Ozzu slowing down

Great to see you back here again Typhon.

Then there are 2 wierd people here: I don't use facebook/twitter signin option either (except like once when I did it to try it out mostly).

Thanks SB. I was taking a python class last semester, but had to withdraw from school. This semester Im in an XML class, and next semester Ill be taking a PHP class using some Framework. Im pretty well versed in PHP but have never used a framework so I will actually learn something.

Any idea what framework you are going to be using typhon? As I mentioned earlier I am currently using CodeIgniter for projects and really like it. Another popular one I have heard of is Symfony.

Check out Yii and Akelos as well. Heard of others using them, I was looking at either Yii or CodeIgnitor for one of my projects, haven't decided which yet.

I have no idea what they will be teaching. I will be trying to find out BEFORE next semester so that I can maybe play around a little before I am in class.

Actually this sounds like a really cool idea. Moderator blogs would be awesome. There are ways that I haven't really kept up on my end as a tutorial writer. I'm sure I could write a good tutorial or two, it's just a matter of finding the time. Have had 21 credits each semester for the past year.

As far as facebook / twitter - social marketing wouldn't be a bad idea. If someone uses the quick-authenticate facebook option, there's a way for them to allow ozzu facebook-posts to show up on their wall. You could set up a bot to automatically post to an ozzu facebook profile that maybe posts links to whatever hot topics there are. When a person authenticates through their facebook account - it also "likes" your ozzu facebook profile. Then your ozzu posts show up on their wall for them or their friends to "like". Could bring in some extra users and it fits within the target demographic.

Also, you could look into an authentication that's more decentralized. Like OAuth or OpenID. This keeps you from being restricted to facebook users only (even though facebook pretty much covers everyone...but it would work as another option).
What about stumbleupon? This is considered a social media platform, but has a huge benefit over other social medias. Stumbleupon users tend to stay on a stumbled page for more time - an avg. of 72 seconds. The bounce rate for stumbleupon visitors is on avg only 7%. Basically this means a higher chance of conversion. Take a look at the infographic for some more insight:
http://agbeat.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/stumble-upon-infographic.png

How can we improve on our foundation aside from social media? Hopefully I'm not putting BWM on the spot, but how well are ads working with conversion? Is it a viable option to increase the marketing ad campaign budget?

How about us, BWM. You asked if we had suggestions...but what would you like to see the users of this form doing to contribute to the forums conversion rates?

Sorry it took so long to respond, I have actually been working on another site using OAuth which facebook's API does use, as well as Twitter and other platforms. When I use it to authenticate a user I can specify the permissions I would like to request from the user. I was not aware of a way to send a command through the API to have the user like your page though, I could have easily overlooked that. If you know of a way please do let me know

I do think social media is a good way to keep users coming back to Ozzu, and I do plan to integrate that more into Ozzu on its next release. I feel it makes it easier for people to login, as well as to keep the coming back and staying engaged in the site.

As far as the users, I would love to see more tutorials posted. I would also love to see users post more "headline" worthy topics that other members would be interested in as those all get posted on the Facebook and Twitter feeds to keep people coming back.

Nothing extremely interesting has happened in the SEO scene. Also, it's difficult to find the login link on this site: go to forums, go to topic, go to bottom of the page, ...

Actually you can click on the red "main menu" button at the top right of the site (just below the logo) and a pop-out menu will appear with the option to login.