Various ideas to revive/improve the site

Hello,

After 20 years of operation and a 4-year hiatus, we were happy to rediscover this forum following its acquisition by Myatlas.

At the very beginning of the adventure, there was a section allowing members to share their ideas—good or bad, feasible or not—with the team in charge to help perfect the forum.

So, to help VoyageForum regain its momentum and adapt to new audiences and a new environment, why not put our heads together and suggest some improvement ideas in this thread?

I’ll get the ball rolling!

Travel journals are limited to 300 photos because photo storage is expensive. This limitation is completely understandable, and Myatlas found a solution by offering a paid subscription for those who wanted to exceed the free photo limit. Maybe this approach could be adapted here? Limiting without offering an alternative is a reason members leave.

Hi Agnese,

At the very beginning of the adventure, there was a section where members could share their ideas—good or bad, feasible or not—with the team in charge to help perfect the forum.

Yes. It was closed because things got even more heated there than in "Thoughts and Reflections." I remember fierce discussions, with words flying, about whether Turkey is in Europe or not, or the split of the pseudo-continent where we happened to be born into East/West...

Travel journals are limited to 300 photos because storing photos is expensive. This limit is completely understandable, and MyAtlas managed to overcome it by offering a paid subscription for those who wanted to exceed the free number of allowed photos. Maybe this solution could be adapted here?

As a good old Gen Xer with boomer tendencies, I see VF first and foremost as a place for writing, for text. Recently, journals like Kate and Richard’s with 120 photos or rjulie’s with 49 are stunning, with exceptional photo quality. With over 300, I have my doubts... And nothing’s stopping anyone who’s a frenetic image poster from opening a parallel discussion in the relevant section to add 300 more. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned...

The thing is, I have no idea what level of activity is needed for the forum to be considered profitable and thus sustainable, but a month and a half seems a bit short to get a sense of its future.

Catherine

Hi Catherine

It had been closed because things were even more heated there than in "thoughts and reflections."

That’s entirely possible. But why should today be like yesterday? There are new members, a new team.

Out of over 300, I have my doubts...

No one’s forced to read a travel journal.

The (paid) right to post 1,000 photos doesn’t take away anyone else’s freedom.

( This discussion kinda reminds me of CG...)

As a good old Gen Xer

As a good old Gen Xer, I pay on MyAtlas.

All this talk about generations being this way or that—it’s a bit random, isn’t it? 🙂

And besides, I hope all ages will mix on the forum!

And nothing stops someone who’s a frantic photo poster from opening a parallel discussion in the section where you add 300 more.

Actually, it’s not allowed. It’s stated when you open a journal.

MyAtlas was free at first. Then, like VF, COVID hit. Maybe a marketing plan that wasn’t quite on point too?

The site almost shut down before being taken over. Since then, there are paid plans for heavy users (those whose journals cost a lot in hosting due to a large number of photos).

The all-free model funded by ads is yesterday’s business plan, I think.

Anyway, the point of this topic is to share ideas.

The team can do what they want with them.

I’ll add that all photos in a travel journal are counted—not just those by the author.

This creates discussions (and tensions, to put it mildly) among participants because some post lots of photos in other people’s journals, which limits what the original author can do...🤪

Maybe only the author of a journal should be able to post photos in it?

Hello Agnès,

I’ll add that all photos in a travel journal are counted. Not just those by the author.

Sorry, but that’s incorrect. The author of the journal can post up to 300 photos, regardless of photos added by other members in their journal. I just did a test to make sure there’s no bug on this.

As for your suggestion about a subscription to increase the photo limit in journals, we’ve obviously given this a lot of thought. For now, this idea wouldn’t be profitable, as it would require setting up a subscription system, renewals, billing—all of which demands a huge amount of programming and management (for example, a credit card might fail one month, and we’d have to handle each case individually). Also, we’d have to consider how many members would actually pay for this privilege. It’d probably only be a few dozen members, which wouldn’t be profitable given the resources needed for programming and management. And what would we do with journals exceeding 300 photos if authors cancel their subscription? Delete them? 😕 As you can see, it’s not as simple as it seems. If subscriptions were profitable, many more sites would use this model. The truth is, it’s almost never profitable... 😕 Even big media sites with subscriptions aren’t profitable...

This subscription idea has been suggested dozens of times over the past 20+ years. Yes, MyAtlas.com uses a subscription system, but that doesn’t mean it’s actually profitable. Also, keep in mind that MyAtlas.com is primarily designed for publishing travel journals, whereas for VoyageForum, journals only represent a small part of the site’s traffic.

We closed the “Comments” section on VoyageForum because we were constantly explaining and repeating why certain ideas are good or not. There’s a big difference between an idea and its real-world application. Members want to help, and that’s wonderful, but unfortunately, we won’t be able to comment on every suggestion in this discussion—especially since most of them have already been proposed, discussed, and analyzed over the years.

