Gadgets Inspector | Hot Gadgets and Gizmos

After writing “Common Mistakes In Newly Created Forums”, i realized that writing more in that topic is essential, so here it comes: Launching a forum-The First Steps

�© All Rights Reserved, Infinity Blogs Network 2005

1.Plan It: Before you start anything, even before choosing the host…plan, what do kind of forum do you want to have? do you want it laid back? strict? big? small? kinky? poltically-correct? It is important to ask those questions, but the more important is the actual assemblage: the categories, the boards, the ranks etc etc…

Now there is two ways to do this planning: one is having a slightly solid idea of what you want to do, and then start assembling while thinking, that’s what i did with Infinity Forums. The other way is what i call “the dry way”: sit, get a little note-pad, and start writing the names of the boards, the ranks, the descreptions.

Most of the forum owners don’t even think before creating their forum, a very common mistake indeed.

2.Give us a reason: I stumble upon alot of disappionted mates saying “please join my forum”, but i stumble upon alot more saying “nobody is joining ” , oh well…there are tons of reasons why an average forum attender wouldn’t join any forum, i’m not asking for 100 reasons, give your guests atleast 5 good (& original) reasons to join the forum, and i’m not talking about the fancy ranks, nor the smilies that you didn’t create, i’m talking about 5 good reasons for the visitor to become a member, think about it

3.Look Forward- Strategy: Ok, The kick off was great, you made “the member of the month” contest, you have something like 23 members and 1345 posts, what now?

This is a problem that occurs to all forums in some stage, the wise thing is to postpone it as much as possible, and you can do that by having a plan, by looking forward and knowing what to do next. have at least 2 things you’re going to do when the forum is going on low gear, have reserve “projects” and contests that will wake up the forum in a time of “crisis”.

4.Flexibility: All of the above clauses mentioned how planning is essential, how good it is to have some projects in mind ready to be done, but what happens when you have to switch, when you see that your members aren’t really interested in the kind of projects you’re running at the forum? Switch. Even if you’re a perfectly-planned person like me, don’t hesitate to change things and take risks.

This also applies for Flexibility towards members with all of the rules breaking issues, suggestions and criticism, Don’t hear! listen, take 5 seconds and a deep breath, and then act

5.Members: Tempt Them, Satisfy them: The key for an active forum is alot of members: Wrong.

The key for an active forum is good members attendance, what we call “active members”. Ok, so you were told what is the key, but you’ve never been told how to find it, well…you can ask, ask whom? your members of course, what do they want to see in your forum? what are the potential improvments in it? what is so wrong?

Satisfy the current and tempt the potential, deal.

6.Do it for fun: You’ve tried, you’ve tried harder, you’ve tried until red mixed with some blue air came out of your ears, but you still feel “sucky”. Wait a minute, think: what are the good things that happend in this forum?.

No, we don’t want to create an euphoria here, hard work is needed, consistency is important, but sometimes it just doesn’t work, and when that happens, the only thing you should do is enjoy what you reached until now, and keep on working, not weeping!

7.Cristise every step, every move: when you own an “ambitious” forum you’ve got to understand that people from all over the world are visiting, different minds, different cultures, different personalities…difference. Each member will see a specific step differently, so you have to make sure that you consider the implication of your “big steps”.

8.Asthetics: “Don’t look at the bottle, look at what’s in it”….Give me a break! are you 90 years old or something???

Don’t misunderstand me, i admire this quote, but todays’ reality shows that most people do look at the bottle, without having a slight peek of what’s in it.

Pick a good looking & a matching design for your forum theme, make sure your boards description isn’t too long nor too short, consider compatibility of the boards’ skin with different resoloutions and browsers, don’t make the ranks too long and complicated to understand.

9.Make it ring, Make it ring:“Don’t look at the bottle, nor at what’s in it, just look at the bartender that bring it”, yes…most of the visitors and guests are “wiser” now, they come because of the descreption you give, the name, the motto!

Find a good ringing name, name your boards in a way that will give a tempting first impression, don’t summarize when advertising, but don’t say too much: pointblank is the word.

10.The Host: This is a huge issue itself, and we’ll have a whole post about this specific clause, so i’m just going to advise you: Pick the right host for your needs. (And make sure you know what are your needs before you decide!)

——-

How could i forget Marketing?!?!: I didn’t, but this is a very wide work-feild, too wide to fit into a clause, and this field will have a post only about it aswell.

Stay Tuned, Hope I helped!