Starting a forum

[James]

Ok, I know for sure I'm using vBulletin.

I got the idea of the forum in my head >> ATM its my words only!
now all I need is how to get the forum active and get the public signing up! What's vital in a forum? What are the major issues that make a forum good or bad etc.

[Scott]

Ok, I know for sure I'm using vBulletin.Any reason you're picking that one? Have you looked into the other options?

I got the idea of the forum in my head >> ATM its my words only!
now all I need is how to get the forum active and get the public signing up! What's vital in a forum? What are the major issues that make a forum good or bad etc.

Unique (as far as possible) content with active discussions
Friendly and active owner/staff
Unique style is never a bad thing
Easily accessible website (good relevent TLD) with reliable uptime.

That's what comes to mind at the moment. I wrote an article a while back about basic things required for starting up a forum, it might help.

[James]

Any reason you're picking that one? Have you looked into the other options?
I looked at IPB but it's when I asked around people said that their support wasn't so great, theres a heck of allot more resources for vB and it's more stable than IPDB.



Unique (as far as possible) content with active discussions
Friendly and active owner/staff
Unique style is never a bad thing
Easily accessible website (good relevent TLD) with reliable uptime.

That's what comes to mind at the moment. I wrote an article a while back about basic things required for starting up a forum, it might help.
Ok, the TLD is my only problem now, all the good domains are taken. I'll keep looking!

[PN-Matt]

I looked at IPB but it's when I asked around people said that their support wasn't so great, theres a heck of allot more resources for vB and it's more stable than IPDB.


Ok, the TLD is my only problem now, all the good domains are taken. I'll keep looking!

Have you investigated other forum solutions? Are you certain you want to use vbulletin?

Indeed, Me and a friend are trying to get a gaming community started but we are struggling to find domain names that are not taken. Keep going at it you will find one.

Make sure you plan the forum structure out well. Too many empty forums can put potential members off.

Matt :)

[TheDPQ]

Are you certain you want to use vbulletin?
hee, sorry but you make it sound so ominous!

[Frets]

Do you have a base that will follow you?

If it's a popular idea chances are there is a lot of competition.
Do you know your competition?

Are you prepared to be quickly banned if you are a member of a competeing forum? Some forums love nothing better then a good mud fight. Spamming a competitors forum for members especially those of a emotional nature may cause more headache then a few bans and thread dumps of your own. Tread slowly. Even if you don't get hacked the negative affects of having to deal with day in day out battles will rob your strength and eventually show you as bitter. No one wins new members with a chip on thier shoulder that everyone can see.

Word of mouth does more for success of a board then indexing. If you have strong credibility in the field already it's a good start you still need to cultivate membership.

The founder of swish-tutorials (now swishtalk.com) was highly respected before he opened the doors to his forum. His success lay in his administrative abilites beyond his moderator abilities. Screen, Develop, Promote and encorage your staff.
They can do more to promote your site then you can.

If you try to do all things all the time you will burn out before your forum is fully realized.

[Scott]

hee, sorry but you make it sound so ominous!
:D Nothing against vB, it's a decent piece of software which I'm happy to use. Just want to make sure people have considered other options before being set on vB. Free is often a lot easier to afford that commercial when starting up a forum.

[PN-Matt]

I agree with Scott. However if you need a dedicated support team vbulletin may be what you need. I have nothing against it personally but it may be a bit costly to invest money into it especially as a start-up community.

There are lots of free forum software out there that can match vbulletin. However if you are willing to invest into it right away make sure you can make it successful!

Remember you can try a free forum software then migrate to vbulletin when you are bringing in enough money from ads.. etc.

It just appeared to me that he hadn't investigated the other alternatives ;).

Just my thoughts.

Matt :)

[TheDPQ]

I agree with Scott. However if you need a dedicated support team vbulletin may be what you need. I have nothing against it personally but it may be a bit costly to invest money into it especially as a start-up community.
I set up a forum for my sister which makes 0 money is just for her weird friends and i did it for free. I still choose VB for it.

[PN-Matt]

Well, That's your choice. If he wants to fork out for it then by all me means he can do so. It's his decision, personally if I wasn't going to get something back just to cover the cost of the license (not to make a profit) it would make me think twice about using it. There are lots of other brilliant forum software out their depending on what someone wants to use ;)

Are you following me? :D :D

[TheDPQ]

Are you following me?
Yup yup. Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to choose X forum software. Price is a factor, but its not like you have to justify the cost in terms of profit of the forum. I picked it over phpbb purely for the admincp. It was worked out to something like 12 bucks a month for the first year and something like 2-3 bucks a month for the rest of the time (owned). I felt i saved enough with the features and free hacks of vb that i could justify the cost.

Now if you have a limited budget and you could spend that money on something like say, advertising then yah your going to have to think about it harder. I never planned on making money and i still choose VB. That was the only point i was trying to make. :)

[PN-Matt]

Some people purchase a license use it for a month or two find out it's very difficult to get members and give up :doh:

There are some situations where paid is the way to go and free is not and there are some situations where free is the way to go and paid may not be the best option for what you want to do.

We will see what his option is though. This is a topic nobody will win so he will have to find the forum software that's best for him. Judging from his last post he already has :)

Matt