How interesting - see the number of times the links have been opened above?
Here is the week before
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81170*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81171
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81172
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81173
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81174*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81175
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81176
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81177
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81178
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81179*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81180
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81181*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81182
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81183
And today
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81200
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81201*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/81202
.
No-one has commented here, so is it a waste of effort? @Janice_A
Good questions to ask of the managers. I have clicked on the previous batch of links (in some cases twice since I couldn’t quite keep track!) and was pleased to see so many new ‘faces’ in the ZA community. Barely an observation at the stage when I checked, which I thought unexpected as I had expected folks to join with a query to hand or a course task or similar. I’ll click on some/all of the second batch and have a nosey.
I do agree as you know @Janice_A we do need to encourage people to stay whether new recruits or older hands. Welcome message is an important strategy I believe and several have offered assistance, it can be discouraging to those who offer to have limited takeup.
Also important is how the front page looks to newcomers, presumably they do look at it, which I confess I don’t do that often. It could be improved so much: a featured obs that isn’t necessarily stellar but is interesting and has the important ingredients, curiosity and engagement. And there have been lots more suggestions in this thread.
A year ago (what happens?)… https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79472*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79473*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79474
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79475
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79476
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79477
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79478
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79479*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79480
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79481*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79482
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79483
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79484
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79485
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79486
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79487
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79488*
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79489
https://www.ispotnature.org/view/user/79490
More women than men
This is my last list and reminder to Admin that we really need ways to recognise and retain new users
So it looks as if approx one in five who register get as far as submitting an observation or commenting on someone else’s. It rather begs the question as to why they joined in the first place. It would be interesting, though I’m not sure how it could be done, to send a questionnaire to, say, these 52 and ask them why they registered and what they hope to get from iSpot.
I also noticed that there were quite a few from South Africa, @mags49
Looks like an inviting home page?
It conceivable that people thought that they had to sign up and in to read the site. (There are quite a number of freewalled sites on the web.)