Thank you for wanting to help VoyageForum continue to grow! 🙂 Rest assured, we have a team with extensive experience in site management, and we’re constantly thinking about how to improve VoyageForum and increase its profitability within the possible limits and variables that aren’t necessarily public knowledge.

Best regards,

François

Hi François,

I’m taking the opportunity of this thread to ask a question about using the site, which doesn’t necessarily warrant opening a new discussion. Why can’t we log in to VF with a VPN? This kind of setup is pretty rare on the internet—I honestly don’t know any other examples. It hasn’t always been this way; is it temporary? I find it annoying to have to pause my VPN to log in. I know I can add VF as a trusted domain, a sort of bypass, but still, it’s odd. 🙂

Michel

Hello,

Sorry, but that’s incorrect. The travel journal author can post up to 300 photos regardless of other members’ photos in their journal.

The question was discussed in a travel journal. Some people removed their photos, thinking it would increase the author’s quota. Wrong, according to your answer.

Maybe the message that appears should be changed to warn members about the limit: Your travel journal can’t contain more than 300 photos in total.

And what would we do with journals that have more than 300 photos when the authors cancel their subscription? Delete them? 😕

I’ve wondered the same thing about journals published on MyAtlas.

This subscription idea has been suggested to us dozens of times over the past 20+ years.

Yes, to avoid ads. Not to pay for an extra service. 🙂

Hey!

(This discussion kinda reminds me of CG...)

CG? What's that?

All this talk about generations being like this or that is a bit random, isn’t it?🙂

I don’t know. The fact is, I often hear younger people talking about stuff I’ve checked out and just don’t get the appeal (Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok...). I chalked it up to age!

We’re getting off the topic you started 😉

For me, what makes VF truly valuable isn’t its travel journals (though I can enjoy reading them) but the chance to interact with members who have direct, often recent experience of the places I want to visit and can give me the insights to make choices and decisions. From that perspective, over the past month, I’ve been fully satisfied. I don’t know if this aspect still interests people, if there’s an equivalent elsewhere (haven’t looked), or what can be done to boost the volume. I’d bet it just takes time.

Cat

Hi Michel,

We can only block and identify trolls and spammers on the forum if we have their real IP address.

For example, 2-3 weeks ago, we were bombarded with illegal ads for selling medications and loan offers. With a VPN, these spammers can quickly change their IP address, open a new member account, and start again right away. By blocking VPNs and forcing site users to reveal their real IP address, it’s much easier to block them.

By the way, there’s really nothing secure about a VPN, despite what VPN companies claim. You’re just giving your browsing history to the VPN company instead of your internet provider. It’s also important to know that most VPN companies have been quietly bought up in recent years by very shady companies/holdings...

Best regards,

François

...I admit I no longer remember its real VF identity. On the other hand, I perfectly remember its photographic decrees... Kate or Masterpo should have a better memory.

When it comes to questions, I rarely get answers. If the questions are easy, the answers can be found online. If they're specific, VF often isn't more helpful than my own searches. That's why I sometimes make very open-ended requests, just in case... Travel journals are more productive in those cases.

As for the forum format, I think it's a boomer thing—meaning over 40—for younger people—meaning under 35. We’d need to convince them it’s useful.

For the forum format, I think it's a boomer thing—meaning over 40s—for younger people—meaning under 35s. We’d need to convince them it’s useful.

And what about those between 35 and 40? 😛😏

There are a lot of people over 40... even if we limit it to French speakers. Hey, why not offer automatic English translations of posts? 😎

As a proud boomer—or boomeuse?—I find it way more convenient to have all the info in one place, interactive most of the time, than sorting through tons of sites (it takes me ages, and I’d rather sail the sea than surf the Web).

Cat

Hi Agnès 😉

CG is Christiang, who hasn’t logged into VF since... July 13, 2017!

His last profile showed he was 71 (so 84 today).

Various ideas to revive/improve the site

I still haven’t been notified by VF about the site reopening 🤪 and I’m probably not the only one 😏

And between 35 and 40, what are they?

Future oldies who don’t know it yet...

I find it way more convenient to have all the info concentrated here, and interactive most of the time, than to sort through tons of sites

You still have to sort through stuff here. And the interactivity only works for recent discussions. If you revive a 15-year-old thread, you won’t get many replies.

It was easier to navigate back in the day when merchant sites didn’t dominate search engine results.

You’d type in a couple of place names and end up diving into several travel journals. 😛 Now, you land on Booking or Get Your Guide—way less dreamy... 🏴‍☠️ Gotta stop now or they’ll call me an old fuddy-duddy, "ok boomer" in today’s terms.

