Is TechExams dead?

TheFORCE

Whats going on people? Haven't been here for a few months maybe a year and this forum seems pretty dead to me. Where everyone go? 

dontstop

Definitely feels like something is missing since the make over. Not sure what it is. I also think Reddit and friends have started to bleed away some of the user-base. 

UnixGuy

It's a active! there is daily posts and interactions.

People move on and new people join

Good to have you back mate! @TheFORCE

scaredoftests

doesn't look dead to me...

TheFORCE

Hey man @UnixGuy maybe I haven't been around long enough lol but seems like all these changes drove people away. I'll make some more observations i guess.

TheFORCE

dontstop said:

Definitely feels like something is missing since the make over. Not sure what it is. I also think Reddit and friends have started to bleed away some of the user-base. 

I don't think its Reddit. Reddit existed already before the change.  Something else drove people away. This forum was like a community with many dedicated followers. 

LonerVamp

If anything, I judge sites by the URL. If I were just being directed here by a Google search on a cert, I'd just assume this site was a community centered just around infosec institute, rather than all "tech exams."

This place is certainly not dead, though. And while I personally think there has been less new stuff to comment on, I can't know that for sure as I don't know the post counts per day or anything (minus spam).

cyberguypr

I haven't done any scientific measurement but my impression is that it has slowed down considerably after the revamp.

MrsWilliams

cyberguypr said:

I haven't done any scientific measurement but my impression is that it has slowed down considerably after the revamp.

  

Finally an honest "MOD" answer. 

If you look at 9 out of 10 of the last recent posts, most of those people have less than 125 posts. That means, they haven't been an active member that long. Which could solidify the fact of the original poster. ... People aren't active or left or it's dead, whatever that means. 

Just because someone (new) posts a question doesn't necessarily take away from the discussion at hand. Of course we should indirectly expect a mod to be active  . They don't count in the activity monitor that doesn't exist. 

MrsWilliams

TheFORCE said:

Whats going on people? Haven't been here for a few months maybe a year and this forum seems pretty dead to me. Where everyone go? 

Somebody flagged you and you have 2,244 posts      
It's a tough (sensitive) crowd around here LOL @TheFORCE

cyberguypr

I count my posts here as "professional development" 

TheFORCE

NetworkNewb said:

Looks like the drop in activity is during the weekends and the site is busy during weekdays.  Get back to work people!!! 

 drop in user base not just activity.  Look at those active users.... I remember back in the day before the forum change this site had 300+ logged in users and 500 users. At times the total was over 1000. now its only 120 at max. Don't if that active users is correct. 

I noticed it earlier when i logged in when it said 10 users total, 7 guests. That means only 3 registered users signed on.

TheFORCE

MrsWilliams

TheFORCE said:

NetworkNewb said:

Looks like the drop in activity is during the weekends and the site is busy during weekdays.  Get back to work people!!! 

 drop in user base not just activity.  Look at those active users.... I remember back in the day before the forum change this site had 300+ logged in users and 500 users. At times the total was over 1000. now its only 120 at max. Don't if that active users is correct. 

I noticed it earlier when i logged in when it said 10 users total, 7 guests. That means only 3 registered users signed on.

I like what you did hear! Awesome!

I was going to ask the difference between a view and a visit. I am on YouTube right now giving peoples views  and not commenting LOL. You see what I just did? 
\
 Active user means someone logged in? I've logged in and out about three times in the past 45 minutes. So, I am going to assume that each time I log in and out it counts. I am not going to fight this battle, I think @TheFORCE is equipped to do it. I'll just come back and read comments. 

TheFORCE

MrsWilliams said:

TheFORCE said:

NetworkNewb said:

Looks like the drop in activity is during the weekends and the site is busy during weekdays.  Get back to work people!!! 

 drop in user base not just activity.  Look at those active users.... I remember back in the day before the forum change this site had 300+ logged in users and 500 users. At times the total was over 1000. now its only 120 at max. Don't if that active users is correct. 

I noticed it earlier when i logged in when it said 10 users total, 7 guests. That means only 3 registered users signed on.

I like what you did hear! Awesome!

I was going to ask the difference between a view and a visit.
\
 Active user means someone logged in? I've logged in and out about three times in the past 45 minutes. So, I am going to assume that each time I log in and out it counts. I am not going to fight this battle, I think @TheFORCE is equipped to do it. I'll just come back and read comments. 

would be nice to have a baseline of activity and user logins and visits and new users registration before the forum change and after the forum change. I'm not here to fight or pick battles.  I'm here because this community helped me in some many ways get to where I'm today. And want to give back and help people the same way others helped me. But if the means of communication is not usable then it makes it hard for people to be active.  I used to come here daily and was active daily just look at the stats of the people from way back.

Meggo

@TheFORCE what phone and OS is that? The mobile version on my phone hides everything you're showing in your screen grab. Thanks for helping us get this sorted!

Pseudonym

Rebranding as an infosec forum hasn't helped. I don't work in infosec and all I see on the frontpage are infosec related certs. I'm actually planning on doing OSCP at some point, but I don't really feel like I 'fit in' here any more.

