Whats the best way to get a Forum off the Ground

which is the best php/mysql forum tool?

[Red_Eye]

I am looking at starting a forum for website. I have 2 questions.

1. Whats the best way of starting one? The reason people go to forums is to find information. However when I launch the forum I won't have any posts or users, other than myself. Should I create some thread myself? Whats the best way of getting round this problem

2. I know that there are a lot of pre-programed forums that you can download but which ones are the best and why?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[aus_dave]

I would say you need to attract visitors with content first, then add the forum if the site warrants it. 'Build it and they will come' applies even less to a forum than it does a web site :). You can add some threads yourself but ultimately you will need other responses if it's to be an interactive forum.

As for free scripts, I like Invision Power Board as it is easy to modify and has excellent features. phpBB is another popular one but it seems to require a lot more modification to get the same functionality.

If you want a commercial option look at vBulletin - extremely popular product.

[Red_Eye]

aus_dave,

Thanks for the help. The website in question has a specific topic and already has good trafic for the existing content. I am now looking at how I can expand the site by offering users more features (and hopefully more reason to visit). One of the services I had thought of was a forum.
However I think that the problem I outlined in question 1 exists even if you have established traffic and good content. How do you get users to make those initial posts?

[Lisa]

You can do one of two things. You already have the visitors because of some other things that draws people to your site OR you pretend to be 20 people and keep asking questions and answering them. You need to plant the forum before the forum becomes useful. You will get a lot of drive by and lurkers however that is the nature of forums. Starting a successful forum means you are bring a new life into the world. Just like a puppy you can never just leave it, from that day forward you will have to watch and nuture it. A forum is a lot of work. That typical speech parents give their kids before they get their first pet is really what you should give yourself. If you are still serious about it, start planting. Don't expect a huge following for serveral years.

[Jenstar]

I use phpbb, and I love it. However, aus_dave is right, it does take some work to edit the templates to get the look of the boards customized to fit your site. The phpbb has an excellent support site and you can easily find how to make the changes with some quick searches there (some are edited through the control panel and others through the actual template files themselves.

Here is a recent discussion on launching message boards:
[webmasterworld.com...]

[Red_Eye]

Thanks you have helped me to get a better perspective on Forums, from the threads that you have posted so far I think that I need to develope my site in other ways before I launch a forum.

I have downloaded phpbb and installed it on my test web server. I have to say I am impressed. It installed easily and appears to have loads of features. I can see what you mean though about customisation.

[Jenstar]

When you have a a good amount of time to set aside to work on the customization, it can go quite quickly. It does take a while to hunt down all the different templates to make the changes you want, and if it is something you see yourself changing on a regular basis, be sure to note down what file it is. Some of them are well hidden or named something the opposite of what you would think it would be ;)

[eaden]

It all depends on what the forum will be about. To begin with, it may seem like you are talking to your self, and you should reply to every topic that you can to get the posts up. But even with only 3 or 4 regular posters, you can get that community feeling.

Choose your forum names / sections carefully, you don't want to start off with 20 categories becasue some will stay empty, but you don't want one big jumbled mess either.

Once you have lots of posts in a category, you can always create a new forum and move the posts.

Also, once you have a large community, don't be shy to give moderator status to regular contributors. They will generaly be glad and helpful. It also helps new posters because an answer from a moderator will be more highly regarded than one from a regular user.

Keep up to date with PHPBB security patches, and make regular backups of your forum. Also look around at other forums, to see how they do things. The PHPBB forums are huge, and one thing I picked up is have a link to your forum guidelines in your footer.

I run a large forum so I hope I have been helpful, but it really depends on the subject area for any more specific advice.

[tkteo]

Apologies for butting in. I purchased a domain and web host for my high school buddies--about 40 people in all--and myself. I am thinking of installing forum software in order to facilitate communication (instead of the usual e-mail list).

Is this even practical?