Thank you for.. everything

[miikerocks]

I just wanted to thank you for such an amazing line of products. I've been with IPS for just under two years now, and I've seen good, great, awesome, and some drama; that really, never needed to happen from specific community members. I've just grown to love this platform and the developers for it, more and more every day. For instance, I decided to shut my old community down, and 3 weeks ago, opened up a new one to the public. After over a year and 3/4 of having my old community up, I had 8922 posts, and 369 members. Now, my new community, grew rapidly after I first mentioned it to the public when making a comment on a Halo: Reach developer blog.

My new community, after 2 weeks and 6 days, has been exploding. 5954 posts, 238 members, and an almost constant stream of guests, usually 19+ at a time. My community's online record already hit 80, and it's future is extremely bright. Everybody loves the status update system, and all the features of the community. I'm making short segment videos to explain features, so that the community will easily know how to do a certain thing, such as profile customization. It's really cool, because the members that join, instead of leaving, are staying. I'm a really nice guy, and I ensure that equality amongst everyone is the main goal to keep. But, because of the new status update system, among with notifications, this is so much more simple to do. I've gotten to know each member, by commenting on their statuses, replying when they comment on mine, and so on, and so forth. Members are calling it the "Facebook for the Halo community, only better."

It is because of you, IPS, and your openness to suggestions, your willingness for implementations, and your positiveness towards any member, their thoughts, and their opinions. You have created a line of products that can help me realize one of my dreams, and aid me in accomplishing a successful community. Already on the right path, striking down any stray drama that appears, and becoming friends with everyone; I can encourage reinforcing discussions, and see it pay off. Thank you for everything you have done, for your hard work, and any bumps in the road that you have encountered. Any company experiences this if they've reached true success, and you have taken it in the best way for your company, and the people associated with it. I now already have 250 YouTube subscribers in a week, and it seems that on this path, I will soon be a YouTube Partner, making money from Adsense without distracting ads on my forum. Through the many services you've allowed us to integrate with IPB, I am able to continue, and have a social community that is unlike any other. For this I am not only grateful, I am heartfelt at the insurmountable feeling I get whenever I use this amazing piece of software. You, and your team are golden.

With Best Regards,
-Michael Paton

[Alex]

Thank you for your feedback :) I am glad your community is working out so well, best of luck for the future!

[Collin S.]

Thanks for the feedback. Most people don't take the time to write positive feedback. :thumbsup:

[miikerocks]

Thank you for your feedback :) I am glad your community is working out so well, best of luck for the future!

Thank you, and may the best of luck come your way as well! :D

Thanks for the feedback. Most people don't take the time to write positive feedback. :thumbsup:

Well, I just thought it felt necessary to do. I'm sure you get so much feedback on other things, that a little nice feedback here and there, that's truly meant, is a nice thing to see. :) You guys rock.

[majdi]

how come in topics thanking IPS like the one you are reading and

or

there is no less than 2 official answers from IPS, however for topic like these (and i'll post mine just as an example)
or
http://community.invisionpower.com/topic/318921-where-is-ips-team/

we get nothing but jokes <_<

[bfarber]

We like to acknowledge the positive feedback topics rather than ignore them.

We cannot possibly answer every single "help!" topic posted on the forums, however.

[majdi]

acknowledging positive feedback takes time. as well as responding to "help!" topic even tho not the same amount i'll just throw a number: 1 "help!" topic takes as much time as 3 "thank you" topics from IPS staff, in average
My question is the following: which one deserves your time more?

[miikerocks]

acknowledging positive feedback takes time. as well as responding to "help!" topic even tho not the same amount i'll just throw a number: 1 "help!" topic takes as much time as 3 "thank you" topics from IPS staff, in average

My question is the following: which one deserves your time more?

To be honest, I'd think responding to a thank-you topic is actually worth the time. When someone takes the time to write something long like this, and spend work on it even though they didn't have to, getting acknowledgement for it is kinda nice.. Whereas, if it's a help topic where somebody can't even be bothered to spell correctly; and not provide enough info/done any research first, then who deserves the input more? Someone who puts the effort into showing appreciation and meaning it in the least selfish way possible, or someone who acts as if the world revolves around them?

Just food for thought.

[Mark]

Thanks, Michael, we do try ;)

how come in topics thanking IPS like the one you are reading and

or

there is no less than 2 official answers from IPS, however for topic like these (and i'll post mine just as an example)

or

http://community.invisionpower.com/topic/318921-where-is-ips-team/

we get nothing but jokes <_<

The first of your examples was a post in a feedback topic, it probably wasn't noticed. If you require technical support, you could of course submit a ticket and we'd be happy to help (and that is what our support staff spend 95% of their time doing).
The second, I'm not sure what you really expected us to say; it goes without saying that our staff sometimes take time off, we're not going to provide a list of who's got a cold this week or who's gone on vacation where - it's not really an appropriate discussion.

When people like Michael take the time to post positive feedback, yes, we do like to take a couple of minutes, usually of our own time to thank them - I think it's a little unfair to hijack such topics or say that our taking note of them is a waste of time.

[miikerocks]

Yeah, these people need to have their own lives too.

@majdi: I would think that as a person who runs their own board, you would be one of the ones who understand it. Let's face it, I wish I could have a community that grew on its own without my intervention, so I could have the experience my regular members get. But, I have to control the site from the admin side of things. I need to update the site regularly with new additions, I need to search for new innovations from the modding & skinning community, check my daily 15 PM's and various emails. From all of this, and even barely spending time on anything in my life, I still find it difficult to keep up with every single thing. Sometimes I just click on the latest topic in X forum, so that I can check something out, and then get heading on my way to whatever in life I have going on. I will try to ensure that people and systems aren't being abused, and still read over posts here and there. I try to get involved as much as I can. I try to calm down a situation when it is necessary, and give positivity to a members ideas. And, yet, I still miss posts. People like contacting an admin, it's just how it is.

If you actually want to spend the time to deal with those who care by writing a lot in a message, or taking the time to contact you by email or PM; you won't have time to catch up with every problem. But, by showing that you care by responding to as many messages as you can, and responding to well-mannered posts, you at least show that you don't want to edge-on negativity. If you see a negative topic, why even bother replying, when all a troll will do is attempt to enrage you? While you have your own right to run your forum your own way, I try to base mine off of ethics. I try to keep the place calm, fun, and most importantly, a positive escape from the members day-to-day lives. I don't read chat logs, unless I'm trying to find a particular thing, or got an outstanding report of private chat abuse. I don't tell members they're worse than anybody else. I will tell them if I want them to improve on a certain skill, such as thinking before posting, or learning to read a post in a way that doesn't spark negativity. I try to help them understand to think about others, by doing so myself. And because people may not have time to get back to you seconds after contacting them, I respond to a message by explaining why I took so long to reply to them. Now, I just want you to notice that this board has nearly 150,000 members and 757,000 posts. The current forum is the 4th from the top of the page, and whether or not people intended it so, they generally are more likely to read from top to bottom if on the index. Just wanted you to get some insight into the fact that not everyone can be helped instantaneously. No offence is even intended towards you. People have their own lives, have their own jobs, and are busy with various things. If you need help bad enough, you can bring it to the attention of others in multiple ways. And, if it doesn't have to do with the product itself, but a mod, there are MANY communities out there with experienced members. It would only take a little amount of time to look. Chances are you'll find your solution before you even get a quick response. :) Please take my post with a grain of salt. it's not meant to be negative in any form whatsoever. However, if you do reply negatively, I'll just drop it, as I see no need for an argument. :P

Sorry for long post guys. :lol: