What Features & Functions do you think users would expect to be offered in a “Member Profile/Preferences”??
Background:
My website provides articles and other content, and I would like to make my website more “interactive” to keep people coming back and to offer a more personalized experience.
Since I am new to web development and building things a step at a time, I’m trying to be “strategic” in the features and functions I offer next.
I have just completed an “Add a Comment to an Article” module, combined with a way for users to “Create an Account” and “Log-In/Log-Out”. (The account they create is just: First Name, Email, and Password)
Next, I would like to offer an extension of this called “Build Your Profile”.
I have lots of ideas, but would be curious to hear what others think might be attractive to existing Members or to Visitors deciding whether to become a Member.
Because many people already have established profiles on places like Facebook and Twitter, I think you should consider how you can integrate with these services such as the Facebook social graph. We are doing that more and more with phpLD.
Abraham Lincoln said, “You can’t fool all the people all the time”. I think “please” is a good word to substitute for “fool” in a paraphrase. No matter how you set it up, some people will like it and others will find fault. Customize your site profile to be relevant to your site content and make it one that you would find easy and enjoyable to fill out if you were a new member.
Analyze profiles you have completed at other social media sites (such as the one here) and choose the elements that you found most pleasing and useful. For instance:
Will you allow avatars and if so what size and format?
Will you allow your members to link to their websites? If so, how many?
Will you allow links to other social media pages such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter?
Are birthdays or join dates relevant to their membership?
Are personal details such as location, occupation, and education relevant?
Are interests such as hobbies and likes/dislikes relevant to your site?
I think it is also important to make most profile details optional and also to allow your members the option of either making their information visible to your community or keeping it private.
Yes optional details are a plus. There is often nothing worse than being coerced into filling out 50 fields of information, simply to post on a blog you like. I also like for profiles to include interesting, yet relevant, personal information: perhaps a link to his/her site, interests, etc.
This thread isn’t about registration; it’s about creating a useful and enjoyable profile for those who do. Please keep your comments on topic so DoubleDee gets the help she has requested.