Things that drive new members away

I would say my biggest turn off is two extremes.

1 - hardly any visible forums / topics for guests to see (I am not going to join just to see if I want to belong)
2 - far too many forums with hardly anything going on - often a big mistake of new forums.

For me personally...

Failing to register, I can't get past the anti-spam measures for the umpteenth time because;

1. I can't read the CAPTCHA
2. The answer to the custom field question wasn't 44 or forty four but Forty Four
3. I didn't know the capital city of Tonga is Nuku'alofa
4. My junk mail address is not accepted

Not being able to upload a file unless I pass the anti-spam measures.

Not being able to upload a file because although I've passed the anti-spam measures my post count is lower than a bazillion.

I encountered all of the above when I attempted to post notification of an error I'd found in a digital product I recently purchased

I completely agree about being told to use the search facility, especially on large forums running vBulletin. Also being ignored if you are new says a lot about the board administrators and to some extent the general membership.

Badly made skins, text speak and obvious signs of bad behaviour are all things that would keep me away.

On a painting of Rembrandt the wife of the painter is shown as the Goddess of the Hunt. What's the name of the husband of the painter's spouse?

I use it on my board, in German, though. It's much funnier in German

I think staff publicly bickering with members would put me right off and members arguing constantly and going off topic because of it in threads.

1. Bad attitudes from other members ie the google it noo-b
2. They don't find what they are looking for quickly
3. there are just some people who aren't forum people --

Moderators that are continually up your arse about the rules..

Yeah, but some sites are so strict it is hard to remember them all.

I think I could post a list that would never end so I'll keep this one brief with things I think will drive members away.

1. Admins that backup other admins (staffs) mistakes when dealing with members and members feel/receive the backlash. Everybody should be accountable for their actions even if they are on staff.
2. Moody admins that take out their real life issues on their members
3. Admins whom close sites for no reason at all (me)
4. Admins that post before they think and know nothing about the subject matter they are getting involved in and try to bully members into their way of thinking.
5. Admins that breathe ( ) << this will always drive me away.
6. Admins that backup their co-admins when a banning wasn't warranted.
7. Admins that constantly remove their avatars when life throws them a curve ball and it gives the impression they are leaving, are inactive.
8. and finally "Admins".

I operate in quite the narrow niche of forums here, dealing with role-playing forums, but turnoffs for me include:

• Admins who require public fawning/petting. These are forums, not a zoo or pseudo-therapy.
• Sites that require an instruction manual just to navigate the resources. Alas, I admin one of these and it's a difficult, difficult tangle to cut for this niche.
• Sites that are built on a foundation of negativity. It's amazing how many RPG forums go up solely to "stick it to the other guy". Bravo to those that actually do, not to those who like talking about it a lot.

Those are my simple peeves. =)

Lag. lol, lag will kill it for me on a forum, if there's an interminable wait. Also swearing and negative energy posts.



gogo

My biggest turn off is lack of activity, which has been a problem for a lot of forums lately. When I come to a website, I want to see new posts. Sometimes I will try to get conversations going. But most often I just bounce.

Greg