That certainly is a considerable increase in traffic if the figures are correct.  To me that would seem like all the more reason to call attention to important articles and messages on the News forum.  I also agree that CureZone has changed in many ways and the lack of deserved ratings is one of them.  I don't think it can be explained fully by a difference in traffic, nor do I believe that deserving messages are being overlooked due to them being  mere "opinion" in most instances.  Too many of them are well written and backed up with good research.

When it comes to lack of alerts these days, while some of that may be due to a different traffic makeup I think that much of it may be due to members frustration over seeing their alerts and their better posts being ignored.  Several people have told me that they no longer bother using the alert button any more because it does not seem to have any effect.

Perhaps another reason for fewer alerts is that there is less participation in many forums by members who once gave the alerts than there once was.  From what I have observed and been told that is due to another change I have seen in CureZone - prolonged debates in support forums which take up much of a forum page and seem to deteroriate into personal conflicts and be more about being proven right or at least getting in the last word than about offering a different opinion and letting a single post or two stand or fall on its own merits.  When debates like that are cross posted to multiple support forums they are especially off-putting.  See for example the ongoing debate in the Zapper support forum which has spilled over to multiple other forums the original message was cross posted to.

Anyway, for the sake of comparison let's look at this New forum page from 4 years ago:

http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=237&c=0&p=50

It doesn't look to me like much of the new traffic is going to the News forum, given the number of message views 4 years ago.  If anything, there was more traffic in the News forum four years ago than there is today.  I am not sure where all the new "voyeurs" may be going, but it does not appear to be the News forum is getting their share and I would again submit that part of the reason is the lack of deserved ratings for good messages.  I alos note that on the page from four years ago there were no fewer than 16 rated messages which originated in the News forum from R to RRR, RN and BSA.

By comparison, today's current News forum page contains only two messages which originated in the forum and which received a single R rating.  Now, I realize that there have been times when ratings were given out perhaps a bit more generously than they should have been (for example, at one time all one had to do was post "Fire the Grid" in the subject line and a BSA was likely to ensue).  However, that does not appear to be the case on the page from four years ago I refer to and to me the idea of two single R ratings among all the good messages on the page today is rediculously low.

I submit that our website was being better served by ratings then than it is now - and would point out that a great many messages are on the forum today which are not at all just someone's opinion.  In my opinion, ratings by an unbiased moderator on a public forum should carry more weight than ratings in a private forum which in many instances could be construed to be forum owners just giving theirselves dubious pats on the back.

BTW, don't construe my opinions here as being aimed at you.  I have long admired how you have worked tirelessly, most often behind the scenes with precious little credit, on behalf of CureZone and its members - and I will forever cherish the advice you have given me along the way as well as the actions you have taken to get rid of spammers.  Hopefully the new spammer I pointed out in my original thread will soon become one of the many you have taken care of.

All the best,

DQ