Hey Raga 😉

That’s right, thanks! 🙂 71 is his current age, not his age when he signed up. VF calculates and updates your age if you’ve filled in your birth date.

For the emails, I think I figured out it’s done in waves to avoid everyone showing up at the same time. I also got the message way after I signed up. No idea how the waves are ordered (alphabetical order of usernames, email addresses? Sign-up date on VF?).

I also received the message long after signing up.

(I still haven’t received anything)

And then there’s a rumor that all posts made before you get the official personalized email saying the forum is back up will be deleted! 😛 Is that true? 🤪

A total VF blackout? A giant reset? 🏴‍☠️ What’s the point?

Well... the smileys didn’t do the trick 😕 I was joking. (we’ve got a few jokers here 🙂)

Hi Agnès, What if we trusted Vf to revive VF? I assume the people who bought this site are professionals and will act like professionals…

My small contribution: participating because I know that activity boosts SEO. Even if there’s less activity right now…

And if young people don’t use the site, so what—we’ll just stick with the old-timers! I don’t use Toctoc or Instagram, and I’m not dying from it.

And like you said: 1,000 online users means at least 30,000 pages read per month. Maybe that’s enough? 🤷🏾‍♀️

Alright... the emojis didn’t do the trick 😕 I was joking. (there are a few of us jokers here 🙂)

I actually took it at face value. Though I joke around pretty easily too. That reassures me—I was worried about a VoyageForum big bang 😅

This only applies to members whose username starts with the letter K. ;)

Hey Bruno,

I assume the people who bought this site are professionals and will act like professionals...

Yeah, the folks who took over this site managed to avoid Myatlas going under. 😛 So, they must have some new ideas to revive an old formula. 🙂

Outside ideas are a bonus. Coding is one thing, using it is another.

This topic is just a suggestion box, like you find on many sites.

Hey everyone! I’m that young-ish fifty-something who’s still hip, lol. I tried Facebook to plan our trip to Kenya 😅. There are two groups for French speakers, but 95% of the replies come from tourism pros! Like, “Nooo, you absolutely mustn’t rent a car in Kenya.” Luckily, a few expats helped me out in private. We just did a 5-hour drive in our rental car, and it went smoothly—you just have to pick the right routes 😬. Anyway, long live the return of VF! It would’ve been super helpful for planning all this, but at least now I can say, “I did it myself” 😊. Kenyan kisses,

Hi Christelle,

I agree with you. Facebook is overrun by travel agencies and influencers.

Getting information is almost impossible, especially since it's hard to search through a group's history (it's not efficient—even less so on FB in general).

Plus, the contributors are mostly beginners rather than experienced travelers.

(Who did you rent your car from? I’m planning to rent one in Tanzania.)

Happy travels! !

They have so many names I can’t make sense of it!! My voucher says VIP CARS and AUTO UNION. 110,000 km and fumes everywhere—exactly what we wanted 😂 But it’s just for 4 days near Naivasha. After that, we’re taking the train down to Mombasa 😉

Digression on (Thanks. Well, it's not the rental company I spotted, and I need a 4x4.) Digression off

What if we trusted Vf to revive VF?

I agree with you there. And as CG mentioned earlier, I don’t think dumping all your memory cards into a travel journal will revive VF. On the other hand, the restriction forces you to sort through, pick the relevant photo, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

If some folks want to empty their memory cards by agreeing to pay and that option is possible, what’s the harm? 🙂

I’m not super comfortable with a certain elitism that kinda goes against the forum’s openness to as many people as possible.

And 300 photos over 5 days can be a lot, but over 3 months? 🤪

I’m not really sure why this thread went off on whether photos are good or bad.

The idea was to suggest ideas, not debate the ones that were put forward. 😉

That’s the VF team’s job internally if an idea catches their attention.

Good evening,

D’autre part, the restriction forces you to sort through and choose the relevant photo, and for me, that’s not a bad thing.

I also think it’s a good thing. In a story buried under a string of sometimes redundant photos, I usually lose the thread and end up abandoning it halfway through. Choosing—often tough—the *right* photo is part of the process.

I'm not really sure why this topic turned into a debate about photos for or against.

Agnès, it was you who suggested this option (the only one, in fact) in your opening post.

Travel journals are limited to 300 photos because photo storage is expensive. This limit is completely understandable, and Myatlas managed to overcome it by offering a paid subscription to those who wanted to exceed the free photo limit. Maybe this solution could be adapted here?

So we started discussing this idea and shared our opinions.

If some people want to empty their memory cards by agreeing to pay and this option is possible, what’s the harm? 🙂

It doesn’t bother me (though... 😕), but I repeat, how could this help revive or improve the site?

I saw this topic as a catalog of ideas. Not as a source of "I like it, I don’t like it" for each idea... Because this, because that, etc., etc...

