COBF New Website

[CorpRaider]

perhaps consider a subscriber-only model.  say $100/yr.  or limit # of posts of nonsubscribers.  might improve quality of board posting

 

Either that, or rapidly kill the site because you lose critical mass and attrition isn't replaced by new blood. Pretty big gamble.

 

Making something more exclusive and expensive doesn't automatically make it better. All the good contributions of the past on this site were done by people who just joined for free.

 

I think the funk that this site is in is as I described in the other thread here:

 

https://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/not-an-investment-board/msg422378/#msg422378

 

The main problem with this forum right now is that it is heavily rooted in the traditional value way, and traditional value has been underperforming for over a decade. That doesn't help. Back when value was doing much better (in the rebound of the GFC, for example), this board had a lot more investing-idea activity, but I'm guessing most members are not finding much of interest through that lens these days..

 

Almost all my investments today wouldn't be considered traditional value, and when I discuss them here, I don't get much reaction. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

If traditional value starts doing well again and there's a bunch of opportunities in that area, I expect the posting on this board to become quite valuable. In the meantime, it's just resting a bit.

 

I agree.  In my few years on the board, I have noticed activity spikes when people are more excited about opportunities they are seeing.  Looking forward to the new site.

[LC]

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

A way to scale images would be useful. I always end up with huge images hosted somewhere else that I wish I could resize quickly, and I don't always have the time to resize locally and re-upload somewhere else.

 

You can do it manually per below:

 

{img}url{/img}

 

{img width=XXX}url{/img}

[mranski]

I would ditch the affiliation with Fairfax. Too much focus and commentary on a mediocre investment/company.  Maybe Berkshire also.

[bizaro86]

One thing that drives me bananas is when posts "quote" (i.e., copy) a chain of 10 other prior posts instead of just quoting a pertinent sentence or two to which they are replying.  Maybe this is something that can be improved in the COBF 3.0.

 

Yes, if I highlight a sentence and click "quote", the text box should only have the highlighted sentence featured as the quote.

 

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

I hope Sanjeev is not spending money to implement a forum engine from scratch. If he is, then it's IMO a waste of time and money. And the upkeep/fixes/maintenance is likely to be money pit too.

 

OTOH, if CoBF is going to use off-the-shelf engine, then the engine-specific features in the wish list are pretty much DOA.

 

I'm pretty sure most off the shelf forum software has a variety of options that can be implemented (or not) at the admins option. I agree custom software is unnecessary.

[Liberty]

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

A way to scale images would be useful. I always end up with huge images hosted somewhere else that I wish I could resize quickly, and I don't always have the time to resize locally and re-upload somewhere else.

 

You can do it manually per below:

 

{img}url{/img}

 

{img width=XXX}url{/img}

 

I'll give it a try. I tried at some point, but I probably didn't do it right because it didn't work.

[Liberty]

One thing that drives me bananas is when posts "quote" (i.e., copy) a chain of 10 other prior posts instead of just quoting a pertinent sentence or two to which they are replying.  Maybe this is something that can be improved in the COBF 3.0.

 

Yes, if I highlight a sentence and click "quote", the text box should only have the highlighted sentence featured as the quote.

 

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

I hope Sanjeev is not spending money to implement a forum engine from scratch. If he is, then it's IMO a waste of time and money. And the upkeep/fixes/maintenance is likely to be money pit too.

 

OTOH, if CoBF is going to use off-the-shelf engine, then the engine-specific features in the wish list are pretty much DOA.

 

I'm pretty sure most off the shelf forum software has a variety of options that can be implemented (or not) at the admins option. I agree custom software is unnecessary.

 

Yeah, I think there's a bunch of plug-ins for most BB software that can do a lot of these things, but never done it myself, so can't confirm 100%.

[cwericb]

It would be nice if there was some way to link stocks being discussed with their market listing so a simple click would take you to the ticker where you could immediately see current price, graph, etc. Or even better,  have a display of the current price automatically appear with the heading.

 

 

[rkbabang]

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

A way to scale images would be useful. I always end up with huge images hosted somewhere else that I wish I could resize quickly, and I don't always have the time to resize locally and re-upload somewhere else.

 

You can do it manually per below:

 

{img}url{/img}

 

{img width=XXX}url{/img}

 

I'll give it a try. I tried at some point, but I probably didn't do it right because it didn't work.

 

I use the above all the time.  Of course the curly brackets have to be replaced with square brackets.

 

img width=800

 

img width=400

 

img width=200

 

[DooDiligence]

I hope Sanjeev is not spending money to implement a forum engine from scratch. If he is, then it's IMO a waste of time and money. And the upkeep/fixes/maintenance is likely to be money pit too.

 

OTOH, if CoBF is going to use off-the-shelf engine, then the engine-specific features in the wish list are pretty much DOA.

 

I'm pretty sure most off the shelf forum software has a variety of options that can be implemented (or not) at the admins option. I agree custom software is unnecessary.

