Guest Tony Hunt Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Far from losing popularity after the forum admin decided they had to charge a small annual fee the MHF forums popularity seems to be growing. Earlier this evening I noticed there were 154 people online perusing the forum at that time. Yesterday there were 21 new members joined and total membership now stands at 8700 + not bad for a dying website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Will Redfearn,Wirral Motorhome Club Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 How true, maybe the site will now be free of the agressive exchanges we have had to endure. There is space for everyone who is sincere. I have subscribed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Tony: An interesting observation, but surely a tad optimistic. I'm reasonably confident that the MHF website has a rosy future, but I'm absolutely certain there will be a substantial fall-off in overall membership numbers as soon as 'Pay to View' becomes mandatory. It would be naive to believe that all current participants (or new members) will choose to pay the post-January MHF subscription, so perhaps the current high levels of activity reflect a 'get the drinks in before the bar closes' philosophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest roger s Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I too thought there would be a fall off that hasnt happened, and like Wilf believe that subscriptions will improve the site. Looking at page hits etc the publicity over subscriptions has been a good thing. Dave the site owner has spent a lot of cash on the site and interms of speed etc it is now very quick compared with others. ie; it loads quickly. I am not having a "go" at this site but when I click the url I can do other things whilst its loading it is that slow - maybe Warners need to look at this as people will not tolerate low speed sites now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trixie Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I agree with you there roger. yesterday the site access was so slow I went onto another forum and read a substantial number of posts. trixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeteC Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 You took the words off my post Derek When you get the free drinks in mine is a Double Whiskey www.motorhometoday.co.uk is also growing steadily What will happen after this weekend when people have to pay on mhf? I wonder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dave Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 good words pete c, but what is most important is "www.motorhometoday.co.uk" is free and always will be. good looking dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeteC Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hi Dave SO www.motorhometoday.co.uk Is FREE well that makes a big difference You should find an increase in the take up shortly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tony Hunt Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Dont think a measly tenner is going to stop people at all. Was just reading a post on there from a guy who just saved £18 5% on his safegaurd ins renewal because he was a MHF member. Thats without the 5% discount he could save on a lot of the show entries this summer. There seems to be a lot of other discounts in the pipeline also just for the sake of spending a measly tenner on a yearly membership. Those of you who refused to pay out of a matter of principle are surely going to be the long term losers without a doubt. MHF will not die because its too popular with the masses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I too have been a member of www.Motorhomefacts.com for months and it seems to be growing so fast, the discounts that are promised for subscribers also seem to on their own pay for my subscription. I believe the admin posted that the entire site isnt going to be shut off and free members will still be able to use some of the site :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Only time will tell but the honeymoon period is not over yet. Doesn,t the free access for old members finish at the end of January? Please correct me if I am wrong as I have not frequented the site for some time now. A better comparison will be the measure of membership after say 6 months of fee paying being compulsary. It was 8500 that was indicated a little while back, what will it be in July? or have they changed the rules again? But at least now we have some alternative free sites as well of course as this excellent and easy to navigate MMM site. What forum one frequents depends if one wants a forum to be a straightforward interchange of views or if one joins for the discounts, special offers and all the other bells and whistles. Personally the offers and discounts don,t attract me but I enjoy an interchange of views and imparting genuine advice to anyone who asks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 It's unlikely that the complete MHF website will be closed to non fee payers, otherwise nobody new would be able to subscribe. Presumably the post-January arrangement will be akin to the present one where (currently) registration is required to access the various forums and (in future) a paid-up subscription will also be necessary. Statistics are tricky things. Undoubtedly I'm included in the 8700+ figure Tony quotes, but I became an MHF 'member' for curiosity's sake and don't participate in forum discussions. There must be a significant percentage of registered members who are similarly dormant and I would expect these to disappear from the MHF population at the fee-paying cut-off point. (It's also probable that current non-UK MHF members will choose to jump ship.) As far as the MHF forums are concerned, none of this should matter as long as enough people are left to provide the types of discussion (advice, information, chat, etc.) that interests the other participants. Let's be controversial... If I was made IT Motorhome Generalissimo, my first order would ban all motorcaravan forums except one, and I'd then focus resources on that forum to maximise its efficiency and usefulness. What we have at present is a mishmash of forums that have been produced with varying degrees of professionalism and that cover much the same ground most of the time. This is fine for chatterboxes who can skip between forums and find a (relatively) fresh audience at each visit, but it's hopeless if the information posted to forums is to be considered a database and tediously time consuming for anyone who has a very specific inquiry. In my opinion, by far the best designed motorhome-related forum at