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4) Send an FR discussions link to a friend who might be interested. Encourage them to sign up to FR.

I've tried that (And I've also tried lodging this "Complaint" too)...

Free Republic is next to impossible to navigate for a newbie. (I've been here for 3 years and I still can't get it right). People I send links to don't like it. (LOVE the content but not the format).

Every person I've sent to Free Republic has told me that they can't figure the place out. Granted, these people don't tend to be Political Junkies like most Freepers BUT these people have spent a long time on message boards and have a very good understanding of them.

Personally, I lurked here for over a year before signing-up simply because I couldn't figure the place out. And once I got registered, I couldn't figure-out all this HTML stuff for months (I've never been to a message board where you had to use those <'s to make a new paragraph.) And I still can't post pictures and color type and all that cool stuff.

Anyway...I'm a cumputer idiot but I'm an experienced computer idiot. I've never seen a message board I couldn't navigate easily other than Free Republic. But maybe this is on purpose...You REALLY have to WANT to be here.

Bottom line...I guarentee you that we miss out on a number of contributors because of this. What percentage? I don't know but I would GUESS it's well over half.

Just my take...

Free Republic is next to impossible to navigate for a newbie. (I've been here for 3 years and I still can't get it right). People I send links to don't like it. (LOVE the content but not the format).

Well, I love the format and I would not change Free Republic the way it is. It is an unique site, something that we love dearly. I don't want to change the site just so we can reach the "mainstream" audience.

We're a niche. Let's keep it that way.

I had to do a lot of self-educating when I came here and I am still learning. When I get someone new to sign up I send them a bunch of helpful links. Some are motivated to learn their way around and some aren't. Personally I love the way FR is set up and there is very little I would change. On the rare occasion I post on any other board it feels very awkward and I especially miss the ability to use html. I wish we could use it with FReepmail.

Here is a couple of links to help you learn basic html and how to post images and such. If I can learn it, anybody can.

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