Forum Moderators: rogerd
Adding a forum is not too difficult. But I see too many failed attempts and half-empty forums out there (some will say: half-full).
Some things I can think of:
1. Don't focus the forum on 'just a topic'. It must be something that energizes people and makes them want to be part of something.
2. Combine forum topics with unique content (tutorials, articles, FAQ's), so there is something to get even when the forum is only starting.
3. Choose a topic that attrackts not only solution seekers ("where do I find?", "how do I...?"), but also knowledgeable people who gain something by sharing their expertise.
I know this is still a bit vague. Any other ideas?
Examples:
- How useful would ebay be to buyer's, if it didnt have any sellers?
- How useful would webmasterworld be to you, if you were the only person here?
Whats the point? regardless of topic, being able to "seed" a forum is the most important thing IMHO.
Suggestions:
- Approach people in your industry to participate
- Pay people to post (only initially)
- Competitions for posting or registering
- Get your friends/family/collegues to post
It sounds like you have the traffic already so getting new members after a properly seeding the forum shouldnt be too much of an issue for you.
1. Don't focus the forum on 'just a topic'. It must be something that energizes people and makes them want to be part of something.
2. Combine forum topics with unique content (tutorials, articles, FAQ's), so there is something to get even when the forum is only starting.
3. Choose a topic that attrackts not only solution seekers ("where do I find?", "how do I...?"), but also knowledgeable people who gain something by sharing their expertise.
Choice of topic would be set by the theme of your existing website?
Well yes, but there are many different angles. Taking this forum as an example, one could create a forum about
What's wisdom?
Lx
Is that considered a success for an open forum? It's an honest question. I don't know how Alexa ranks forums and I'm not sure I care, and I'm so busy I don't have time to check out other open forums. In fact, I only belong to this forum and a couple of tech forums.
My guests per week estimate above is probably very low. My highest hit count was a little over 11,000; 10,000 a couple of times before that; frequent high are around 6 to 7,000.
So I am really wondering if this is considered a success?9
Or do you think they'll keep coming back to see if anyone has answered? :-)
the whole point is that other people will feel like they will want ot answer the questions - or at least join into the discussion. You can start off some answers - or make some suggestions ... but you will pull professionals who can answer if you leave room for them to answer.
In order for that to work, I guess the forums should be built around challenges people may also seek professional advice for.
And I guess it requires Webmasterworld-quality moderation to keep the spammers out :-)
Here's my take on this:
(1) State the rules up-front. Moderate according to those rules and don't waver;
(2) Lead by example. Don't promote your side projects if you wouldn't allow others to do likewise;
(3) Consider a post approval scheme - so that new members' contributions require the 'rubber stamp' prior to appearing to the world;
(4) Consider a quarantine sub-forum. Move contentious or 'on the fence' posts there, rather than deleting straight away. This allows for a two-tier moderation approach - instant deletion of blatant (i.e. knowing) violations, and quarantine of inadvertent or less obvious violations. You can then contact the user to find out their true intentions as regards your community - do they intend to make an honest woman of your forum or are they only in it for the notch on the self-promotional bedpost?
(5) Don't be afraid to edit. Often, a minor violation is better to edit than to delete or quarantine. In my discussion community, we sometimes get people offering off-board email/help. It's a tough call as to whether this is in the best interests of the community - but normally even if it's done with the best of intentions, it will not benefit the rest of the community.
That's just some of my approach. Hope this helps.
John
Here are some of their responses about what made it successful, roughly from the most commonly-cited on down:
-light moderation; you can say or post almost anything there
-one of the early entrants in its field
-top people in the field post there
-allows use of signatures for commercial purposes, even with banners; sigs can be bought and sold
-has a cool name
-only one forum without categories (that's mostly, but not strictly, true).
Of course I got less response to my question about how they made money, or at least covered their hefty hosting costs. People here seem to say you should integrate ads into your forum and integrate your forum into your main site. But my favorite idea is to do a good weekly newsletter to all the registered forum members.
I'm thinking of starting a forum for an online business that doesn't seem to have any yet; I haven't run a forum before.
Each community has its own likes and dislikes, and a one-approach-is-best style won't work. Successful communities in fields like video gaming, intellectual property law, and parenting are likely to have very little in common.
I'm sure there are a few must-have areas, like reasonably fast performance, solid and reliable technology, and an involved staff that can correct problems quickly.
Even within a single field one can have multiple communities that are quite different; over time, each community may develop its own constituency who finds the combination of fellow members, moderation levels, etc. to be most appropriate.
A tranquil environment.
:)
If people make friends on your boards, they will hold your site in high regard and do what they can to help you out.
This has its downside - you might find yourself acting as a peacemaker when things get ugly.
