so im planning on creating a forums with 3 of my friends but we have no idea as to what its going to be aiming for an what it needs to be as successful as this forums an many other great forums any ideas or suggestions what do yhou want in a forums that will keep you going there everyday
First of all, it depends on what you are basing the forums on. (Gaming, music and so on)
Once you have chosen your main topic, you then add different sections which are based around it. For example, if you chose gaming you could have sections for Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo or if you chose music, you could have sections for different genres, instruments and so on.
It all depends on what you are basing your site on, if you would like to send me a PM telling me what it is based on, I will then assist you with what sections you should have.
Hello;
To begin, I must ask this of you: Will you be dedicated? Will you spend atleast 1 hour on it a day to better it? Will you work in unison with your fellow friends? If you said no, I recommend not starting. If you said yes, here's where to begin:
- Find a nichè that suites you. An example of this would be: A forum dedicated to the history of the Roman way of life. It has to be something that appeases you, and you want to stick to. If you don't agree with the subject, you won't stick with it.
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- Next, I would find a software you wish to run your forum off of. Some examples would be: Simple Machines Forums (SMF), MyBulletinBoard (MyBB), Invision Power Board, (IPB), etcetera. Some may cost money, but those are most of the time worth the extra cash. They have alot of cool features.
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- Pick a domain relating to your nichè. Let's use the example above about Roman history. We could get two types of domains: A free domain, or a paid one. Free ones are usually stuck with those who don't want to put out the money to pay. They may also relate those to who don't have the money to put out. Which is fine too. But a paid domain shows you're ready to put some effort into the site. So, most likely find a paid one. Back to our example: romanhistory.com would be a good one, wouldn't it? Yes. It fits your nichè perfectly. But if it's taken, you should go with something like.. romanhistory.net. Same thing, just different ending.
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- Find a good host. Most good hosts are paid, but there are some good free ones out there. I recommend you choose wisely because you don't want a host that goes offline often. That would destroy traffic you'd get to your site.
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- Setting up the forums: this is the easy part. You create forums, and sub-forums to fit your sites purpose. You could also add plugins to better your forums as well - such as the Awards plugin on this site. It gives a feature to the posters of your forums, to keep them coming back.
If you have any questions / concerns, please Private Message me.
-LS
well ima going to be dedicated i plan on using alot of time an money whats a good host i was going to use 2mhost idk if thsts good ive used tem for other sites but there not forums but what topics do people like? everyone likes gaming hacking music anime movies and that types of things
Check out the link in my signature, read that.
What you need to do is decide who's actually going to be in charge, and devote the most time/money to it. Because without a leader that can say "no, that's not going to happen" you will never succeed due to bickering.
I have a few tutorials on MyBB scattered about these forums, read them. I'm about to write one on creating a subscription program.
You also need to try to find a market that is not overly saturated, such as hacking, gaming, anime, etc.
Make it about something that you're knowledgeable in and enjoy doing.
Make it about something Unique.
A recently released game fanbase which could bring in members.
A Review Forum posting reviews of different things.
A Modding Forum, For games and Hardware.
Etc
GoodLuck with whatever you decide to do.
Make it about stuff you will like and enjoy.