 Change the name [message #19777] |
Wed, 01 September 2004 04:44  |
freephile
Messages: 5
Registered: April 2002
Location: Newburyport
Karma: 0
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As Microsoft proves, marketing is more important than software quality if the goal is to get as many users as possible.
I know that FUDForum is better software than phpBB, but when I tried to sell it to my boss and other decision makers, they chose phpBB. I pressed for the reason why they would choose inferior software, and it really came down to the fact that they didn't like the name 'FUDForum'.
I have to agree with their opinion of the name. In the English language FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. FUD is the tactic used by those in power who try to distract opponents from real issues and the truth when the truth would otherwise defeat them in a contest. I am sure that Ilya and Makie are not trying to create software to spread more FUD. In fact, free software and open discussions are exactly the opposite of FUD.
Even if you don't know what FUD stands for in English, it doesn't sound good in English. It rhymes with the word 'dud' which means defective, and 'crud' which means dirt, and 'mud' which is saturated (wet) soil. If you pronounce the letters, then it is synonymous with Fu*k You D which is the biggest swear phrase in the language. 
Please, please, for the sake of expanding the user-base of your great software, change the name to something more appealing.
I haven't checked these names, and I'm not even saying they're any good, but a quick list of suggestions:
*AAAForum
*fanForum
*fantasticForum
*myForum
*phpForum
*speedBoard
*incrediBoard
*ezBoard
*all-a-Board
Thanks,
Greg
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| The name does matter... [message #19954 is a reply to message #19777] |
Sat, 18 September 2004 22:15  |
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Wild_Cat
Messages: 144
Registered: November 2002
Location: Odessa, Ukraine
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Wow! A courageous speech!
To speak against the name of the creation even subconsciously raises the creator against the person, first reaction would naturally be hostility. I've recently changed my name and my mother, very understanding person, at first reacted bad - I bet since I deny the name she gave me. I suppose it can be taken somewhat like this...
Yet, I am taking the risk to second this suggestion, hoping that authors will understand that only ones who truly care would speak about such delicate things...
For me, the current name had never been the problem because I run it on a non-profit thematic site. Yet, its ture that when I tell webmasters what forum software I ran it on, they are hearing this name for the first time. And they are giggling, because for non-english speaker it sounds at first place like "food" - not a serious name at all (not to mention quite really serious associations for English-speakers named by freephile, I see truth in it as a lignuist). And the name matters for the first impression to the point that many people wouldn't even dig deeper. I found it only because I was stubbornly looking for free sofware supporting threads and looking more or less nice! What do I find out now? Everybody knows Invision PowerBoard, nobody knows FUDforum  which is not loosing a single point to the first named! Unfair!!!
And you forum deserves the best acknowlegement!
It doesn't mean you have to take a name of vanity like BestForum, myForum or stuff, but a decent name could be chosen. I would already come up with something more representative like
SmartForum
or..
PROforum
this one would be great indeed, the more that it TRULY reflects the quality of your sofware and yet doesn't sound boastfully at all.
It IS a matter of time for such decision to mature, of course, but if you ever get decided at least to consider this (OK, I see you've just bought a special domain name...) - well, you can make a contest among your faithful users and who knows, they may come up with something you will really like, may be even better than the current one, and may be it will really reflect on your prestige and gains accordingly? The contest can even be anonymous (in your PMs) - as for me, should I make the best suggestion, I don't care for credits, the more that best names would possibly be proposed more than once and may be they will only give you the idea for your own new name...
Well, at least don't be angry with us for our best impulses of recognition and wish for better fate and fame for your software as far as we may judge it best...
Lady of Avalon
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| Re: The name does matter... [message #19980 is a reply to message #19954] |
Mon, 20 September 2004 20:49 |
Ilia
Messages: 13241
Registered: January 2002
Karma: 0
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I actually like the name, plus changing the name after years of use is a bad idea because we'd loose all the name recognition that was painstainkly built since day 1.
I like the name because despite the conotations of FUD, I haven't met a person who didn't remember it after hearing it after 2-3 times.
The name is catchy and that's good.
FUDforum Core Developer
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| Re: Change the name [message #20253 is a reply to message #20250] |
Tue, 05 October 2004 14:52 |
Ilia
Messages: 13241
Registered: January 2002
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That's unfortunate that some people choose to make their decisions based on the name rather then the merits of the software. However, the same people will often quickly discover the headache this causes due to security vulnreabilities vBulletin contains and the general limitations of that package.
FUDforum Core Developer
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| Re: Change the name [message #163441 is a reply to message #20259] |
Mon, 01 November 2010 18:17 |
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Wild_Cat
Messages: 144
Registered: November 2002
Location: Odessa, Ukraine
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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I am reviving this since the subject is still topical and Frank said you don't care about the name.
There are quite a few nice arguments and proofs for this already spoken above, please read them.
People still don't know this software and it's still the best, and the name association with FOOD haven't changed nor it's being a good or relevant association such a wonderful piece of software (who knows FUD stands for Fast Uncompromising Discussions? I just read it somewhere by accident!). I'd like very much your software to receive a better credit and knowledge in the online community and a good name is an important tool in this regard!
There are a few suggestions listed above. I thought I didn't have any but then read I did at the time when it was first raised.
We could have a suggestion submission and then voting or just go with something developers like best but a better name would still benefit this software position on the market, despite some technical difficulties related to changing the name and relevant efforts.
Being shy is not very smart, the name has to reflect the essence and power of this software. My company developers changed at some point to Best ApplicationName (they have quite a few) and we get a lot of "it's best indeed"!
