Creating a forum

I've built up a very large forum and it takes time without a decent budget.

Start off with a blog, when you start getting many comments each day, that's the time to consider a forum.

Otherwise, if you can afford it then advertise on high traffic sites in your niche.

I really appreciate your decision. This will be a great benefit for many newbies. Many forums are available out here where accurate solutions are not provided. If members are experienced, they can provide better solution. I suggest, please go for it. All the best.

1. Then I would take on the position of moderator/learner and seek out interviews from the experts.

2. Yes. You need the help of moderators, and you need dedication + strategies to make it work. Quality will come from contributors or not, just like any other forum.

3. http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...tml#post535066

4. I use phpBB which is free, but had a pro set it up the way I like.

phpBB is a pretty good way to start. You can add a lot of features to it and it's pretty much free. Vbulletin forums are the most secure but it can cost you an arm and leg depending on a number of things.

First create a forum using VB and hire some forum posters and experts too.. adn advertise your site in other forums or blogs or you can try google adwords also

Good luck

Getting the forum setup is the easy part, aside from VBulletin there are a number of open source forum applications that you can install on your website.

PHP BB - One of the most popular forums.
Simple Machines Forum - Another very popular forum product.
MyBB - A very versatile forum package.
SEO Board - A lightweight forum that is search engine friendly.
BB Press - A forum for WordPress.
Kunena - A forum component for Joomla

Once you get it setup maintaining it, moderating it and driving traffic is the hard part. As Louise has said, it will take time and it requires a budget.

I wish you success with it, if you need help with the technical side of it please let me know.

Bill

I am a former forum admin of a major online computer games fansite; one of the top 5 in the world, currently forum mod and from my experience people do not expect that an admin can be there 24/7...that is what the forum moderators are for.

Best way to do it is to set up the forum and monitor it for a month or two and select the typically best people who don't cause problems and know the role to distinguished/senior member first who has llimited ability to move, change and edit posts, and the forum mod and then finally to forum admin with you still overseeing it, after about 6-12 months promote them to forum admin.

You do not have to pay them, to get the admin position on a huge website with many thousands of readers is a major achievement and will always look good on a CV...sort of like an internship.

The biggest mistake new forums make is promoting anyone and everyone right at the start and those who apply, you need to start slowly...

Never, ever give out applications for adminship...it is a volunteer role and should be kept that way for those who actually want to do it rather than those who simply want power, after a year or two in that role they can go to any company in the world and say that they were in a top position as I was...even though I was crap at the technical side of things. (I excel at the face to face people forum skills though much better than those who do the technical side of it, those that need someone to explain what is going on)

Having been an admin of a major games fansite may seem like a joke to many fortune 500 companies, but it shows time, people, and resources management skills that simply cannot be learnt anywhere else.

If you need some feedback to how your site layout is I am but a PM away....

Most people stuff their new forum with too many subjects, you need to start with FOUR and stick to them:

General discussion

Questions

Suggestions

Feedback

If you shove too many subforums in too fast you will not get any traffic as your site seems dead, build on it slowly from those 4 main areas as and when needed or requested

I've set up ran and sold two small-medium forums, one on phpBB (free open source) and one on vBulletin ($). I'd recommend going with phpBB as it's easier to set up and still enough powerful (and free of course).

A few things to keep in mind:
- begin with a small amount of subforums - don't create 27 even before you get one post; create new categories only when you need them
- get friends, family involved to ask questions on the forum, create an active forum, though only 3-5 people are involved in the beginning
- once you get traction, the forum will also be interesting for experts as they will get exposure to their market
- don't expect to get big numbers quickly; building a good forum can take years (yes, years)
- don't be a (too) democratic administrator; seriously - I'm all for democracy in politics but you have to run your forum with a hard hand - once I sold the first forum, the new owner almost totally lost control because he didn't want to run it the same as I did; a lot of members didn't like me but in the end appreciated the order I've kept
- get good, responsible moderators - these should be the oldest, responsible members on the forum (not by age but by activity)