Soooo Quiet in Here

[Mort_Lemur]

User #69 (oo-er missus) on the old osC forum.

I was within 30 User #'s of you back then - under a different name

[tessthepup]

I originally stumbled across osc in 2006 and very quickly fell under its spell. I ran a few stores for about 5 years and then life took me on a different path for a while.

I tried to keep up to date with the movement from osc to edge etc but never really got back in the game until @burt gave birth to the bouncing baby that was Phoenix.

Fast forward several years and I now again run a couple of my own stores and also this year I am very proud to say that I am a certified dev which I love doing as it keeps my creative juices flowing.

[PiLLaO]

I'm shopowner and like others members like to diy.

My first online version was in 2009 with 2.2rca, but at least spend 1 year before release, but with zero knowledge of what was doing.

Although there was a time when the shop was doing well, I only keep it going now because I enjoy it.
If I had to pay for website maintenance, I would have let it go a long time ago.

My English level is limited, so you won't see me much in text-heavy posts.

[burt]

Sorry to hijack "Hi" thread. @azpro mentions a few factors. I've been thinking about it;

Quietness Factors Outside the scope of Phoenix;

eCommerce Landscape Change
I don't care about being in control of my own destiny. I don't care about digital sovereignty.
The rise of SaaS platforms such as Shopify `make it easy`. Fewer shopowners on Open Source = fewer posts in forum.

Advent of AI
I can use AI to solve problems and code. No need for that old fashioned forum, right?

Busy
I'm busy running my site, I have to put food on the table.

Vaction / Holiday
It's holiday season. I'm sipping a Pina Colada on the beach.

Everything is working
I don't need help today, why bother with "that forum".

Inside the scope of Phoenix;

Platform Maturity
Core code is cleaner, more stable, and better documented. Fewer bugs mean fewer support threads.

Core Stability
Store owners can extend functionality without hacking core files, eliminating the classic "I broke my site" threads.

FAQ's
After a decade or more...there can't be very many new questions available to be asked. A quick google reveals answers to questions already asked. Eliminates a lot of the "how do I do..." threads.

Marketplace
Pre-packaged, plug-and-play modules, hooks etc. Shopowners buy a $20 module rather than asking on a forum how to build it from scratch.

Gated Areas
The forum has always had gated/private areas. Not everything is completely public.

--

I think all of the above is Fair. There's probably lots more reasons why `seems quiet` is the general consensus.

Can we combat any of it?

--

The one thing I do `worry` about is this one;

I don't need help today, why bother with "that forum".

On the day you actually do need help, where are you going to get help from ?

Not me, that's 100% certain. No single person can be the guaranteed emergency-support service for every store. Phoenix needs a community where knowledge, testing, and support are shared; otherwise the independence users value becomes dependent on one maintainer, and that is not fair and is not healthy.

Put simple

Open source is free and sovereign, but its true cost is community stewardship. Spending 5 minutes a day to add some value to the Phoenix ecosphere is the insurance premium you pay to keep Phoenix alive and free.

Nobody needs to become a developer or spend hours every week. A useful contribution can be five minutes: reply to a newcomer, add your Phoenix/PHP version to a solution, say that an update went well, or report a problem clearly - even just add a "thanks" to a post, or vote in a poll.

--

Please do note that when I say "I" or "you" that is I/you in the abstract - ie a generic shopowner running a generic shop.

[burt]

Here's the wheel we have to try to break...

This is a real email I received from a member who has fewer than 20 posts in 5 years.

It's a shame that there aren't more people investing in development

How do we even begin to approach this type of user to try to help them to understand that their lack of activity is, more or less, what they are complaining about.

--

Any ideas?

[Mort_Lemur]

How do we even begin to approach this type of user to try to help them to understand that their lack of activity is, more or less, what they are complaining about.

I'm far less patient than you Gary, I would be taking a very direct approach and start sending out emails to registered members who have not posted or given answers for a while - reminding them that projects like this cannot survive long term without their involvement, no matter how small.

However, that's probably why I have no friends...........

[azpro]

I'm far less patient than you Gary, I would be taking a very direct approach and start sending out emails to registered members who have not posted or given answers for a while - reminding them that projects like this cannot survive long term without their involvement, no matter how small.

However, that's probably why I have no friends...........

........ we need more marketing to shout out this is a briljant piece of software - suitable for (almost) every kind of business and with some tweaks might contest with WordPress IMHO

[PiLLaO]

Here's the wheel we have to try to break...

This is a real email I received from a member who has fewer than 20 posts in 5 years.

It's a shame that there aren't more people investing in development

How do we even begin to approach this type of user to try to help them to understand that their lack of activity is, more or less, what they are complaining about.

--

Any ideas?

I think you can't do anything for this type of users, it's like "customers who come by price, go by price"

[burt]

Could we crowdsource here (write some compelling words) an excellent PM message, that `admin` would send when a non Code Co-op member logs in...or would that be too much "in your face" ?

[Dan Cole]

Could we crowdsource here (write some compelling words) an excellent PM message, that `admin` would send when a non Code Co-op member logs in...or would that be too much "in your face" ?

Is it possible to use the email addresses for users who have registered here to send out a little newsletter type email on a regular basis? It probably wouldn't be to difficult to have AI produce a summary of the activity on the forum (on say a monthly basis) that might serve as an engagement tool.

Dan