>> Doug and I hate SPAM as much as you do.  We have placed
>> as many controls on the list and the forum as we could
>> possibly place to eliminate it.

>Kinda slick how you now come off as co-owner of the Auburn mailing
list.
>Subtle.  Plausible deniability.  Well done.

<sarcasm>Yeah, that's right, this is a big coup.</sarcasm>  If you take
the time to read my response, you'll see how silly that idea is.  

The fact is that Doug and I discussed the partnership of the list and
the forum.  I showed him how it would work and he liked it.  So we did
it.  That doesn't make me co-owner, but it does give me a responsibility
to do whatever I can minimize SPAM.

>You know, "Web portals."  The fastest way to attract drive-by posters
>with no stake in the mailing list, no continuity, no contribution, and
>generally, no clue.

The dozens of posters who have used the forum to ask AND ANSWER many
technical questions in the last month tell a different story.

In addition, people must join Backup Central just like they join the
mailing list, so it's not like they just show up and start posting.  A
look at the forum would show that the majority of posters have not been
"drive-by posters," but have actually posted quite a few messages, many
of which are responses.

>The way you increase traffic to your site with
>little or no benefit to the list and its members.

If you'd take a moment to take one look at the site, you'll find that I
do not benefit from any "increased traffic."  The site, despite regular
requests, generates no revenue.  I spent (and am spending) considerable
time and money to build a site that has many uses.  (It has hosted the
FAQ for this mailing list for several years.)

Given the popularity of my site (several thousand permament members and
tens of thousands of visitors every month), I could have started my own
forum and mailing list.  That would have split the community and diluted
the strength of both lists.  After receiving a positive response from
Doug (and from the admin of the NetWorker list as well), I chose this
route.  It marries the power of the forum to the power of the mailing
list, without diluting either (in my opinion that you obviously do not
share).

There are over 3100 members of this mailing list, and I've seen
complaints from 2 or 3 of them.  I have, however, received dozens of
compliments.  Most people think this is very cool.

>Apologies to Mr Hughes, Mr Preston and the list for the negative tone;
>IMO, there is _nothing_ positive about Webbies diluting a mailing list.

"Webbies."  Wow.  So if people don't use good ol' email to communicate,
then they have no value?  Wow.  That's something.

As to the actual benefits:

1. It has increased REAL membership to the actual list.  In just the one
month or so that we've been doing this, 49 members found and joined the
mailing list via Backup Central.  (That is, they joined the actual
mailing list, not the forum.)

2. It has increased participation in the list.  In the last two months,
the forum interface has been used to send over 200 posts from 51
different users.  Many have been very thoughtful questions AND ANSWERS
to.

3. The way the forum threads the questions together is the best method
I've ever seen for seeing all of the threads of a previous discussion.
As long as someone doesn't change the subject, they'll all be threaded
together into a single forum topic visible on one page.  WAY better than
any mailing list archive I've ever seen.

4. There are a lot of people (who you seem to dismiss) that prefer the
forum method of interacting with others.  They don't want their
blackberry flooded with hundreds of messages a day just so they can
participate in the discussion, but they don't mind checking out the
forum web site regularly.  This marriage of the forum and email allows
these people to participate in the discussion.  Without it, they would
simply not participate at all.

5. My site's ranking in Google makes the archived posts of the mailing
list show up at the top, so "Webbies" (as you call them) will find asked
and answered questions via Google much easier and not waste the list's
time with previously asked and answered questions.

It's new and there are some bumps in the road.  We'll work it out.

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