Suggestions:

1 - Create a section or page that is dedicated to outlining the how's and why's of commenting and participating in the community - along with some correct and incorrect examples. I know this information is generally available, but having it in one easy to access area would help generate community activity as well as helping newcomers who might want to take a larger roll in the community.

2 - Perhaps a work sheet indicating areas where help is needed, and a sign up sheet if it is a project with specific requirements.

3 - Some interactive tutorials or online classes that would allow for a specific program to be worked with, questions asked and answered, and a project for completion (beginner level to start) using the program which would last say 30 days. If the project was a 10 - 14 day project stretched out to 30 days, it would give all interested members and the instructor a chance to participate with the time they have - as well as a chance to just talk with each other over the month without scrambling to catch up with class. This would also give the programs (potentially 12 per year) some "air time" to show off their abilities and possibilities.

4 - Question and Answer section for any computer oriented items. I am thinking of a section for questions that are not provoked by troubleshooting an issue, but more off-handed: "I was just wondering what......." type of thing.

As a side note, I apologize for not having more mini tutorials and some technically interesting posts - very busy with work lately. I will have some more mini tutorials up this holiday season which will focus on customization and Stardock products, as well as a series of "basic hardware understanding 101 - for beginners" in the mini tutorial format (pictures and basic text) to help those who may be looking into new purchases and would want to know what the basic difference is between a dual processor and a single processor?, an AGP vs. PCI video card?, What does a lot of memory do for me?, what characteristics to look for in a monitor?, etc.

Note - these will be simple articles giving the beginner an understanding or picture in their mind of how these items generally work - not an advanced in-depth white paper on hardware. I am more adept at teaching on a "children's" level - or at least have more fun teaching in that way.

That's it for me.

No flame....

I am probably guilty on that count....

Will do better, NT.

Well...I think I'm rated at No#1 with  "skin ratings" and No#2 with "WC General"...which certainly takes a bit of time/effort....

Getting people to interact more requires them to 'want' to interact more.....and hopefully not through the appeal of the 'flame-fest' or the 'self-destruction' of the recently disillusioned.

One thing that 'bugs' me is that along with the interconnectivity of the various sites' 'forums' comes the odd thread or three that has invisible comments...where half a conversation is going on merrily and people here on Wincustomize have to stare at it/them dumbly and guess.  This does not imbue anyone here with a sense of 'community', not when a bunch of people are invoking some quaint 'cone of silence'.  This needs to be fixed....

There must be a site-coded mechanism put in place to enable 'accountability' [not anonymity] for any and all 'alterations' of any forum threads, no matter what their origins.  Eg, if a Moderator removes a thread a comment should pop up to insert a reason so others are informed.  If a thread or comment poster edits a thread/comment then again an auto 'note' should be inserted to state time/date/who/reason.

Point awarding for comments made, etc....only IF those comments are something more intelligent than one-word 'spam'....eg. "Nice".

A system for personal one-on-one instant messaging...on-site.....nothing is better than 'instant gratification'...it's a 'now-society'...

Any and all bits of info in the 'About' section of the site...and all other bits that a user might stumble across...all need to be contemporaneous...ie. Up-to-date.

A system perhaps setup to allow people to 'compare themselves' [for want of a better term] by being able to list fellow users via their Access level....eg. "who else is a Journeyman like me?"

The threads' icons to be setup a little more logically.....closed envelope for one you have not read....open envelope for one you have read....and open envelope and new 'letter' for one you have read that has had a new comment since you read it.

Have the site's time-coding able to be set to the user's location, so there is a quick understanding of how long ago something happened, etc.

OK...there's some......I can probably dream up more....as no matter how good something is there is always room for improvement...

There was an 'example' of what's needed to be a 'close knit' community on IRC just earlier today.  Bit of misunderstanding and wrong inference between two people who have 'known' each other for quite a while...yet it all went a bit 'silly' when it had no reason to.

One way we define 'friends' and 'mates', whatever is through familiarity...and time/shared experience.

That comes through getting to know people...not just via a 'nick' here...but also their lives outside Wincustomize.com [yes, I believe there IS an 'outside' though it's elusive].

Nicks should be permanent, for starters...so people can keep track of who is who [part of that IRC problem].

Personal profiles/pages could have much more 'info' opportunities for people to find out about others' likings, interests, etc....