the moment is MHF's and that's the one I'd target for further development. I'd definitely charge a subscription fee, but I'd want everyone who paid it to feel that they were being given excellent value for money. However, it needs recognising that people are hooked on "free" (free choice, free lunch, free speech) rather than efficiency and ultimate value, so you're not going to get a vast migration to MHF as long as lesser free forums are judged good enough. What would be intriguing is if a major 'commercial' player (like Warners) decided to try to dominate the leisure-vehicle website market and developed a superior forum structure to MHF, open-to-all and with no subscription. On the subject of slow access to the MMM forum, I can't say I find it that bad normally, despite my cranky old non-broadband connection. I assume people wishing to use just the forum go directly to the Logon page rather than via the main MMM website. If you are using the latter method then I wouldn't be surprised if you are encountering long delays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Some very valid points as always Clive, I can't say I agree with you on the only one motorhome website but I can see your POV. I think if Tony spent a little more time being constructive both on here and MHF rather than the unwarranted snipes he posts at the moment then it would improve both sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tom Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 as a subscriber to MHF at the early bird fee of £5 i consider it better value than £32.99 MMM for 12 months or £3.10 per month for the mag on the times that we are here as we are usually out of the country in our motorhome 5 months last year about the same this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 Tom: It would be interesting to learn what criteria you use when making that comparison. Basically, what do you think you don't get out of MMM that you do get out of MHF (and vice versa of course). Does this mean you will no longer be buying hard-copy motorhome magazines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeteC Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 Thanks folks Following your letters I have logged on to www.motorhometoday.co.uk It is much faster to log onto than this site and looks to have lots of members photos and info sections Thanks again think I'll become a member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeteC Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 Thanks folks Following your letters I have logged on to www.motorhometoday.co.uk It is much faster to log onto than this site and looks to have lots of members photos and info sections Thanks again think I'll become a member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 PeteC From the amount of plugging your doing I thought you already were a member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeteC Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Appearences CAN BE deceptive I was banned from the pay site for just saying that I knew of another (this one) site that was free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Pete C Now I'm totally confused!!! How can you be banned from it when you were talking about it so much on this forum and then didn't join it until the other day?????? Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 What you're missing I think is the blatant 'soft-sell' spamming which is going on and which I tend to think will in the end be counter productive. Every reference to the free site tends to get a reply from someone who believes that motorhomefacts.com is a worthwhile site to join allbeit that entry to PARTS of the site will be to subscribers only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Burley Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 "In my opinion, by far the best designed motorhome-related forum at the moment is MHF's and that's the one I'd target for further development. I'd definitely charge a subscription fee" Thanks for the comments :) lol Pete again i never banned you, don't know where that sprung from !!! and cant understand why you keep saying you have logged on to and joined the site that you created yourself over a month ago ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Ah ha! I thought I smelt a rat!!! too much plugging by a certain party, or, to put it more eloquently "Me thinks he protesteth too much!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Getting the thread back on track. If MHF is going from strength to strength, why is it that since enforced subscription there are more guests than members online at most times?. I also have noticed that the rules have changed again (how many times now)and that under certain circumstances non members can post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Burley Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 not sure where you get your stats from Mike, but i can definately say that January was the busiest month MHF has ever had, now this is undoubtably due to the amount of publicity about the subscriptions so i wont blow a trumpet about that too much :) Rules have never changed, we are striving to find a nice balance between allowing new members onto the site and then giving them enough access that they are enticed into paying the subscription to be gain FULL access, we are simply going to allow new members to post in the introductions forum to see how that goes. We are learning as we go here :) Seeing as others promote their site I should state that MHF has many facilities not found elsewhere such as a very populated Motorhome reviews section with >50 Motorhome reviews which are completely unbiased submitted by our members, we also have motorhome accessory and product reviews, the Largest motorhome forums in Europe probably, A Motorhome and RV Specific European Campsite directory with the ability to search / filter the results for many things (This database has been completely revamped over the last 4 weeks), We also have such a variety of other facilities such as online journal / travel diary, MH Surveys, A thriving rally community now with discounted entry to all the major shows this season, motorhome specifications database which is completely unique anywhere, stolen motorhome database and much much more, plus we now have a few volunteers who are striving to get our subscribers discounts and now have around 20 campsites that offer our subscribers discounts, accessory shops, insurers and much more. This will also grow as time progresses :) End of Promotion :) Yes i Do run MHF and i openly admit it ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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