Portals on forums

[shadowslight]

So Im fairly sure every one here knows what a portal is, and I would like to get your opinions on the subject as this is a modification i'm considering for my site.

they usually consist of sidebars with various gadgets, info on the site, etc etc, with the option to by pass it and go directlly to your board index.

thoughts?

 

[xpl0iter]

As far as I am concerned, portals are not a good idea on forums. I don't like the cluttered UI of a portal. I would prefer to go into the board directly than look for something on the portals. Forums are for user interactions and not for reading and not posting stuffs. Another thing is, if you didn't implement the portal correctly, the idea backfires.

Anyway this is just my personal opinion. And I am sure there are lots of people who consider portals to be a good addon for their forums. And of course there are lots of forums which have implemented it very nicely without ruining the community feel.

 

[Sam1]

I think they're good if you have an established forum and here's why:

- They provide extra advertising space.
- They allow you to recognize members and important news by placing it on your portal.
- They can help in terms of SEO.

But for newer forums, they just annoy members

 

[Southern Comfort]

I've never liked them personally, there are some good points in it but I usually get annoyed by it. I feel like an actual website homepage would be better than just a portal.