Graphics, Feelings, and Forums

What type of graphics encourage posting and participation?

[gershon]

I'm working on a color scheme (plus a little graphics) for a new forum. I'd like to hear everyone's input on what type of color scheme and graphics encourage the best forums.

Now, everyone's first reaction is probably something sharp, cool, and a tad fancy. IMO, this might look great, but it doesn't necessarily encourage participation.

People want a forum to look:

• respectable
  
• trustworthy
  and
  
• approachable - they shouldn't feel intimidated from participating[/li]
  

Bearing all that in mind, it seems to me that the best option is a mild, conservative, yet pleasant scheme. Any ideas?

PS Please PM if you have any specific examples I should check out, or any offers...

[Tomness]

Simplicity:
Being simple is always good. Simple forums that are easy to navigate are the best. I run a fairly successful forum, and have done for almost 2 years now, and it's very basic. Just a nice blend of light colours, but nothing to boring.

This is so it's not like you're staring at a light bulb, but it's also not going to make you stain your eyes.

Moderation:
If it is a small network, then you wont need moderators, but as it gathers in size - you will, choosing them carefully is a good idea.

Topics of interest:
These are always good - make a lot interesting topics for people to start with, so they can all get into it. A topic and/or area for people to introduce them self is also a good way for your community to get to know each other.

Size:
If it's a brand new forum, then don't start with a lot of areas for the people to post in - add them as you go along.

If you have a brand new forum, and you have

General,
Tv,
Films,
Music,
Concerts,
Humour,
Sports,
News,
Religion,
Cars,
Food,
Articles,
General Computing,
The internet,
Gaming,
Networking,
Ect..

Then when a user makes one post, it will look lost. Also, people will be intimidated by the size of the forum, and may not post.

Also, if there are 100 topics of all those areas, it wont look as much as it would in a few.

The best thing to do, is start with a few areas. General being an almost must. Then, when people get posting, and they post off topic things in the general area, keep an eye on them, and pay attention. If they post a lot about sports, then open a sport area, and move everything for them.

Delete Unnecessary Threads:
Deleting unnecessary threads is a good idea in the parts of the forum that don't contain unnecessary data. If they do, don't delete them. Also don't delete active threads. Set a time to delete them, or something to automatically delete them.

Don't encourage posting via rewards:
Simple really - this will encourage spamming and useless posting. Quality over quantity.