 

Joomla is a very robust & extensible open source content management system with a vibrant community of developers.

 

www.joomla.org

 

Community builder is a great Joomla extension with coms, plugins & mods to accomplish just about any function mentioned here.

 

There are a ton of other coms, plugins & mods to handle everything from tiered subscription offerings, data migration, event management, e-commerce (who doesn't want a CoBF t-shirt?), and more.

 

I've authored many Joomla sites using LAMP installations on shared hosting plans. None of my sites served as many users as CoBF but I believe it would scale nicely if you used a dedicated host.

 

I still can't believe that the core Joomla installation package is free.

[Parsad]

Hi Sanjeev,  Will the posts from this site still be available somewhere, either carried over to the new site or this site maintained as read only? I often find older discussions useful and I frequently use the search box to find them. Thanks!

 

Carried over.  So other than Politics, which won't be saved or archived, the other sections will be essentially the same and carried over.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

I would ditch the affiliation with Fairfax. Too much focus and commentary on a mediocre investment/company.  Maybe Berkshire also.

 

Yeah, not gonna happen.  Even if you relegate both Fairfax and Berkshire to the garbage pile, understanding what they've done right and wrong will always be of intrigue to people...especially value investors.  It's the very reason why Berkshire is called Berkshire Hathaway...learn from the past. 

 

And regarding Fairfax, Prem is now at the same point in time where Berkshire was 30 years ago...1985-2020....Berkshire 1965-2000.  Berkshire grew book value at 23.6% annualized from 1965 to 2000, and Fairfax grew book value at 18.5% annualized from 1985 to 2020.  To say that Fairfax is a mediocre company is like saying Mike Tyson was a mediocre fighter with a weak chin because he lost to Buster Douglas once!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

It would be nice if there was some way to link stocks being discussed with their market listing so a simple click would take you to the ticker where you could immediately see current price, graph, etc. Or even better,  have a display of the current price automatically appear with the heading.

 

Yes, that will be in there.  Cheers!

[peripatetic]

One thing that drives me bananas is when posts "quote" (i.e., copy) a chain of 10 other prior posts instead of just quoting a pertinent sentence or two to which they are replying.  Maybe this is something that can be improved in the COBF 3.0.

 

Yes, if I highlight a sentence and click "quote", the text box should only have the highlighted sentence featured as the quote.

 

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

I hope Sanjeev is not spending money to implement a forum engine from scratch. If he is, then it's IMO a waste of time and money. And the upkeep/fixes/maintenance is likely to be money pit too.

 

OTOH, if CoBF is going to use off-the-shelf engine, then the engine-specific features in the wish list are pretty much DOA.

 

I'm pretty sure most off the shelf forum software has a variety of options that can be implemented (or not) at the admins option. I agree custom software is unnecessary.

 

Yeah, I think there's a bunch of plug-ins for most BB software that can do a lot of these things, but never done it myself, so can't confirm 100%.

 

Yes. Bananas.

[Liberty]

Another one is auto-scaling of images (prevents posting an image and having it blow up the viewing screen).

 

A way to scale images would be useful. I always end up with huge images hosted somewhere else that I wish I could resize quickly, and I don't always have the time to resize locally and re-upload somewhere else.

 

You can do it manually per below:

 

{img}url{/img}

 

{img width=XXX}url{/img}

 

I'll give it a try. I tried at some point, but I probably didn't do it right because it didn't work.

 

I use the above all the time.  Of course the curly brackets have to be replaced with square brackets.

 

img width=800

 

img width=400

 

img width=200

 

I think I may have used width="X" and it doesn't work with the quotemarks..? Maybe something else. Either way, thanks  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[investmd]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

[Guest cherzeca]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

well I have a suggestion as to how not to do it.  until recently advertising on site has been noninvasive. recently the site has been going to a full page ad that I have to click X out of when I land on the home page and do my first click.  this is a big turn off for me.  I wonder if the delta ad revs are worth the trouble this creates for users...

[Jurgis]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

IIUC the current fee is really not monetization, but rather a barrier to keep random Interdudes out.

 

Proposed subscription is likely monetization. I agree that it might not attract that many people. Unless people see it as a support-Sanjeev payment and pay it even though the benefits are not big.

 

Let me back-of-the-napkin calculate revenues for CoBF. It says max online in 2019 was 1950. Looking at guests/members ratio, it's about 5:1. So 1950 / 5 = 390 members. Let's guess 10x total members: 3900 (maybe that's undercounting). Well, if you get $200 per year per 3900 users, that's $780K per year. That's pretty respectable actually, since you likely spend less than 1 person/year for upkeep. The problem is that I'd guess 1/10 of the 3900 users will actually subscribe (and even if I undercounted casual users, they are unlikely to subscribe, so the total might be close). So that's $78K. Actually not bad. Might pay for upkeep, though clearly not something one can live on (in Canada).

 

At these numbers likely subscription yields more revenues than any ad-based strategy. So unfortunately, likely subscription is the way to go. Even though personally I'm not fond of subscription sites (and likely won't subscribe).

