Hi, I'm proposing a modification for the default view for the guest visitors: a call to action for commenting or sign up,
we can make it as big as IPB or just a link like xenforo.
make it easier to the visitors that follow the discussions to just register/signin, no need to scroll or searching the form.
I don't think it's exactly 100% what you are suggesting/looking for, but it should be flexible enough to achieve it or something very close:
http://www.elkarte.net/community/index.php?topic=2795.0
Mind you, it should also even work. XD
I am using xf and I might say somehow those CTA are working. XF also uses a register now big button on the left toolbar. From what I have noticed they encourage a lot of visitors to register, but most of that members are inactive. A similar behavior I noticed using social login, also on SMF and XF,they bring registered users but mostly inactive members which never post on forum.
Elkarte is a little bit different, you need to search for REGISTER menu, it's not quickly visible, but most members that are registering are interested to post on forums.
I might be wrong, but this is my impression using both softwares. On XF I have half messages compared to my Elkarte forum, but I have double registered members. It depends on what you want to achieve. I prefer to see less registered members but active, instead of a high number of registered users but inactive. IMO...
maybe different target market and country, but i do find more member joining more posts. :D
but what i'm trying to achieve is to lowering the barrier of entry (joining). just like social media, we must make the visitors convert as easy as possible. when the guests convert to member then its one less step to entice them to commenting. that is another matter :)
@kucing if you are using the Simple Ads addon you can do it easily by adding an html block after last post visible for guests. Is probably the fastest way to do without editing core files.
Also a big button "Register Now" on the left toolbar may help, I used this trick on SMF when I started the forum.
I fixed the addon I mentioned earlier, you can see it in action at:
http://www.elkarte.it/ (of course colors are kind of messy, and anyway they need tweaking based on your theme).
lol :D yeah i can see the notices. :D
thanks!