How do you start a forum?

[wiskers6]

Hi: This wiskers6.
I would like to know how do you start a forum? Also Can it b about anything that is in good tast?

Wisker6

[Linda Buquet]

Hi wiskers6,

Sure it can be about anything but before you put in the energy be sure theres a market and also be sure that subject is also not too competitive and full of a ton of forums already.

Also before you start, think about how you'll market and get traffic, because starting a forum is hard. You have to work to get them there, but then they won't join if it's an empty dead forum - yet you need members to post before it starts to look active enough to join. So it's a catch 22.

To answer your question, the main things you need are a domain, hosting, forum software and marketing. Is that what you wanted to know? Your question was pretty general so I just gave you a general answer. Let us know if you had a more specific question.

[Charlie-Bodylastics]

forums are soo much work to get started and most of all the keep going and monitored.Bodylastics has a forum i completely forgot about after i installed it.. after abut a year i went back while cleaning out the server and it has grown to a life of its own.. most hosts with cpanel or Fantastico you can easily install a forum with lil to no knowledge.. i have used hostultra.com in the past for sites and such and they have everything you need.. you just need a domain..

[Larwee]

wiskers6, a lot of people decide to start forums and think it is going to be something very easy. That usually isn't the case.

In the beginning the problem is getting members. Depending on various factors that might be more difficult for some new forums than others.

A while back I heard from a person who had been running a forum for 6 months and had a total of only 17 members.

After you get going and start getting members, having a more active forum and a growing forum, you are then faced with a lot of other problems that some people aren't prepared to handle.

There have been a number of 5 Star members who have started forums without having enough time or taking enough time to devote to moderating them. They became so loaded with spam that they ended up taking their forums down.

Spammers can be a very big problem. They try all types of tricks to get their junk posted. It is important that you make certain you will be able to deal with that, unless you don't care about it, and there are some forums who don't care how much spam is posted. Those types of forums usually aren't very helpful for people who are trying to find something useful or to get involved in beneficial discussions.

The important thing to remember is there is more work involved than most people might think. Before you start a forum you need to be sure that you will be able to devote the amount of attention to it that it deserves.

[longroad]

There are services which will populate a forum with good posts for you.
Just make sure you have a plan for when the service ends otherwise the forum will end up a grave yard.

[Charlie-Bodylastics]

Originally Posted by longroad

There are services which will populate a forum with good posts for you.
Just make sure you have a plan for when the service ends otherwise the forum will end up a grave yard.

Relink Software - Forum Autoposter

i use their blogging software now very nice.. i tried to get on as a betatester with the forum poster. when out of beta will be a great tool

[SystemTrading]

I have just started a forum myself and let me tell you it is no walk in the park. Below are my ramblings.

For my site I wanted to have lots of content other than just a forum. I have spent countless hours finding and posting content on the site. This strategy has paid off as I was almost immediately listed in the top 10 in several search engines for certain search terms. However this is an ongoing process and content needs to be updated almost!

I am fortunate enough to have a large database of users to start an email campaign. I have received plenty of traffic from my emails, but very few people are posting anything. This is the hardest part. I am trying to find a way to incentivise people to post, but I have come up with nothing so far! If anyone has ideas I am all ears!

Hope you find this information helpful. Best of luck with your forums!

[lacie]

Originally Posted by longroad

There are services which will populate a forum with good posts for you. Just make sure you have a plan for when the service ends otherwise the forum will end up a grave yard.

You do have a good point on this, but when I see the bots all over forums with the same content as any google search I kind of get upset. Mainly when I see the bot posting more than the admin or moderators on the site.

Any good site will need time to grow, time to weed out the bad and a good mod taking care of things sometimes behind the scenes and sometimes in the front line.

[lovekissing]

you figure out about what the forum must be all about... and how you will be working on it...

[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 !