[John Hjorth]

well I have a suggestion as to how not to do it.  until recently advertising on site has been noninvasive. recently the site has been going to a full page ad that I have to click X out of when I land on the home page and do my first click.  this is a big turn off for me.  I wonder if the delta ad revs are worth the trouble this creates for users...

 

I have personally had the experience pictured & quoted above by cherzeca lately, and speculated it was a software bug.

 

Personally, it has been, to me, an unpleasant & very annoying experience.

 

That said, no way, I'm going to leave, nor stop participating & reading CoBF. [i suppose, if CoBF stops to exist, I'll go into suicidal mode. [ : - D]]

[Jurgis]

Sorry @Sanjeev, but ad-blockers exist.  ::)

 

 

 

And thanks @Sanjeev that we are not subjected to the "remove your ad-blocker or else" threats. 8)

[Guest cherzeca]

well I have a suggestion as to how not to do it.  until recently advertising on site has been noninvasive. recently the site has been going to a full page ad that I have to click X out of when I land on the home page and do my first click.  this is a big turn off for me.  I wonder if the delta ad revs are worth the trouble this creates for users...

 

I have personally had the experience pictured & quoted above by cherzeca lately, and speculated it was a software bug.

 

Personally, it has been, to me, an unpleasant & very annoying experience.

 

That said, no way, I'm going to leave, nor stop participating & reading CoBF. [i suppose, if CoBF stops to exist, I'll go into suicidal mode. [ : - D]]

 

I am shocked that we agree on something.  shocked!  I am not threatening to leave or inflict bodily harm, just providing feedback

[Parsad]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

The subscription fee is only for those that want the upgraded services above and beyond the message board.  Otherwise, they would have full access and use of the message board as they do now.  So nothing would change for the majority of users or new users.  Cheers!

[investmd]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

The subscription fee is only for those that want the upgraded services above and beyond the message board.  Otherwise, they would have full access and use of the message board as they do now.  So nothing would change for the majority of users or new users.  Cheers!

 

Good that subscription is actually a "freemium" model and doesn't deter more voices from being on the board. Sanjeev, you've done a great job with this Board and I've often wondered about the "why" behind all the effort spent. If one can align incentives for participants and for organizers, there will be a path forward. Monetizing it means it will be sustainable. Otherwise, volunteer efforts whither away and quality decreases.

[york]

What about a career/job section?

[DooDiligence]

well I have a suggestion as to how not to do it.  until recently advertising on site has been noninvasive. recently the site has been going to a full page ad that I have to click X out of when I land on the home page and do my first click.  this is a big turn off for me.  I wonder if the delta ad revs are worth the trouble this creates for users...

 

I have personally had the experience pictured & quoted above by cherzeca lately, and speculated it was a software bug.

 

Personally, it has been, to me, an unpleasant & very annoying experience.

 

That said, no way, I'm going to leave, nor stop participating & reading CoBF. [i suppose, if CoBF stops to exist, I'll go into suicidal mode. [ : - D]]

 

I experience this only when using Safari on my iPad.

 

I actually click on ads periodically, not because I'm interested in the product or service advertised, but just to throw some ad revenue to Sanjeev.

[DooDiligence]

Parsad,

I support the move to monetize the site. Otherwise it is not sustainable.  However, charging for a subscription probably doesn't get you that many $s . Risk is that it dramatically decreases engagement amongst current users and proves to be a barrier for entry to future users. It's not even the $ amount - just the fact that it's not readily available. CEO of Shopify recently said that good businesses take things that are already possible and make it 10x easier - ie reduce friction.

Don't have an answer right now as to how to monetize but will think about it.

 

The subscription fee is only for those that want the upgraded services above and beyond the message board.  Otherwise, they would have full access and use of the message board as they do now.  So nothing would change for the majority of users or new users.  Cheers!

 

Good that subscription is actually a "freemium" model and doesn't deter more voices from being on the board. Sanjeev, you've done a great job with this Board and I've often wondered about the "why" behind all the effort spent. If one can align incentives for participants and for organizers, there will be a path forward. Monetizing it means it will be sustainable. Otherwise, volunteer efforts whither away and quality decreases.

 

It seems to me that there are basically 2 populations on CoBF. The wholesale segment generates actionable intelligence which can be monetized in the markets & the retail segment which gets monetized in a more superficial way on the front end.

 

If I were Sanjeev, I'd be primarily motivated to generate information & deal flow from the more productive members of the site. Any walls (pay or otherwise) should be implemented simply to segment the population & any pennies made on the front end can be used to offset the costs of running the site.

 

I would most definitely be categorized as a part of the retail population & would be placed outside the walls unless I'm willing to pony up & be subject to strict posting requirements. This fact doesn't offend me in the least as long as I can still lurk around & improve my thought processes & occasionally coattail a good idea.

 

Feel free to monetize me however possible.

I'd definitely buy a cool t-shirt!