Here, I have one more suggestion just popped up in my head:
Firefly Forum! (FFF is also a cool acronym for unofficial chat, lol!)
It has both speed, lightness, slight power implication (with the word fire) and has the same letter index alphabetically (so if someone looks for your forum in a list, they can see this name at the same place, on F). It also has a mild association with Firefox which invokes positive attitude among IT-literate people and associated name-generation for various add-ons for it like Firebug and such, which have proven to have an effect on popularity and such. Not to mention it already returns about a million references on google but if the renaming would be done, you'd soon turn up on the first page. Would also make you known at once to all Firefly Sci-Fi series fans looking for a forum to discuss it LOL and while they're not such a large group, it's not a too bad trick either 
Although I still like my earlier already forgotten suggestion as PROforum too! For someone who first sees it, it evokes all the necessary associations if they're looking for as flexible and powerful software as yours (as well as if they'd be looking for a professional forum on google if everything is done right), but from the larger audience standpoint, the above suggestion (more attractive than dry high-quality statement) would be more important.
Lady of Avalon
[Updated on: Mon, 01 November 2010 18:20] Report message to a moderator |
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 Re: Change the name [message #163567 is a reply to message #163487] |
Tue, 09 November 2010 04:24 |
The Witcher
Messages: 675
Registered: May 2009
Location: USA
Karma: 3
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naudefj wrote on Wed, 03 November 2010 12:20Firefly Forum sounds kinda cool!
Anyway, please allow two or three weeks for people to suggest new names. After that, setup a poll to see what the community thinks.
If we are seriously talking about taking the FUD out of FUDForum, then I suppose that "FireflyForum" is just as good a name as any, for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is that "Firefly" was a one season sci-fi T.V. show that I rather enjoyed.
The ultimate decision though should not be made simply because of the name, yes many people do associate FUD with Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, however others just think that it is strange and/or funny depending on their language, culture or personal opinions.
Of more concern should be the difficulty of changing the name in so many references around the internet, which I imagine would be quite difficult.
However; if the goal is to amass a larger following of users and contributors, then I believe we need to concentrate more on making instructions and help more understandable to the average user.
I am probably the least computer literate/savvy user here, even though among my peers, I am thought to be quite computer savvy. I can tell you quite simply that so much of the help and instruction is a struggle for me to even comprehend let alone implement effectively.
Virtually every person that I know who has tried to use FUDForum failed because they could not understand the more technical aspects of it and I believe alleviating that is more important than a name change.
Having said that, I checked most of the names already suggested and found a good many of them already taken as domain/forum versions. So, I registered the Fireflyforum.com, , .net, .org, domain names and if the users decide to use that name, I will donate them to the project and give Frank the transfer codes (I will even pay for the transfer fees, which will give you the domains for two years without cost to the project).
If you decide not to use them, I will simply redirect them to whichever domain the users decide upon (they are currently redirected to http://fudforum.org/forum/ and I will leave them there until a decision is made or the domain registrations expire).
"I'm a Witcher, I solve human problems; not always using a sword!"
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| Re: Change the name [message #163665 is a reply to message #163656] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 15:25 |
BAD35th
Messages: 61
Registered: February 2007
Location: Hammertown
Karma: 0
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I liked someones suggestion of PROforum, its catchy, sounds PROfessional, and evokes a positive image: ie PRO meaning something or someone who is top of their game or does something to very high stadards which FUD does.
There is also another tie in back to Ilia since his hosting related company was PROhost, so it makes sense PROforum runs best on PROhost. 
As for previous market recognition, it is easy to add a tag line saying: formerly known as FUDforum, this ties in your old established base and name recognition but doesn't take away from the user that newely discovers you.
I think the new name could help in general market adoption as well, as there is a certain pride in saying 'we are running PROforum' vs FUD forum, what does it mean. You may also leverage teh human nature when hearing PROforum, they go oh ya that sounds familiar, I think I have heard of that.
Thats my 2 cents worth, I know that in the past people in my organization have suggested we switch to other more common forum names like vBulletin, but I happen to think FUD or PRO is one of the best!
I did a quick search for PROforum and didn't find anything significant as a competitor that already had this name in use, but getting the domain PROfurom could be a whole other animal 
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| Re: Change the name [message #163670 is a reply to message #163665] |
Mon, 22 November 2010 17:55 |
The Witcher
Messages: 675
Registered: May 2009
Location: USA
Karma: 3
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Senior Member |
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BAD35th wrote on Mon, 22 November 2010 09:25
I did a quick search for PROforum and didn't find anything significant as a competitor that already had this name in use, but getting the domain PROfurom could be a whole other animal
Though I agree with most of what you said about proforum being a good name, the dot com, dot net, and dot org for that domain name are already taken.
Dot com was registered in 1998 and would require a $69.95 fee for an attempt to purchase it and that only covers the evaluation and attempt, not the purchase price itself.
Dot net is owned by Linux redhat and the dot org domain name is for sale through a broker for $788.00 which leads me to believe that the dot com would cost a whole lot more. So, although it sounds like a viable alternative, as you said there is a problem with obtaining the domain names.
Naudefj thought firefly was a cool name and since naudefj is and has been doing the lion's share of the forums development, I trust his judgment.
That doesn't mean firefly has to be the name, the action I took was to guarantee the domain name would be available, if it was selected.
I also liked "Myforum" since FUDforum starts out titled My forum, my way! Yet once again those domains are taken.
"I'm a Witcher, I solve human problems; not always using a sword!"
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