The 2 Types of Failing Forums

[needvert]

needvert submitted a new Article:

The 2 Types of Failing Forums

The 2 Types of Failing Forums
Finding out where you are on the spectrum, and what you need to do!
-Another Article by Yours Truly

Disclaimer: If your forum is new, and succeeding to meet an activity level, and member quota (defined by yourself), then this information does not neccesarily apply to you.

There are two types of failing forums in this virtual world of ours. (A great man once said that.)

These two types are

1. The Ghost Town- Your forum may have a decent memberlist, but none of them ever post. Your memberlist grows everyday, but none of them ever post. People seem to like your forum, but no one ever posts. You my friend have a barren forum.

2. The Little Forum that Could- Your forum has very little members, but they post alot. Only a few people know about your forum, but those that do, post alot. Your memberlist gets stuck somwhere in the teens. People do like your forum, not many are aware of its existence. You my friend have a fledgling community of sorts.

The pros:

1. The Ghost town-
a. People are finding your forum.
b. You probably have done some advertising.
c. People are registering

2. The Little Forum that Could-
a. Your members are talking!
b. They are sustaining you for now!
c. People are getting along!

The Dark Side:

1. The Ghost town-
a. Only one or two people say anything.
b. Everyone seems reserved.
c. There may not be much to talk about.

2. The Little Forum that Could-
a. Your not on the map.
b. Your memberlist stagnates, or doesnt even grow at all.
c. Your community may suffer if even one member is absent.

What You need to do:

If you are the 1st kind of forum owner, you need to:

Do post exchanges- The Exchange Zone in Taz is a good place to start, make sure you get quality posts.

Tell people you know in real life, to talk.

Start a contest- Be careful with this, but in the past, it has helped people jumstart the discussion

Revamp your forum- Maybe your members just dont know where to post.

Promote one person to a moderator- Alot of people would suggest against this, but this person maybe the difference between you succeeding, and you failing.

If you are the second kind of forum owner you need to:

Advertise, Advertise,...

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[blade951875]

Love it!

Great article I think alot of people should read this, just maybe bold the First forum owner and second forum owner, since it took me like a minute to find the second (exageration!)

 

[needvert]

thanks.

i would edit it, but i cant seem to edit it. all i see is a quote button, quite odd really.

 

[blade951875]

All I see is the Quote button on my post as well. The admins have probably turned the edit off, Smart thing. Some people on forums and get really angry at the forum they posted their documentations at and edit them to have profanity in the post or something rude against the forum.

Any who nice documentation, again

 

[christicehurst]

Most forum hate promotion from other forums, even on signatures.

 

[forwardone]

thanks.

i would edit it, but i cant seem to edit it. all i see is a quote button, quite odd really.

You`ll probably find that there is a time limit which has been set for members editing their own posts. Normally if editing needs doing it`s done within a few minutes so often forum owners will allow, say, up to 60 minutes for that to be done. After that the function is disallowed.

 

[christicehurst]

The time limit I think is one day or 12 hours.

 

[needvert]

Most forum hate promotion from other forums, even on signatures.

yeah, but if it is something that isnt in competition, they probably wont mind . its always good to follow the rules though.