Clan Forums or Social groups?

[Rick Lewis]

There is a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes about the best possible way to use the website to assist in maintaining , running and building clans.

vBulletin is a Forum based software used for online communities. It has some cool features to include a built in Social Group area.

For about two years I have been tinkering with the idea of using the social groups for the clan area on the website. This includes some time in a previous online community as well as crosseyedgamer.

I see many pros to doing this but recently I have come across multiple cons.

I noticed some clans have seemed to adapted very well to using the social group area to run their clan but did they do so because they were asked to or because they find it easier or better?

This is very important so I would like it if we got some serious conversation going about this topic. Just don't post a yes or no. Comment on the ups and downs so we can make a final decision on this for the good of the community.

The Pros of the social groups are that they can be easily setup by anyone and then maintained by the clan general. No wait time for a forum or usergroup to be setup by an admin. You get a little better social environment where you can as a clan post images and see all your members right on the groups main page.

The Cons I have seen start with the NO POST COUNT. Forum users love the post count and there isn't one in the social groups. Discussions are also a little different to manage as there are no stickies or other fancy stuff you can do with forum threads.

There are many other ups and downs for both. Feedback is good so please comment and make sure you spread the word to your fellow members about this post and poll. Thanks.

[CEG Illusion]

to be honest i really dont care which one we use, but i prefer the forums because the forums allow us to have the post counts, have the ability to sticky and close and move threads, in which the social groups are very nice, i just prefer the forums for their advanced features, although i do like the members list and pictures - the social groups have it so that the clan is the social group so users do not have to go all over the site to see all the clan related things, which is always nice, and easier

[CEG DARKF4NT4SY]

i like the members list on the social groups too but i don't really care about the pictures, but the nice things on the clan forums are that you can post video's in the threads what you can't do on the social groups.... ok well you can do that but it only shows the URL Link but in the clan forum it shows the video it self so i think thats pretty cool, and i don't really think that you need the members list like you have on the social group but it can be helpfull though if you wanna go too someones profile and that you don't have on you're friends list. ut CEG Illusion already said that so i don't think i need to repeat that.
and ofcours there are some other stuff that are good in the social groups and forums, but if we could keep both the social groups and forums too use like we do now i dont have a problem with it but if we only gonna use one thing to maintain the clans i prefer the forums.

[Rick Lewis]

For the time beings, the usergroup and forum does work best for the style of how we run our clans. While the social groups are integrated into the forum software we use, they present us with some limitations. One main issue would be the user permissions for clan members. We give clan members upgrades that registered users do not have and you need a usergroup for that. Managing clans also works better when using the forums and of course as mentioned you can not post certain things in the social group area.

Having both as a clan is a good idea as unregistered users can see the social groups but can not see the clan forums. You must be a registered user on the site to view the clan forums which is slowly becoming more and more important for our clans. Such as, adding in the CHALLENGE button. Adding a Join button is only a matter of time.

So, if you are trying to run your clan from both , you don't really have to do so within the social groups. Meaning, no need to post two clan lists, member times and so forth. It is entirely up to you on how to do things. Whatever works best for your style and members.

You will always have our full support in your efforts.

[GUNNEYJARHEAD]

I have an idea why dont we just use both of them.

[Mr Jackwagon 50]

I would go with Clan forums. I think they are better because it is a good way to talk about your clan and such. It is a good social experince not saying that the social groups aren't either. They are supposed to be social. I am just saying that clan forums let you talk about your clans more.

[CEG DaZeD CS]

I definitely lke the clan forums better.