TheFORCE

Pseudonym said:

Rebranding as an infosec forum hasn't helped. I don't work in infosec and all I see on the frontpage are infosec related certs. I'm actually planning on doing OSCP at some point, but I don't really feel like I 'fit in' here any more.

Thats a good point.  This was a forum for all IT certifications not just infosec or community of infosec Institute.  I had never heard of infosec Institute before they got Techexams.

E Double U

I wasn't too thrilled about the initial changes, but I think the main reason I am less active at the moment is simply because I'm on a small cert break. I have been pedal to the metal on certs every year since 2013 and after completing two earlier this year I have decided to take a break. I caught up on some leisure reading and language studies. I still take a brief look from time to time, but just haven't had any threads jump at me that I wanted to respond to nor have I had any topics that I wanted to create a post for. When my studies pick back up next year I'm sure I will be a regular contributor again 

Infosec_Sam

I would agree that we're in a bit of a transitional period right now. That being said, we're still a very active community, thanks to all the folks who stuck around through the transition and continued to help others with career/certification questions! I've been working on some ways we can bring more people into the community and incentivize more engagement, so stay tuned for that as well!

And of course, I'm always open to constructive feedback, so thank you all for voicing your opinions. I know the whole "We value your feedback" line tends to smell like BS, but I really do want to help this community grow! I found a ton of helpful discussions here when I was going for the Sec+, and my goal is to provide value back into TechExams in every way I can. I've got your backs!

TheFORCE

@E Double E  i did the same thing. 

advanex1

So, I've been a member since 2011 but not active for quite some time. A lot of that had to do with the re-brand. I wasn't sure if it was still a forum site or if they had shifted everything over to paid InfoSec training offerings. I was kind of turned off by that just by taking a glance at the new site. Just giving my 2-cents for what it's worth to the moderating/site administration team for future improvements.

I think it's still pretty active though. I still recognize a lot of names. Was confused when I saw chrisone not have a gajillion CCNP level certs on his name anymore.

yoba222

Well forums are living breathing things that depend on their user base as well as their environment. Sometimes the user base is toxic and this is why the forum dies (remember the dice.com forums?). Other times a (greedy) outside entity buys their way in and witlessly shocks the environment, causing the user base to go extinct (Yahoo answers). I'm thinking techexams will end up like in Networknewb's nifty change curve. But I can see how "infosec" could be off-putting to non-infosec IT and software folks.

mikey88

I came here for useful information about passing certifications, and I've stuck around to help others with the same. I don't care if the background is grey, white or what the title of the forum is.

shochan

Maybe there is less "spam", "d*uMp$", 1 member posts on here...sometimes those are fun to call out those "like taking shortcuts" folks...I agree, it seems like a decline in new posts on a daily basis as I remember on TE site.  It definitely has taken some time to find out where everything is, in comparison to the old site.  I guess we all liked that HTML 1.0 HTTP interface a whole lot, heheh.

nisti2

The forum is not dead. :P

Jon_Cisco

What I have noticed on the CCNA and Microsoft forms is a lack of technical activity.

I mostly participate in the career posts and find a lot of value in the opinions of this community.

UnixGuy

Jon_Cisco said:

What I have noticed on the CCNA and Microsoft forms is a lack of technical activity.

I mostly participate in the career posts and find a lot of value in the opinions of this community.

Do you think that the demand for Cisco certs now vs 5-10 yrs ago has something to do with it?

I noticed that both cloud and security certs are a lot more popular in the job market

UnixGuy

MrsWilliams said:

cyberguypr said:

I haven't done any scientific measurement but my impression is that it has slowed down considerably after the revamp.

  

Finally an honest "MOD" answer. 

....

Just because someone (new) posts a question doesn't necessarily take away from the discussion at hand. Of course we should indirectly expect a mod to be active  . They don't count in the activity monitor that doesn't exist. 

That's your personal opinion, which I respect, but I disagree with it.

 A 'mod' is a user, we all joined here to ask questions about careers/certs, so we use the forums regularly. 

TheFORCE

UnixGuy said:

Jon_Cisco said:

What I have noticed on the CCNA and Microsoft forms is a lack of technical activity.

I mostly participate in the career posts and find a lot of value in the opinions of this community.

Do you think that the demand for Cisco certs now vs 5-10 yrs ago has something to do with it?

I noticed that both cloud and security certs are a lot more popular in the job market

I don't think its that man. I think legitimately people have stopped coming here. Here is another screenshot. look at how many people are "browsing". Also look at who is on the top 3 of this weeks leader board is points. I have no idea how those points are calculated but for me to get top 3 for the week by only posting today... that should tell you something about activity. 

Jon_Cisco

I don't personally think it is because those certs are no longer of interest. I just think the focus of the forum shifted and so they naturally fell out of favor.

Since I don't have any interest in the infosec sections I really can't say how active they are and what level of feedback the users are receiving. My feedback is really just a perspective from an older member.