Creating And Promoting An Online Forum

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

This is a long list of things that I have come up with browsing forums for almost 3 years, and running ones for about 2 years.

 

Creating your forum.

This is (most of the time) the easiest part of forums. There are various sites that will host your forum for free (with ads, mostly running phpBB). While these aren't the best in the long term, they are a great start. If you have no knowledge of PHP/CSS/HTML, I suggest you start here. Even if you set up a test forum (I have set up tons of these!), it is a great way to learn how a forum functions.

 

If you choose to use web hosting, and host your own forum, you will have the most control over your forum. You will be able to edit the files and add whatever you want to them, and install custom MODs. I highly recommend this, as you control everything about the forum, and aren't tied to a host's ads. If you choose web hosting you will need a forum software. Some of the most popular ones are

vBulletin*

SMF

phpBB

IPB*

* Paid software

 

Though vBulletin is possibly the most popular forum software out there, I like SMF better. Most vBulletin skins are paid-only, so I would only suggest using vBulletin if you are willing to spend some money.

 

Once you have the software set up, you need to pick a topic of your forum. If you want a big community, you should probably pick a topic that is unique as well as attractive to guests. I have seen MANY gaming forums out there that have closed down, mainly because there are tons of gaming forums already out there. I am not saying "Don't set up a gaming forum", but rather "If you set up a gaming forum, be dedicated to it and make sure you have friends or some other people that can help bring it up". You should also have a theme that is similar to your forum's topic.

 

Also when you are creating a forum, don't make too many catagories for members to post in. On a new forum, this looks really bad.

 

Promoting the forum

This is the hardest part (I have found) of running a forum. Members won't just come to your forum, so don't wait for them.

 

The most luck that I have found is going to other websites similar to mine (including the band's official website) and posting around with my website's link in my signature. If you find a site similar to your's that doesn't have a forum or blog system, contact the webmaster and ask if you can affiliate. Affiliation is good, but only if you do it right. Make sure that the site that you wish to affiliate with is close in subject to yours. Just think if you were on a webmaster forum, and you saw an affiliate image of a Rock Music forum, would you click on it? Most likely not, as not all webmasters like rock music. If that image were to be on a rock memorabilia store, it would get many more clicks.

 

Here are some sites that will help you with your forum:

Admin Zone - A webmaster forum that can give you tips on managing your forum.

Google Analytics - Tells you where your traffic comes from, how many hits you get, and what search terms bring visitors to your forum. A great tool!

Search Engine Rankings - See where your forum ranks in Search Engine results.

 

 

 

If you need personal help with your forum, post here and I will give you some suggestions.

[andreip 0]

Well explained. Thank you for this, my friend plans to start a forum and I'm helping him with the design or any technical part he needs. This advices are great ! Also he has tried every one of the forum systems stated by you. He said SMF looked really simple to use. And he tried to install vBulletin but it seems his webhost doesn't allows it, so I told him about Xisto, and he did joined. Again thank you for the info and if there will be any problems I'll post here.Cheers!

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

SMF is a great software (I use it). If he hasn't already, I suggest he use SMF 2.0 RC1, as it has many more features then 1.1.x. There are less themes and MODs for it (I still have to upgrade my MOD to 2.0), but in the long run it will be much better. Almost all MODs install on all themes without having to edit the code yourself (exclusive to SMF).

[Draxx 0]

So willielwgg i'm using 1.1.8 and never tested 2.0, did you try them both? Are you sure updating my forum for a 2.0 deserves the time ? ^^Oh and would you choose vb over smf ? That if you would want to pay for the software Btw i'm the guy that andrei is talking about ^^EDIT - Looks like your using smf 2.0 on your forum and you did a great job. Can i ask if you are using this host since it loads really fast, on my ex-host i always had slow loading and some mysql errors for some reason and i'm sure they didn't come from my forum (Don't want to go in to details) :DSorry for all the question but i want to make my first step the right step ^^Thanks

Edited March 3, 2009 by Draxx (see edit history)

[RJM 0]

If you want a very popular forum you have to make the forum a section of a website that's popular and offers something to users. Like games, videos, music, etc. It needs a theme. A forum as an island just doesn't work all that well.There are exceptions, but even then I would argue it would be far more successful if it was part of a bigger picture.

[Draxx 0]

RJM if that was a replay to my post, well i really don't need help on finding a subject for my forum just the best software ^^
Yet i agree on that, there's 3 ways you can make an active forum that i know.
1. Either make something unique that other forums don't have (Ex: Having a pink pony on your main page that would be so cool)
2. Make it cover more then 1 popular section
3. If you want a forum to be about something in particular (for example, a game) then you need some help from friends that share the same interest for that game and allot of dedication to make it active ^^

Oh and something i forgot to say in my last post, great tutorial.

