How do you start a forum?

[SystemTrading]

Originally Posted by patrick24601

A forum is the online equivalent to a huge group of people with a million interests in the real world. Your key challenges:

1. How to get them there
2. How to get them to stay for more than 30 seconds
3. How to get them to sign up
4. How to get them to return
5. How to get them to participate

I believe those are even in the correct order !

I couldn't agree more. I have done a pretty good job of #1 and #2, however I feel that I need to improve #3,4,and 5. Anyone have any ideas for me?

[Linda Buquet]

Well I won't even pretend to be the expert on building a forum getting people active and keeping them active BECAUSE there is so much for that I feel like
I could, should would do to build up 5 Star if I had more time.

However some of the contests we've done and the member recognition programs have helped quite a bit. Again just wish we could do more.

Feel free to check out out we have structured some of our
forum contests and member rewards programs here.

I guess my biggest suggestion is to work on building key relationships with members that share your passion for your subject.

Our most important asset and the most important ingredient for future growth and success, is our core members. Our members are what makes this forum tick and we are lucky to have so many good regulars.

[PosterManiac]

i say use invision power board as it will be the easiest for you to start making your caterogys topics and what not and you will be able to manage your forum with ease.
Like other are telling you make sure you have content and memeber other wise a forum is just going to waste your time and cause disapointment

[patrick24601]

I was fretting over which forum to choose and I have decided to bite the bullet and get the big hammer - vBulletin. There is a vbSEO plugin which is really supposed to help you when it comes to board visibility. You can't beat the popularity and support.

[Linda Buquet]

Yes I really researched a lot and obviously chose Vbull.
VBSEO rocks too!

[Greenline]

It is probably just like starting any site the less competition there is the better and if there is a market for it great but there will be some hard work involved initially.

[Larwee]

There is hard work initially, but the hard work never stops. There are problems when starting and different problems as the forum grows.

As a forum gets larger and more established, the spam problem also gets bigger. There are more spammers to deal with. How you deal with spam can be very critical.

In the beginning it is possible for a person to be so anxious to get members and for people to post that they might not mind how many spam posts they get because they feel it is better than not having anything. Thinking that way could be a very big mistake and it has lead to the early deaths of many new forums.