We believe that, pound for pound, Ninja Post is the best forum software. Speed and power are combined within a lightweight framework. Threads update in real time, like a chat so the user does not need to constantly refresh the page to see if new items have been posted. Speed, elegance, and power trump an endless array of features. It’s true that Ninja Post doesn’t have every feature under the sun, but it does have the most essential features for users in your community to engage with one another.

A lightweight framework that is fast, nimble, and powerful

Can get the job done, but not in the most elegant way

• Visit http://forum.ninjapost.com. Do you understand how to register?
• Do you feel comfortable registering for the site?
• Would you prefer a more traditional log in/registration system even if it’s more cumbersome?
• Are you able to compose a test thread?
• Are you able to post a reply to a thread?
• Please share any additional feedback/comments you might have.

The feedback we received was insightful, well detailed, and plentiful. We received 19 comments altogether, which exceeded my expectations. In recent months, most of the feedback we get has come from site admins, so it was exciting to get feedback from end users for a change.

Some users expressed concern about using Ninja Post’s current log in and registration system which relies on existing account to register for the forum. Despite a warning message at the top of the forum’s home page which tries to assuage concerns that end users might have, several users still perceived the system to be insecure or that “their info would end up everywhere.” At the same time, other users recognized the convenience of authenticating with an existing account. “I found it very 1-2-3 easy to register, I believe simple is best,” said one reviewer. Even though the feedback is mixed, it’s still very useful to know what individual users think about certain design choices.

Read the full review »

A snippet from one of my favorites reviews:

There is a broader trend that web apps must be simple to use in order to succeed, and I think this trend should apply to forum software. There is a great opportunity for a forum solution that is simple, modern, and elegant and that’s what I’m striving to achieve with Ninja Post.

Read the full interview »

Chances are that your forum will primarily host conversations about your product and other topics of general interest to your community. However, during the course of these conversations it’s possible that someone could speak ill about your product. (Gasp!) There are two potential scenarios: there’s the raving lunatic scenario where a crazy person comes to your site and starts acting a fool. Then there’s the more common scenario when someone expresses a legitimate gripe.

Ninja Post’s moderation tools are designed to deal with the extreme case, the raving lunatic scenario. When someone engages in libel, their posts can be removed, their account can be banned, and their IP address can be turned over to authorities.

In a more common case, the legitimate gripe scenario, a customer might come to your Ninja Post forum with a complaint. Perhaps it’s an unfounded or unwarranted complaint in your eyes. But to them it seems like a legitimate complaint and they’ve come to you seeking resolution.

Although some website owners shudder at the thought of someone airing “dirty laundry” on their own site, here’s the rub: people are going to talk about your product or service anyway so why not hold the conversation on your turf? At least your privy to the conversation and have the opportunity to set the record straight.

Chances are, if someone comes to you with a complaint, he or she wants to be “won back.” When your customers explain why they’re upset, and you acknowledge their point of view, everyone can benefit. Mediating complaints in a public forum is not for every problem. However, it is useful for many problems, especially more trivial ones. And when a site owner can employ his or her happy customers to act as his proxy in such matters it is a powerful testament to his or her business.

Worse, once users make it to your site, they often vanish without a trace. Ninja Post message board software mitigates this scenario by making your website more engaging, more like a Borders or Barnes & Noble. It’s not hard to conceive of a message board that:

• Anchors your social media strategy;
• Allows you to optimize customer acquisition costs;
• Keeps users coming back to your site; and
• Helps you develop stronger customer relationships

That’s exactly what Ninja Post is designed to do. Then again, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what Ninja Post can do…

(Actually, this photo was part of a Fark.com Photoshop contest. More background at Snopes.com.)

Ninja Post does the same thing for your website (minus the coffee shop). It provides a forum to interact with your users and lets them interact with one another. Customer feedback enhances product development. Visitors become fans. All this translates into increased page views, more time spent on your site, more revenue, and happier customers.

Ninja Post leverages social networks like Facebook and Twitter to unify your social media strategy. Threads update in real time like a chat, and the design is elegant and easy to brand. Ninja Post is hosted in the cloud so setup is painless. We’ll integrate it with your URL but do the heavy lifting on the back end to keep your forum running fast.

Ninja Post is especially keen to partner with other entrepreneurs who share this sentiment. If your company can benefit from Ninja Post, let us know.

The full quote and YouTube video follow:

I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, “Okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.”

I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal. I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried.

I knew that that would haunt me every day, and so, when I thought about it that way it was an incredibly easy decision. If you can project yourself out to age 80 and sort of think, “What will I think at that time?” it gets you away from some of the daily pieces of confusion.

Forum software can be a resource hog. If you’re hosting your own forum, it can slow down (or sometimes crash) the rest of your site. Since Ninja Post is a cloud-based service that integrates with your URL, it not only ensures that your forum keeps moving quickly but it frees up resources on your own server to ensure that other aspects of your site load rapidly too.

Instead of saying that Ninja Post is insanely fast, we say that it is Usain-ly fast.

Plus it’s a great incentive to get users to try Ninja Post in the first place, especially if there is a small prize up for grabs. Once users try your Ninja Post forum and get a sense for how fun and interactive it is, we expect them to revisit your site on a regular basis.