Suggestions

To build a strong forum...

adfinder23 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:06:38 GMT

In my opinion, as a forum user for several topics, this forum is severely lacking. A good forum needs experienced people, regular users, stickied topics, and many of all of those things. This forum doesn't really have those at all.

It has many sections with many unanswered questions. I can go into a section and the 5 most recent threads have gone unanswered, and some of those are months old. Maybe it's because the questions are already answered elsewhere, but maybe not, or maybe a search was not helpful and they had to ask. And if they are left unanswered because it's a common question, then such things should be placed in a Stickied-Topic or FAQ at the top of that forum. There's not very many threads period, so there is already a lack of information.

I've asked a question that has gone unanswered for several days. A question about macronutrient percentages and how those percentages are measured. Apparently it's a common question, because I found it asked elsewhere after looking some more. However, the question is still unanswered in my opinion because the answer given in the other threads were different. One time it's said to measure it in weight, another time it's said to be measured in volume. A definitive stickied FAQ would be helpful for this topic considering it's often asked, and apparently not clear in the materials that come with the NT test.

So how can this forum become successful? Well, it's not my place to decide how Dr. Mercola runs his business. I respect him and greatly appreciate him and his team's efforts at bringing information to the people so that they can lead healthy lives. And I understand all of this carries a heavy cost. However, I think this forum should be free. The NT forum can be limited to those who have paid for NT testing, but once they've done that it should be free.

Why? Because free means a larger and more consistent body of contributors. If you come to a forum for help and the forum is small, has few threads, no helpful FAQs, very few contributors, and your questions go unanswered are you going to stick around? Not me, it defeats the purpose. Would you pay monthly to remain a member of a forum you find unhelpful? Definitely not.

So where is the incentive to stay a member? I don't think it's here yet, and as such I think it will keep the forum stagnant. If I don't find the forum useful, I won't come to it. I don't find the answers I'm looking for, so I can't become learned and help others when they have questions. They don't find answers, so they don't stay and they don't become learned and help others either. I'm certainly not going to pay to be part of such a forum, so even if in a few months I've gained knowledge and experience about the NT diet I can't help anyone because I'm no longer a member of the forum because I stopped as soon as my first free month was done. So what I see is people pay for NT, use their first free month and then quit (if they remember to) because the forum is too lacking to warrant the price. Then the forum continues without ever gaining a significant population of helpful contributors.

It's the population of contributors that eventually lead to a useful forum as they answer questions, new users see answers and can pass them on to the next new user, users see questions repeatedly asked and begin building FAQs that then become stickied topics, etc. That's why I think this forum should be free to all those who have paid for the NT testing. Even invite the old members who quit after their first free month, especially since they'll be in a better position to be helpful members since they've been on the program for some time. Then after the forum becomes strong and useful, then perhaps charging for it would make sense, but only if it doesn't encourage too many people to leave the forum. Perhaps it could still remain free for the extra helpful members.

As it is, I don't find the forum very helpful and I definitely do not see it being anywhere near worthy enough to pay for. Yet.

I don't mean to offend or presume I know what's going on behind the scenes in regards to costs, profits, etc. I only mean to make a suggestion that could possibly lead to a strong and helpful community of people that can help each other lead healthy lives. A forum with practically only one participant (thank you, Glen), does not make a forum. It makes a Q and A where one guy has to do all of the work and still resulting in lesser results, because he can't answer everything, doesn't want to repeatedly answer the same question, and isn't always around. Forums are meant to be large bodies of people who together become an educated community. No one person knows it all, but together they can educate and learn and solve. If it's successful enough, it might be worth a monthly payment. And a larger forum, could mean a lower price. I don't know how many remain paying members, but a large body of consistent, low-price paying members is better than a small body of inconsistent paying members. But that'll take time and based on the age of some of the threads I've seen and how small the forum still seems to be, becoming a free forum might be the best way.

Annoying pop-ups telling you to subscribe when you try to read articles

warning — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:16:49 GMT

Hands up who finds them annoying? I use to search with Google, like keyword site:mercola.com. All the time I get this, and I am pretty annoyed by them. I am already a subscriber to the newsletter, though it's the same as viewing the content by RSS.

So when it tells me to write in my email address, I just use to write ***@mercola.com. I have a great respect to Dr. Mercola and his website, but honestly, seeing the annoying pop-ups this is the first thing come into my mind. I encourage you who are annoyed with it to do the same and we will see when and how they will improve their web marketing.

How about contracting a professional web marketer to your team?

Difficult Layout ... too many categories

Squarepusher — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:17:02 GMT

Reduce the total categories down to 8 more general ones, and eliminate subcategories. This will make things much more managable.

As a casual user of the site, I like to be able to log on and quickly scan all topics for interest. This simply cannot happen when currently there are nearly 40 different subcatories/categories. I think in this case, less is more... at least until a heavy traffic warrants, which at now it does not.

Technical

NinonPerretGentil — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:14:36 GMT

Please, please change the MUSIC.

My first time on the site and got almost blasted away! Very yelow and red.

Make it more BLUE AND GRAY, like Mercola, simple and warmly trusted.

Just like the colors of the site itself.

Thank you , Ninon.

Allow all posts w/out approval delay?

Suzanne1 — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:19:07 GMT

Hi,
I really appreciate this forum. In fact, this is the reason I signed up for this package.

One thing that makes the forum rather stagnant is the long delay to get your post, posted. It's really impossible to have a dialog with another member or a live discussion.

Is there any possibility the security could be reviewed?
Thanks again for providing this forum.

Missing NT intro info

tcookie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:07:49 GMT

I have received only tips, no added info. So many questions and conflicting info.