Also when you are creating a forum, don't make too many catagories for members to post in. On a new forum, this looks really bad.

I never think about that even if to many categories w/o any post in it always bugged me on a forum. ^^

[RJM 0]

I was addressing the "Promoting the Forum" part. As you said, that's the hard part.

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

So willielwgg i'm using 1.1.8 and never tested 2.0, did you try them both? Are you sure updating my forum for a 2.0 deserves the time ?

I would suggest setting up a test forum, to see how you like it. There aren't many themes out for it (though if I get time, I could convert some), but it will be the main SMF say in 3 years from now. If you are running a forum with no MODs, you could just run the large upgrade and upgrade to 2.0 RC1. If you are running MODs, post which ones (or even a screenshot here) and I could try to help you with a conversion. My forum has about 50+ MODs (about half of those are small MODs I made for the forum), so upgrading was practically impossible. I am making a new forum anyway, so I started on 2.0 RC1 for that, as it will be news related, and the RSS Feed poster for 2.0 is much better then the one for 1.1. Though I am not giving the url to the new forum out, as it isn't complete, I have tested out the features of it, and like it better then 1.1. Some of the new features (including some MODs for 2.0 only are):SMFwiki (not out yet though)
RSS Feeder (Automatically post RSS Feeds on your forum).
Advanced Reputation System (Similar to that of vBulletin)
Custom Profile fields (Ex you run a music forum you could have a field that says Favorite band: and they could put info there, already possible on 1.1, but you need to do it manually, as the MOD had an SQL inject vulnerability)
Ability to have no theme edits whatsoever (Install a MOD, it installs on all themes, main reason why I like 2.0 over 1.1)

Oh and would you choose vb over smf ? That if you would want to pay for the software

First of all, I wish that all software was free. Even software that I have paid for. Freeware is the way to go. That in mind, I have never bought vBulletin, because it was paid only. I have tried out the demo, and liked it. The Admin CP took some getting used to, but it looked nice. There are tons of features, but I couldn't test them all out (themes, MODs) since it was a demo. The thing with vBulletin (may have stated it before) is that most themes (and almost all good themes) you have to pay for. If you want to go with vBulletin, get ready to pay a lot.

EDIT - Looks like your using smf 2.0 on your forum and you did a great job.

I am actually using 1.1.8

Can i ask if you are using this host since it loads really fast, on my ex-host i always had slow loading and some mysql errors for some reason and i'm sure they didn't come from my forum (Don't want to go in to details)

I am using this host. I have had minimal downtime, and (unlike the other host) my website hasn't just vanished into thin air. The great thing about SMF is you can download a SQL backup right in the admin CP, without having to go through cPanel.

Sorry for all the question but i want to make my first step the right step ^^

No problem. I answer questions like these all the time. On the SMF support forums, I get questions that are completely ridiculous. "My host closed down my website, can I get my site back?" "How do I create a new board?" or even the worst "I have Fantastico, but I can't find the Install button??"
I am TheDisturbedOne on the support forums.

Also, what is the url of your current forum. Just o get an idea about themes, mods, number of members/posts.

[Draxx 0]

Thanks allot for all the help Disturbed ^^
Well guess smf is the way i'll go(not sure about the version) since i would go for one pay but paying for themes and such, no thanks.

And really like the host already, the forum you got there is really fast ^^
Ok i know is kinda advertising but is bad advertising so maybe is not so bad =/ You see for my forum i was using 000webhost and i tell you i never seen a forum having database errors like mine did(never open it only testing software's)

As for my forum link, well since i only used it for tests and never made it to public i cant provide you a link but i can give you a link to the forum i made for a friend
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
Yet the forum is still 1 day old and i couldn't do much since they decide what they want and i'm just doing it ^^
Anyway lucky me, my first forum will be active since is a l2 private server and most of the time this kind of forums gets activity
(Ex: Server already got ~50 w/o any advertising on special websites and a big part of that should join the forum and be active, so lets say ~20 active members, ~50 after a day or 2 of advertising)

Edited March 5, 2009 by Draxx (see edit history)

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

Yes, unless you modified your database, or used MODs that didn't come from the SMF Mod site, you shouldn't get database errors. That is most likely the host's fault. 000 is a terrible webhost, they don't have cPanel, and their version of cPanel is complete junk. Xisto is the way to go

[Draxx 0]

I'll blame andreip for that, he told me about the host :DStill you gotta see the host i'm using for the ruthless forum i posted, thats junk hehe. The only thing i like about it is the live support(always someone to help you) other then that trap looks better and is free xD That one is like 7$ and you get some crap storage/bandw. but still is not my money so idk ^^Again thanks for all the help.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Draxx (see edit history)