Mistakes made while starting a forum

Swastik · 12:02 PM

Forums, in any niche, are very hard to start off, get traffic, convert into registrations and monetize it. You will see many forums start and close 1 month later. The authorities will put the silly reason that they could not afford running the forum. Actually they do some mistakes, which I am writing here in the post :

1) Loss of admin activity - Administrators are themselves “hyper-active” in the first few days but the passion is lost afterwards. That’s not good from any point of view.

2) Forum takes time to take off -People do not realize that a forum will take time to start off, and run smoothly. No one, except your friends, will come to join you in the first few weeks. Its a bitter yet true fact.

3) Admin should have sound knowledge of the topic - When members ask for help in any field and they do not get it, they normally tend to leave the forum and that’s why administrators should have a very good knowledge in whatever niche they start a forum.

4) No more traditional forums - Administrators dont care about the “over-saturation” of the forum world. Without a brilliant idea, another webmaster forum would not undertake DigitalPoint overnight. Even if it is a brilliant idea, it will take considerable amount of time.

5) Is your forum really a community? - A forum, A community, A chit-chat place are completely different. When a forum is started, it is just a forum. After some days most of the forums, if not all, convert into a chit-chat place with no “real discussions” going on. A very few who really become a community achieve the success.

I do not intend to discourage anyone. Infact, I strongly encourage you to continue if you want. But these are some points which should help you in the long run. If you avoid doing those mistakes, I am quite sure, you will build up a great ‘community’.

SWASTIK

Kushagra93 · 03-31-2008

Nice tips

some of the points are really true

glengainer · 12:35 AM

Add this one

6) Starting a forum in a "off season" - Do not start a winter sports forum in the summer or start a math forum (www.math.info.tm) the week school ends (Like I did

)

JCarl95 · 06-12-2008

Nice tips: Number one is the easiest one to make as a lot of the work can be tedious and a little boring after the novelty wears off.

zuly · 06-13-2008

Yeah thees are all true, i especially agree with the rule number 3 thats why i am waiting to gain more knowledge about this and that before i start anything serious.
@glengainer is also right, if you are starting in the summer, there will be less people on the net cause a lot of people are on holidays.

pojr · 06-19-2008

Some people like me simply have no idea what their site should be out. My site's just a bunch of pages with forums.

Shadab · 07-21-2008

7) Creating too many Sub-Forums

Creating way too many sub-forums and sections of the Forum right from the start.
Start small and then scale up as the need arises.

8) Not using the right Forum Software

If you have the necessary funds to invest (yes, think of it as an investment),
buy vBulletin for your forum. Period.

shkhanal · 07-23-2008

very informative. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

bluehannah · 08-11-2008

A forum is really hard to maintain especially if you have other projects on hand. An admin must be fully dedicated to run it so he can devote most of his time and also to prevent spammers that will ruin the atmosphere of your forum.

frih · 10-14-2008

good tips....even i am also planning to get my own forum
after using geekpoint... I will keep all these things in mind.

03-31-2008	#1 (permalink)
Swastik Regular Geek Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: India Posts: 426	Mistakes made while starting a forum Forums, in any niche, are very hard to start off, get traffic, convert into registrations and monetize it. You will see many forums start and close 1 month later. The authorities will put the silly reason that they could not afford running the forum. Actually they do some mistakes, which I am writing here in the post : 1) Loss of admin activity - Administrators are themselves “hyper-active” in the first few days but the passion is lost afterwards. That’s not good from any point of view. 2) Forum takes time to take off -People do not realize that a forum will take time to start off, and run smoothly. No one, except your friends, will come to join you in the first few weeks. Its a bitter yet true fact. 3) Admin should have sound knowledge of the topic - When members ask for help in any field and they do not get it, they normally tend to leave the forum and that’s why administrators should have a very good knowledge in whatever niche they start a forum. 4) No more traditional forums - Administrators dont care about the “over-saturation” of the forum world. Without a brilliant idea, another webmaster forum would not undertake DigitalPoint overnight. Even if it is a brilliant idea, it will take considerable amount of time. 5) Is your forum really a community? - A forum, A community, A chit-chat place are completely different. When a forum is started, it is just a forum. After some days most of the forums, if not all, convert into a chit-chat place with no “real discussions” going on. A very few who really become a community achieve the success. I do not intend to discourage anyone. Infact, I strongly encourage you to continue if you want. But these are some points which should help you in the long run. If you avoid doing those mistakes, I am quite sure, you will build up a great ‘community’. SWASTIK Sitetalkzone.com - 250$ cold cash :eek: All freelance jobs in one spot Last edited by Swastik; 08-08-2008 at 12:02 PM.

03-31-2008	#2 (permalink)
Kushagra93 Newbie Join Date: May 2007 Location: Kanpur Posts: 42	Nice tips some of the points are really true eMobiwire ~ mobile geeks hangout

06-11-2008	#3 (permalink)
glengainer Junior Geek Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 57	Add this one 6) Starting a forum in a "off season" - Do not start a winter sports forum in the summer or start a math forum (www.math.info.tm) the week school ends (Like I did ) Last edited by glengainer; 06-11-2008 at 12:35 AM.

06-12-2008	#4 (permalink)
JCarl95 Newbie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3	Nice tips: Number one is the easiest one to make as a lot of the work can be tedious and a little boring after the novelty wears off. Jeep Discussion Forum

07-21-2008	#7 (permalink)
Shadab Web Developer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bhopal Posts: 2,539 iTrader: 100% (1)	7) Creating too many Sub-Forums Creating way too many sub-forums and sections of the Forum right from the start. Start small and then scale up as the need arises. 8) Not using the right Forum Software If you have the necessary funds to invest (yes, think of it as an investment), buy vBulletin for your forum. Period. My periodic table contains only 1 element : the element of Surprise.

06-13-2008	#5 (permalink)
zuly Newbie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 23	Yeah thees are all true, i especially agree with the rule number 3 thats why i am waiting to gain more knowledge about this and that before i start anything serious. @glengainer is also right, if you are starting in the summer, there will be less people on the net cause a lot of people are on holidays.

06-19-2008	#6 (permalink)
pojr Newbie Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 23	Some people like me simply have no idea what their site should be out. My site's just a bunch of pages with forums.

07-23-2008	#8 (permalink)
shkhanal Newbie Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Kathmandu Posts: 15	very informative. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Amusing Computer Tricks, Computer Officer Exam Preparation http://www.studypark.site88.net Computer Operator Exam Preparation http://computerOperator.frihost.net

08-11-2008	#9 (permalink)
bluehannah Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5	A forum is really hard to maintain especially if you have other projects on hand. An admin must be fully dedicated to run it so he can devote most of his time and also to prevent spammers that will ruin the atmosphere of your forum. Homes Search Real Estate Board Housing Market from Houston

10-14-2008	#10 (permalink)
frih Junior Geek Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 133	good tips....even i am also planning to get my own forum after using geekpoint... I will keep all these things in mind.