watch and talk, and meet people on forums and whatnot.
I asked my friends what they though of taking the website public. They thought it was a cool idea, so we put a little private section in where only we could chat, and then the rest of the forums. I wanted to market it a little bit, nothing fancy, but I was trying to figure out how I would advertise a CMS forum based on really no central topic. It wasn't really going to work. We gathered 20 or so members, nothing to brag about. I finally decided we needed to actually build a website and have a central theme in order to be successful. I came up with some ideas, and brought on a new member of my "partnership." So there were 3 of us dedicated to this website. We posted the ideas on the forum and had our members take a vote of which they wanted to see the most. The ideas were like fan sites of sorts for certain video games and whatnot, and then a Blog site, where we would bring news about Video games, maybe write some reviews and whatnot. We'd work it out. Of all of them, I figured the blog site would be the most difficult to do, as it didn't totally encapsulate a central theme, it was more just opinions and whatnot.
Unfortunately, the vote turned out to be the blog site. I figured it would be fun, and something I would like to do, but something that might be difficult. I had a lot of second thoughts about it, and talked it over with my partners a lot. Eventually the reassured me that they had my back and that we'd make it work.
I was happy, and confident about this.
Fast forward a few weeks of construction, me being mainly a graphics designer, and one of my partners a much better coder than I am. We worked together to produce a pretty stunning website. I was really happy with it, and I thought everything went well. Before we launched the website, I asked both of my partners to write an opening blog, and I would do so myself as well. So that way people actually had something to read once they had gotten to the website. One of my partners didn't do so, and we waited 2 days for him to post something. Eventually we just launched the website because we were so enthusiastic.
We got a lot of great compliments, and even got some new members based on our initial blogs and the professional look of the site. I was really happy.
It's been a while now since the website has launched, and I talk to my partners almost every day. To this day, the one who didn't post and opening blog still hasn't written a single thing, and the other has only posted one article since his opening blog. For some dumb reason I envisioned this website in the back of my mind being like lifehacker.com. It's quite the opposite. The forums have dropped from a 50 post per day average, to less than 1, and I'm the only one posting anything ever. Our statistics have plummeted and I'm left in the cold by myself, after being so reassured by these guys. And am just wondering why the hell I bother anymore. I wish I had gone with my instincts and just made a website based on what I love, and what I wanted to do. It just shocks me how I'm constantly let down by people, and how much I lose faith in humanity every time people fail me.
I guess this is just a FML post, and I'm surprised I haven't just turned around and deleted this yet. I'll also be surprised if anyone replies. I guess, just to keep an actual question here, what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you just give up? Would you keep trying to go with what you have and maybe work your "partners" a little to see if they can step up the productivity? Would you just start all over again, from scratch and just try and make a website you wanted to?
Either way, it feels great just to complain about it after all this time. :P
Anyways, I've wanted to be a website publisher/designer since I was 14. I remember I had a who showed me this old "Homestead Website Builder" that was free. And we ran a stupid little website based on pokemon or something. Ever since then, that was one of the biggest things I loved to do. That, and build computers, which I learned how to do at 11, from my other friends dad.
I've almost always had a website up since I was 16 and able to pay for my own hosting. Mostly nothing more than a small website to play and tinker with. Sometimes I would invite friends and we'd use it for fun. Over the years, I've had websites with higher purposes and more members than that. Recently, with most of my friends in college and off getting married and whatnot, I made a forum using a basic CMS just to have everyone keep in touch and write about what they were up to. Maybe not things that would be wanted on Facebook, or so that more people could read them, things they would have shared with the group as a whole. It was fun and easy to begin with, not all of my friends cared for it, just a few. And I got that urge again, the one I had when I was playing with the stupid Homestead Website Builder, of building and creating a successful website, with a community on the forums just to watch and talk, and meet people on forums and whatnot.
I asked my friends what they though of taking the website public. They thought it was a cool idea, so we put a little private section in where only we could chat, and then the rest of the forums. I wanted to market it a little bit, nothing fancy, but I was trying to figure out how I would advertise a CMS forum based on really no central topic. It wasn't really going to work. We gathered 20 or so members, nothing to brag about. I finally decided we needed to actually build a website and have a central theme in order to be successful. I came up with some ideas, and brought on a new member of my "partnership." So there were 3 of us dedicated to this website. We posted the ideas on the forum and had our members take a vote of which they wanted to see the most. The ideas were like fan sites of sorts for certain video games and whatnot, and then a Blog site, where we would bring news about Video games, maybe write some reviews and whatnot. We'd work it out. Of all of them, I figured the blog site would be the most difficult to do, as it didn't totally encapsulate a central theme, it was more just opinions and whatnot.
Unfortunately, the vote turned out to be the blog site. I figured it would be fun, and something I would like to do, but something that might be difficult. I had a lot of second thoughts about it, and talked it over with my partners a lot. Eventually the reassured me that they had my back and that we'd make it work.
I was happy, and confident about this.
Fast forward a few weeks of construction, me being mainly a graphics designer, and one of my partners a much better coder than I am. We worked together to produce a pretty stunning website. I was really happy with it, and I thought everything went well. Before we launched the website, I asked both of my partners to write an opening blog, and I would do so myself as well. So that way people actually had something to read once they had gotten to the website. One of my partners didn't do so, and we waited 2 days for him to post something. Eventually we just launched the website because we were so enthusiastic.
We got a lot of great compliments, and even got some new members based on our initial blogs and the professional look of the site. I was really happy.
It's been a while now since the website has launched, and I talk to my partners almost every day. To this day, the one who didn't post and opening blog still hasn't written a single thing, and the other has only posted one article since his opening blog. For some dumb reason I envisioned this website in the back of my mind being like lifehacker.com. It's quite the opposite. The forums have dropped from a 50 post per day average, to less than 1, and I'm the only one posting anything ever. Our statistics have plummeted and I'm left in the cold by myself, after being so reassured by these guys. And am just wondering why the hell I bother anymore. I wish I had gone with my instincts and just made a website based on what I love, and what I wanted to do. It just shocks me how I'm constantly let down by people, and how much I lose faith in humanity every time people fail me.
I guess this is just a FML post, and I'm surprised I haven't just turned around and deleted this yet. I'll also be surprised if anyone replies. I guess, just to keep an actual question here, what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you just give up? Would you keep trying to go with what you have and maybe work your "partners" a little to see if they can step up the productivity? Would you just start all over again, from scratch and just try and make a website you wanted to?
Either way, it feels great just to complain about it after all this time. :P