Summary of registrations

[xiangjun]

Since the current 3DNA Forum (using SMF in place of the initial phpBB) was started in early 2012, it has attracted 2,750+ registrants as of today (April 26, 2016). Over the past four years, there are around 50 new registrations per month, or ~600 per year, as shown below:

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2012 -- 601
2013 -- 667
2014 -- 696
2015 -- 598
If the current trend continues, the number of 3DNA Forum registered users will reach 3,000 by the end of September 2016. Overall, the Forum has fulfilled its intended goals on "Q&As related to 3DNA" and serving as "an online community for DNA/RNA structural bioinformatics."

A large number of the registrants use their work email addresses (e.g., .edu), in line with the trust the community has gradually put on the 3DNA Forum. For example, over half of this month's 62 registrations (as of this writing, 2016-04-26) are filled with clearly identifiable job-related emails. Of course, personal emails (e.g., gmail, yahoo mail, qq.com or 163.com from China) are perfectly fine for registration with this Forum. Whatever the case, users information is kept confidential. Over the past four years, I remember having only sent two DSSR-related newsletters to all members.

Throughout the time, I've committed to a zero-tolenance policy on spams of various types. As a result, the Forum has remained spam free. Most legitimate registrations are activated automatically, and new users can gain immediate access to the download page. Occasionally, however, the anti-spam software blocks suspicious registrations even with .edu email accounts. In such rare cases, I am quick to verify/activate them manually, and notify the effected users by email. Of course, this process may take hours, depending on your time zone.