Whilst only being new to the forum i have contributed to a few topics and wrote ars to add to the knowledge of the site and recieve knowledge aswell.
When you look at the forum from ipad/iphone (do not own a computer) it shows you all the forums with users online, total members and active members.
Since i have joined up the figure for active members is around the two thousand mark across all forums with thirty thousand members registered.
Now i know thirty thousand members is good for the shops to see as they look at reaching thirty thousand potential clients,what these figure tell me is there is twenty eight thousand odd lurkers gleaming information and not sharing any information themselves on experiences and good/great wls/mls out there plus you get the google search lurkers aswell.
One way i can think of keeping your forum membership current is the member needs to actively participate a certain amount of times over a period of time to keep membership current and to encourage this the forum could be changed to members only (other forums i am not punting related do this) that way new knowledge/experiences can be brought forward for everyone to benefit from.
I expect to be howled down or abused for this topic but it is only a suggestion for discussion and peoples different points of veiw on keeping the forum active and entertaining.
Happyas