Attracting users to the forum

Hey, I’d like to know why it gets so quiet in the forum every now and then.
There are plenty of people reading this, and things are pretty lively over on Facebook, too.
Can’t you find the topics you need here, or are you just not forum people?

If you’re coming here to browse through the patterns anyway, it makes sense to stop by the forum while you’re at it.

Would you maybe want to say something about this if you have a moment?
I’m just curious.
We actually already have quite a few topics where you can chime in if you’d like.

Does anyone have an idea on how we could attract more users from Facebook over here?

There are already quite a few forums on the internet dedicated to needlework. Most of them, however, are either run by well-known companies—Junghans Wolle runs one too, as far as I know—or are crammed full of advertising banners.
Here, there are no advertising banners, and you don’t have to buy any patterns to be allowed to post here. I find that very pleasant.

Generally speaking, a forum needs a certain amount of start-up time. A forum won’t suddenly start producing posts around the clock from one day to the next or within 4–7 weeks. It has to develop gradually, organically, so to speak.
And it’s also true that the Facebook page of crazypatterns has many fans, but those Facebook fans “don’t like to leave the house.” People who are logged into Facebook and are regularly active there tend to keep returning to Facebook, making it their virtual living room, so to speak.

Sure, things could be livelier here and more users could join in, but it’s really not all that few either.
There are forums out there on the internet where there are four posts a month or fewer, and in many of these small, quiet forums, the admin is almost the only user who writes anything at all.

In these very quiet forums, it may be that the forum operator meant too well at the beginning and perhaps created 10, 12, or even more subforums right from the start in order to cover every aspect of the topic. In my experience, that doesn’t work. It tends to put users off rather than invite them in.
There are eight subforums here, but I personally think that’s perfectly fine.

Maybe it would be worth considering an embroidery subforum at some point. Recently, as far as I’ve been able to observe, quite a few embroidery patterns have been added. Demand in the forum isn’t that high yet, but that will come too.

It is true, after all, that during the cold season, hobbies that you can do indoors in the warmth are definitely in demand. Although many crafters do keep busy all year round. But I’d still guess that the cold season will give the forum a boost. The Christmas business may not really be much of a factor for craft patterns, since you can buy patterns all year round.
but maybe now would be the time to start knitting, crocheting, and sewing for Christmas?

It’ll be fine :)

What do the other users who come by here more often think?