Things to think about when starting a forum...

[Peter L]

Starting a forum can be relatively easy. Buying hosting, a domain, and installing forum software is easy. But actually making the forum something to be proud of. That is the hard part...and there is a lot of factors that go into making a forum that. The most important one is being prepared, ask yourself questions and answer them. Write them down and make sure you know what you're doing. Some questions can be:

Do you have an idea for a domain, for forum software, what will your forum offer to people, why should people visit, will it need a CMS, will it be just a forum, will it need a portal, do I know anyone at the moment who is interested in being a member, do I know anyone who can help me out, do I know places to advertise, what is my budget, will I use a free or custom theme, what plugins will I need, what can make the site unique?

Ask as many questions as you can. You also need an incentive to join. You'll always get people who sign-up because they like discussing, but they are the minority. You need something that the competition doesn't have and is specific to your niche.

Just think big, don't sell yourself short. "I"ll never beat the forum on page 1 of Google, what is the point?" All that tells you is people are interested in your niche. So make your forum and do something unique. People will join. Just let the world know your website exists and if you genuinely want the forum to succeed, it will over time with hard work.

http://mybbaddict.com

[Crystal]

A very nice and a very practical thread by the OP

[King]

Exact same thing goes for blogs pretty much. People often overlook the amount of planning you need when creating a site.

[Secrets]

Simple and easy to read.

This will come in handy to users who can't think outside of the box.