I felt like I made some progress today. I removed all of the bbPress related items from the site because it’s not the right time for forums and thanks to social media, it may never be the right time for forums ever again. I sure hope that isn’t the case, but we’ll see.
A lot of headaches involving bbPress also went away. It seemed like everywhere I turned, I had to find a plugin to accomplish something. I think bbPress integrated with WordPress can be a powerful solution if you have the development skills to fill in the missing pieces. I don’t know about you, but when using bbPress, it feels like using a stone tablet compared to something like phpBB or Discourse which is like using an iPad.
Fixed the Mobile Nav Menu
I finally figured out what was wrong with the mobile menu being blank. It turns out, I needed to assign an Off Panel menu in GeneratePress and then assign the appropriate items to that menu. Most of the primary navigation menu should now be available when browsing the site on a mobile device.
Figuring Out Sponsorships and Financial Support
I’m still working on the membership side of things. Just when I think I have things figured out, I get thrown a curveball. Today, I’ve changed the prices for the subscriber tiers and created a sponsors page. There will also be a discount code folks can use where the first 100 people to subscribe will receive a discount. However, I’ve learned that sponsors or sponsorship is a poor word choice on my part based on what I want.
This site is relatively new but I am not. I am hoping to find a few WordPress-related businesses that are willing to basically provide in-kind donations so to speak. I’ll have a page set up to where businesses that are interested can purchase an Engine subscription level which will get them text links in the podcast show notes posts, promotion on Twitter, a graphic and text description of their business on the Engines page, and of course, access to any exclusive content I produce. I’m open to suggestions and ideas on how I can provide more value to businesses at this early stage of the journey. I figure unique sponsorship opportunities will present themselves in the next few months.
The WP Mainline Podcast Is Coming Back
I also announced that this Friday, I’ll be getting back into the podcasting bandwagon by firing up the WP Mainline Podcast. David Peralty and John James Jacoby will contribute as co-hosts. I plan on recording the after-shows and making them available to Rail Buff subscribers. Speaking of the podcast, I’ve identified an issue where previous episodes and links to them are generating 404 errors. I’m currently trying to figure out the cause and have them functional again by the end of the week.
I’m brand new to membership sites but I’m hopeful that with the help and support of others I can prove to myself and especially my wife that this journey is a legitimate path forward not only as a source of employment, but as a financial means of getting by.
I like the community feel of a forum better than social media, personally. There’s no periphery distraction. But I guess that’s a little too old school for most these days. I won’t even suggest IRC.
I do too but getting people to invest time and energy into a forum is so much more difficult these days because of Twitter and other social networks. I don’t think it’s impossible though.