When starting a forum or blog:
First: Thing of a topic. It's much better to work on a forum or blog about something you have a certain passion for. Rather than picking a topic which seems to be popular and a 'member-getter', choose something which you enjoy. This is probably the hardest part of the process: "What should I make my forum on?" I suggest just writing a list of all the things you enjoy and grouping them together in similar categories then picking the one with the most categories to make your site. For Example:
List #1: Architecture, coding, ps3, wii, n64, computer repair, phpbb and wordpress templates, Call of Duty 4, Counter Strike Source, forums, computer repair, webdesign ...
In short, this list generally points to games and gaming systems. With this information at hand, you need to consider the following:
Do Not Narrow your forum/site down too much. Having a forum about the PlayStation Portable is not the greatest idea as there arent as many people with a PSP than anther Sony gaming system. You could make a forum for Sony Playstation (encompases the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP) which will gather a much wider-range of potential members. Same goes for Nintendo and Microsoft. It's not always a good idea to have your forum So Broad-Topic'ed either. Having a forum for ALL games and systems could get nasty. 50 Forum Categories with close to 100 subforums is not the best way to start a forum.
If you are going to have a broad topic, the best way to get it up and running is to have a few categories with a couple forums but, have the forum open to suggestions. Encourage members to request new categories etc as time goes on. If handled in a conservative manner (dont add EVERY Forum which is suggested, then your forum will grow and the new Forum Categories will get as much traffic and postage as the original 'Cats.' (An idea is to create a Poll asking members if they like the new idea). Dont run it for too long, just allow a few people to cast a vote to get the general idea. There are other things you should really concentrate on.
After you have your Forum Categories setup you need to test your site (especially with phpbb3). Create a new member with no special permissions...just like someone else when they signup. Go through each forum and make sure you can post, reply, make a poll, or whatever other permissions you want your *Registered User to have.
Now, if you want to create a Group for Moderators, Tech, Graphics, whatever, go for it, but remember, when you are starting a new forum: You Dont Need Staff...many people will more or less 'bribe' people to join their forum with some sort of moderator status. This is Bad: Those members often will visit your site for a little while, and then leave. You want members who joined your site because they enjoy the topic and want to participate a little more than the average member.
DO NOT EVER GIVE OUT FULL ADMIN! You will open your board to being 'hacked', 'tampered', 'closed' or even Deleted.
Now your permissions are setup and your groups (maybe) are ready, now it's time to make it pretty. Choose a template (install one if you have ftp access) and go through the pages to make sure it's not broken (In the event a template is broken, please bring the issue up in the Support Forum so an Admin can either fix it, or uninstall the template or possibly reinstall it for the fix). Either design or request for a Banner. You need something with your site title! This is a relatively easy service to find as everyone is trying to get their name out there and what better way that have one of their banners displayed on another site.
Now you are ready for members. There are so many ways to do this so you are in luck! Some ideas:
~ Tell your friends: Chances are, your friends will have the same interests as you. Go ahead and see if they want to join your site. Later on, when/if you need staff...these are the perfect candidates as you know them well (and in person).
~ Create a banner or a text link in your Signature on all the other forums you are signed up with. I have found that not only does your # of advertisements increase with the more posts you create, (and it doesnt break other site's TOS), but if you help someone out, or create an online identity as a 'Good Person', then people will start to click on your Signature Link much more. You would be surprised at how well this works!
~ Join Advertisement Sites: You can participate in services to literally give you posts and give you members. Generally they wont be returning members (unless you participate in the same service again), but it will help you establish your site.
***Many people will not want to join a site with little to no members/posts. You want to try to fill up every forum with anything at all. Advertisement sites (such as http://Advertise.prophpbb.com) offer these services and more.
~ Whenever you post a link to your site...make sure it hyperlinks. Trust me when I say, broken links or text links which dont link anywhere, is a major turn-off for prospective members. Many times, there are thousands of sites online to chose from, so you want to make it as easy as you can for your members to join. When advertising, go ahead and stick in a link to the Register page! (DO NOT Include your sid-id) THe link will follow the following format in phpbb3:
http://advertise.prophpbb.com/ucp.php?mode=register
These are just a few ideas to get your site established and a member and post boost. If you have any other ideas please reply to this thread with them and upon approval, they will be added to the list along with your name and a link to your site.
GOOD LUCK!
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