How many of you on this forum have ever taken notice of the Lock Icon - or other icons - positioned to the left of the URL
in the address bar of the site you are visiting?
My partner and I are working on our new website / forum project - and extremely few people know about it -
(which actually as it tuns out is a good thing for now at least).
WHY?
Because of those symbols (icons) which appear next to the URL of the website name in the address bar.
They can be "great" for some website / forum owners, but very damaging for others!
My partner and I "fit in" the latter mentioned.
We have recently looked at our first entry, e.g., pointing our browsers towards the "welcome" page of our new project.
No matter which browser we use - Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome, or Opera - the "lock icon" or " i " - etc., etc,
which appear next to the URL is derogatory to say the least. It could not be worse if one deliberately set out to discourage people from
visiting our site (and that is why I state above that it is a good thing practically no one knows about us, yet).
Even though we invested in an SSL Certificate, it is of no value - because the certificate is of a "grade" lowest available, apparently.
Yesterday I had a conversation with Tech Support at ENOM.com (an affiliate of Two Cows). They are one of the largest sellers of
Domain Names in the U.S. - and elsewhere. They also offer MANY other things website and forum owners need in order to have
a website/forum which will have at least some chance of being "accepted" by those individuals who are into becoming a MEMBER.
The conversation - and information provided by the tech guy - was an eye-opener for sure!
The conversation (and advice that came out of that conversation) left NO DOUBT that my partner and I will have to spend more
money on "proving" we are NOT the bad guys on the block than on some of the software we will be using to offer such things as
Audio / Video Chat for example.
However, that is the "price" one must pay for living in a world where no one trusts anyone; a world of "hackers", "malware artists",
virus attacks, and individuals who are potentially many times more often now to commit "cyber crimes" than to do a "good deed".
However, my partner and I have "gone beyond the point of no return" - might as well go the rest of way.
There is a tremendous competition awaiting anyone who ventures into creating and establishing a website;
and even MORE fierce competition when it comes to an individual/s who have launched a FORUM!
Kurt and I are convinced that the only hope of making it with our forum / website project is to try and make it totally unique to anything
else - and that pertains not only to the "theme" of the website, but to WHAT is offered in the way of "perks" to the individual/s who may
be considering becoming a MEMBER of the Forum / website.
If anyone is interested in the above, contact me and we will put YOU our Forum / Website "updates" list
DJ