Depke says “There should have been a video for you to view to explain the process followed with links to a gluten article as well as gluten recommendations along with the introduction to daily tips to work toward your NT. If you did not get this please reply so I can make sure you get this information.”

I asked for the same info 3 days ago, also I have been promised return phone calls from customer service. Nothing yet !!

Are tips based on our type or not - sjoy says they are. Customer service says no and you get only tips.

NT programming seems to be a work in progress!!* not what we were led to expect.

Place a search area

jcinnp — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:45:59 GMT

Hello,

I would like to see a search area in place so we don't have to read every note and could search things like "supplements".

Just a thought,

Thanks,

Joanne

Disappointed in test depth

catvet — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:57:16 GMT

Oops......submitted last post without any discussion :)

I just took the NT test for the first time, after waiting weeks for this, and I, like many others according to the feedback I've read, was disappointed in the lack of depth in the questions. It honestly didn't seem very detailed or long enough to truly tag someone's nutritional type.

Some of the questions just seemed obsurd, like how do you feel after drinking fruit juice on an empty stomach? Honestly, I thought most of us should not drink fruit juice because of the sugar content. I can truly say I haven't done that in probably 20+ years so how can I answer that other than by guessing?

Most of the answers did not seem broad enough to where I was comfortable with my answers. How can this possibly be accurate?

For example, I have been having a whole food shake with whey protein and raw egg for breakfast for weeks now and none of the choices even came close to that. None of the lunch choices came close to what I usually eat either ( I usually skip an actual lunch and prefer to snack all afternoon).

It was very unclear if we were to pick what we would prefer to eat from the choices or if we were to pick the one that closely matches what we do actually eat (in which case the choices were very limited). Believe it or not, there is a big difference between preferences and reality for most of us...due to time constraints, spouses, choices, etc.

I was a bit surprised that I was a protein type but I admit I don't know anything about how the questions are interpreted. I am not thrilled with the lack of variety of vegetables on the protein food list and I adore vegetables.

I don't want this to be the huge waste of money that it seems right now so I would really appreciate some feedback here. What am I missing in the information I received from this?

Thanks in advance for any feedback I receive.

Improve the NT forum

FloridaDon — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:28:53 GMT

Put a "button" on the Mercola.com web site, like the "Health Blog" button so that it could be "clicked" on to go to this forum.

Since it is a "paid" forum, you could have the "button" "grayed out" or not work if the email address of the patient on your web site does not match your email database of patients that are members of your NT forum group of paid patients.

It would make it easier to get to the NT forum, while on the Dr M web site. Of course we can always add the forum to our favorites list and get to it that way; but if it was on your web site it might generate some new patients? Just a thought.

Have a Great Day & Thanks,

Don

What if you are a vegetarian?

Sally Smith — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:49:11 GMT

The nutritional typing test did not seem to cater for vegetarians. Is there a vegetarian test?

Add Next and Previous buttons

Harleys mom — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:31:42 GMT

I have spent quite a bit of time today reviewing the existing posts/threads. I am using the 'Next' button to page through all posts in a topic. It would be easier to continue if the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons were at the end of each thread. Currently, they are currently only at the beginning and a user must page back to the top to go to the 'Next' button.

Special Post from Mercola?

Birdlady — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:59:41 GMT

I would love to see a post from Mercola once a month describing new foods or ideas that he has learned over that past month, that he thought would help us with our new lifestyles. It would be nice to have a little more involvement on his end with the people who are taking the time to change their diet and lifestyles completely.

Now I am not saying that those who buy his other products are not important, but anyone who chooses to do the metabolic type dieting is in it for the long haul in my eyes. We aren't looking for a quick fix, hocus pocus diet or a miracle pill. Obviously he cannot visit the site each week since he is a rather busy person, but I think once a month would be a nice little addition to the wealth of information Glen provides us.

Thanks for this forum because without it, I would truly be at a loss! I would have made a few steps forward but 10 steps back. However, this forums helps me to learn from other's experiences and teaches me what to avoid.

Dana

Provide Recipes & more sample meal plans rather than rely on contributors

geoffrey_203 — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:54:17 GMT

It would be EXTREMELY helpful if Mercola.com provided more sample menu's along with recipes per metabolic type. Since a distinct ratio is advised per metabolic type then if 3 or more sample menu plans were provided to give an example of how it's done, it would go a long way versus asking members to contribute when barely anyone does.

cookie cutter answers

nancy_17 — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:53:42 GMT

Many of the answers to many of the questions seem like they are coming from a book or a script. They do not have any real substance. The answer to my question about reconcling the protein diet with the recommended diet for high cholesterol began with something like "this is not the forum to discuss specific symptoms or get in a conflict with your doctor". Well, then, what's the point of having the forum? I asked a specific question and got a generic answer that didn't help me at all. Practically every thread ends with 1 answer from Glen. I am used to forums that are give and take between the members-you get varying opinions from a variety of people and learn about other people's experiences. On this forum, it seems you only get one answer from one person that sounds like it came out of a book rather than being based on experience. I want to know how other people are doing on this way of eating. I want to hear it from them, not the moderator or appointed "expert". This forum feels like a formal lecture or an advertisement rather than a bunch of people having a conversation.

Perhaps more people would participate if they didn't get the warning that their comments need to be approved by a moderator first. Other moderated groups I belong to don't have that warning, they just expect people to read the rules and then if someone becomes offensive, they remove the offensive message and block that person from participating.

feedback

DebbieBK — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 18:20:55 GMT

I also am looking for the answers to the questions I sent.