This article is to help you participate in the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Community. This website has many sections, a directory of websites, a blog, an article library and most importantly a forum.
The forum is where everyone can interact and share experiences, thoughts, opinions, questions and anything else, but we like to keep the topics in line with the topic of this site.
The people who come here seem to fall within one of these general categories:
- People looking for information
- People looking to share information, opinions and experiences
- People looking to do some self-promotion with products or services
- People looking to do promotion for others with products or services
- People looking to promote stuff that has nothing to do with the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism or simply post a URL and never return.
Everyone is welcome, of course, except that last category! This is a community site about Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism built upon the interesting participation of the members. If you come here to do promotions for someone else, make sure you read and study this articles!
Please note that all messages should be appropriate for all ages!
People looking for information
This is really the majority of the people participating in the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Community. Yes, we consider just reading to be participation! For those who participate by making posts and replies, remember many more people are reading than writing!
It is really easy to participate this way. There are two general indexes to the forum:
- Topic Index
- Most Recent Messages
You can use the messages organized by topic or the most recent messages first.
Although you are welcome to read the forum without registering, if you register and read the forum while you are logged in, the system will remember which messages and replies you've read. That was you can immediately see any new replies or messages.
We also encourage you to participate in a more active manner by sharing your opinions and experiences. Of course if you have any questions, please feel free to make a new post.
People looking to share information, opinions and experiences
We hope you will share your questions, experiences and opinions in the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Forum. It is really quite easy.
We don't require users to be registered to post on the forum, however, it is highly recommended. If you are registered you get these benefits:
- You can include a link (to a directly relevant website) with your post
- You can receive messages from other members without disclosing your email address
- You are kept up to date with new messages and replies
- You can make public tags on messages of interest to you
- You can upload a free banner advertisement
If you are not registered you cannot include a link with your message (and any links inserted directly into a message will be deleted), you also can't easily message or connect with other members.
Whether you are registered or not there are two methods to post in the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Forum:
- Post new messages
- Reply to current messages
Posting a new message starts a new conversation on a new topic. It is always best to post a new message and not a reply, if your message is not directly relevant to what you are reading.
To post a new message click "post new message" in the menu bar. Then simply complete the form with your message title (be interesting and descriptive) and your message, and select the best topic from the menu.
Try to use a descriptive title, a title of simple "help" hardly gives insight into your message and many won't bother reading it. Something like, "I need help with ... " or "Does anyone know how to..." would be much more effective. For the best readability use normal capitalization and make very short paragraphs.
If you are registered you can also include a link in the space provided under the message. If you are not registered you must provide your email address (it will NOT be published).
Please do not cut and paste long pieces of text of other websites (that is what links are for) and please do not post the same message more than once in the forum.
Messages cannot have "words" longer than 24 letters in them. This was originally done to prevent people from entering long lines of garbage causing formatting and readability problems. It also prevents most URL's (web addresses) from being put in messages. Short or long, URL's are not allowed in messages. To include a link, please register and put your link in special space for it.
Posting a new reply continuing an conversation that is already going on. Some conversations get quite long. 25 replies are shown on a page. To see the next 25 replies, you need to click to the next page. Before posting at reply it is best to see you have read all the replies.
Posting a reply is much like posting a new message. However, you don't have to select the topic. You are required to enter a title (a brief summary of your reply). This is different from other forums and is to provide nicer looking format (also it allows the administrator to convert your repy to a new message if it is more appropriate that way).
The same rules apply to links and email addresses for unregistered users, and posting duplicate replies.
For more information about posting links see the following section:
People looking to do some self-promotion with products or services
Our Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Community is open to everyone. Those with products or services to promote are as welcome as those who are just browsing or sharing their personal experiences. This section will give a little advice on how you can effectively do select promotion on the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism website.
First, please keep in mind that this forum is not intended to be a clone of other forums. We believe the differences can make it more effective than many other forums for all types of participants.
Important difference: Many other forums provide for a "signature line". This is commonly used to provide a spiffy quote and a link to one's website. The Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Forum does not provide signature lines.
More importantly, the link you can include with a message is not intended to be a "general" link. A link included with a new message or a reply must be directly relevant to the message or reply. ie: if you have a blog about "something" you should not include a link to your blog with every message and reply to your post. If you are making a post about Cost of Living in New York City and there is a post in your blog about that certainly include a link to that SPECIFIC post!
It is always a good idea to include a link to whatever website might be directly relevant to your post and provide the reader additional information on that topic. Be it your website or someone else's.
How is this better? Now you are thinking this negates everything you've read in all the ebooks about self promotion via forums. They all suggest you setup signature links to your website and make lots of posts.
The bottom line there is usually people making lots of incredibly boring, uninteresting, unrelated and repetitive posts just to get their signature link out as many times as possible.
The key is effective self promotion here is to be interesting and relevant. The more you participate in an interesting and relevant manner (relevant to the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Forum) the more the other members will see you as an expert. When they have the need for a product or service they will first look to those they feel are experts!
Much of the above has been telling you what not to do, ie: don't post a link to your home page with every message you post. There are three very significant methods to your options for self promotion here. Please take advantage of all three of them.
- Your profile. Your profile on the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism provides you the opportunity to tell a short story about yourself. Be interesting and compelling. You can also include a link to your blog and/or to your website. Make sure to include these as well as a short description of each. You can edit this information whenever you want. Everything you post is linked to your profile! Key tip: by making interesting posts people will check out your profile!
- Free advertising. We offer free banner ads (225 x 188 pixels) to all participants of the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Community. Simply upload your banner, add the url (you also need to submit it to our directory) and people will start seeing your ad. The display of banner ads are prorated based on your participation. The more you participate in the forum the more your ad will be shown.
- Be interesting! This is absolutely the most effective way to promote your products and services on the Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism website. You don't have to mention anything you do in your forum posts, because that will be covered by #1 and #2 above. Just participate with interesting tidbits of information, good questions, good answers to other people's questions. Tell us many stories about anything related to the topic and as you become an "exert" and "interesting member" you'll be first people look to when they are interested in whatever products or services you have to offer.
Detailed information on effect use of forum posting for internet marketing.
People looking to do promotion for others with products or services
If you've been hired to promote someone else's products or services here you have your work cut out for you. If you are simply making uninteresting, short posts with a link to your client's website you will have no success. Read the above section.
You might then find it is best to get your client to participate directly in our Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism Community.
People looking to promote stuff that has nothing to do with Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism or simply post a URL and never return.
This website is a community about Dubrovnik, Croatia Travel and Tourism. We have no interest in other topics (though we have a number of other forums that might fit your topic). RELEVANT is a key word here. If you have a message that is not related to the topic of this website, it is not welcome here.
A Note about Links
We ask that links you include with a forum post be directly related to the topic of your message. That means they should go to the specific page in a site that relates to your link, not a general home page. Some people would refer to these as "deep links". The objective is simply to make it as easy as possible for people to get additional information.
Additionally, we don't allow "tiny urls," "redirects," or "affliate links". You can read more about that: No redirects, no affiliate links.
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