So I suggested an idea to get the ball rolling. I thought other ideas would then be proposed without taboos or controversy—a no-stress topic...

So we started with this idea and gave our opinions

Except that wasn’t the point...🙂

What would *you* do to improve the site?

First X, then Y, then Z...

That’s it.

I thought everyone knew how an idea box works—I was wrong.🤪

But I repeat, how could this revive/improve the site?

That’s a question the VF team should ask internally—and if they’re interested, it’s a team that neither you nor I are part of.[;]

Okay, to sum up:

- Offer a paid subscription for those who want to exceed 300 photos per travel journal

- Be able to log in with a VPN

There you go!

What would you do to improve the site?

Well... Nothing's coming to mind right now... But to revive it, I still think about that email that was supposed to be sent to former members (which I never received). François, if you're reading this?

Hi Christelle,

I agree with you. Facebook is overrun by travel agencies and influencers.

Getting information is almost impossible, especially since searching a group’s history is so clunky (and even worse on FB in general).

Plus, most contributors are beginners rather than experienced travelers.

With people becoming less and less well-informed, I worry they’ll just settle for what social media feeds them.

Still, it’s true—the VF model, along with its design and usability, seems absolutely irreplaceable.

Okay, to sum up:

- offer a paid subscription for those who want to exceed 300 photos per travel journal

- be able to log in with a VPN

There you go!

Be able to include PDF documents in a post and view them embedded in the post, like HTML5 allows (a feature available on many forums). Thanks.

I’m in favor of removing a username if, after every 3-year period, the member hasn’t provided at least one helpful answer to another member’s question.

Wait about ten minutes of consultation before forcing non-registered users to click on the ad. Experience lived by a friend I sent a link to. Forcing registered users to view an ad every 20 visits, or 30... (I know it's annoying, but they gotta make a living). It won’t revive the site, but it’ll ensure financial health.

I support deleting a username if, after every 3-year period, the member hasn’t provided at least one helpful answer to another member’s question.

Not many people will be left after that! 😐

That’s exactly what bums me out. On the other hand, the folks who do contribute are super active.

Okay, to sum up:

Okay, maybe also... follow the trends:

Keep the fairies leaning over the cradle at a distance to leave room for the tiny breath. (trend: Tales and Legends...)

Keep the eager caregivers at bay—too many movements can hinder the graft from taking. (trend: white coats...)

Strengthen what’s already been achieved. (trend: parent-teacher conference)

Gently bring the line back in, risking the hook—and the catch—slipping away into the open water. (trend: Hunting and Fishing Manual...)

Reread the classics. Patience and time / Haste and rush (trend: La Fontaine—so many to choose from.)

Meditate. Anything worth doing takes time. (trend: travel writers, thinkers, philosophers—so many to choose from here too.)

I'll take some too, but it doesn't have the same effect on me...😛

I take it too, but it doesn’t have the same effect on me...😛

We agree, it looks really strong, right?

You're exaggerating. I think she's lost a little weight recently. 😉

Anyway, I’m waiting for the photos, because words are heavy. It’s gonna be a shock 😊

A few new ideas have popped up! I was worried the discussion might fizzle out, but apparently not...

So:

- Offer a paid subscription for those who want to exceed 300 photos per travel journal (Attila)

- Allow logging into VF with a VPN (Following a question from Tatra)

- Speed up the email campaign to subscribers (Kate)

- Be able to include PDF documents in a post and view them embedded in the post, as HTML5 allows (Lescs)

- Delete a username if, after every 3-year period, the member hasn’t provided at least one helpful answer to another member’s question (Jojoone1)

- Wait about ten minutes of browsing before requiring non-members to click on an ad (Montagnard74)

- Require members to view an ad every 20 or 30 visits (Montagnard74)

- End this discussion (Kola)

- Sprinkle all posts with poetry (Kola)

I dunno if it’s just me, but I feel kinda awkward with real-life interventions 😊

But hey, we’ve got a great summary here! The moderator is so awesome 😛

- Deletion of a username if, after every 3-year period, the participant hasn't provided at least one helpful answer to another participant's question. (Jojoone1)

I’m jumping in on this...

When my partner Richard signed up, he wanted to use his first name as his username. Nope, there are tons of Richards. So he added the ’11’ from his département: Richard11 Still no luck. But the existing Richard11 on VF hasn’t logged in since 2016 and only has 5 posts to his name. So he’s just gonna stay there indefinitely without participating?

Too bad! But we found a workaround: RichardXI 😉

- Give honorary titles to senior members? 😮

Had to happen sooner or later, huh, Richard! 😛

Or should we spam Richard11 with PMs until he unsubscribes? Just kidding, mods

- Give honorary titles to senior members? 😮

Seniors don’t interest anyone in the metaverse anymore, Agnes…