anyone here have exp running forum?

When I went through all of the free forum options, I liked myBB the best. I found it a lot easier to get up and running than phpbb. Just another option to think about.

It can be very rewarding if you can commit the time to it, but for every forum that is doing well, there are many that are deserted ghost towns.

Ask yourself (you don't have to tell us)
a. how will I get members to the forum?
b. what will keep them coming back?
c. is my target market going to coalesce into this online community?
If they won't form a community, then why will they keep coming back and contributing?

All of the major hosts would work well for a forum. It's just a script running on your server (or virtual server). If you're not going to be a graphic intensive forum, you probably don't need anything special.

May I ask why you want to run a forum? That answer is critical because it is a LOT of hard work. I am a moderator on a forum currently and have moderated in a few others over the years and that keeps me busy enough. It's not a good money making endeavour.

Scott, the questions you raised about how to get visitors (and turn them into regular members) is what I am trying to figure out. I have no problem revealing the forum topic - a forum for unemployed/underemployed Americans.

laurencewins -

I have been following the US economic scenario for quite a while (as part of my job) and would like to start a forum where people can come together to exchange ideas and job tips. I will also offer resume tips and job tips. Get resume writers to do some free critiques etc in exchange for letting them advertise their services.

At first I was thinking about starting a blog, but that didn't see interactive enough. I would really like to help people in whatever way possible. I know its sounds cliche, but that is the main reason.

I am in India and so if I make a profit $500 per month that is enough for me. Initially I will be doing other freelance gigs to cover the costs, but once it starts generating around $400-$500, I can focus on it more.

I manage a 2 successful forums using PHPBB with some modifications and hacks. I would recommend it to anyone starting out.

Horsestall, which web hosting company do you use?

I had my own vBulletin forum when I was 13. It was World of Warcraft based. It made a few shiny pennies the year it was up. It had a few thousand members too.

The good ole days. :rolleyes:

so can anybody give me some tips on how to run a forum. I mean other revelant forums for webmasters etc.

I've run 10 forums, although not at the same time. In my opinion VBulletin is the best there is. PhpBB is probably next best as it's free. Simple Machines is another free.

Start slow. Walk before you run. I've run most of the major scripts - PHPBB2 and 3, vBulletin, SMF, and some not so major (Joomla has some good ones - Fireboard and Kuneka)

You can start free - I'd go with simple machines (SMF) and migrate to VB if you need the extensions and scalability that VB offers.

For some tips on getting started, just google "forum promotion sites" or similar. PM me if you need help setting one up (I do SMF in about 20 min with eyes closed)

I like SMF for a forum. You might as well start out with a free type, because there must be a billion forums online now. If it does well and you want to go with a paid solution, VB can import your forum. You might not even need to, because there is at least one SMF with over 3 million posts.

It is a lot of work. About 10 minutes after you get your first link out there, the spammers start showing up.

A lot of them are bots, but there are enough of the human type who's only aspiration is to be a spam bot. You can't do it yourself. You need the help of someone else to moderate if you want to get some sleep.

This forum has a nice system with everyone able to report a problem, but it got attacked in a nasty way last Sunday, with hard porn in topic after topic.

I've run a quite active forum for going on for 10 years now. I started back in the day with Discusware - big security disaster - and switched to Vbulletin. Very happy with that... but I haven't upgraded to version 4 yet. There are still mixed reports about it.

Tips...

• Get some clear-cut forum rules and some moderators. People online behave weirdly.
• Don't have too many subforums when you're starting out - better to concentrate all the activity you can get in one small space.
• A community forms easily when there is no other way for these people to get together. You want a situation where if you talk to your real-life friends about the topic, they'll glaze over, or not understand one word in three, or start trying to save your soul, or fall asleep. Anything you really, obsessively want to be able to talk about, and can't talk about to most people you know, is a good forum topic.
• People will get into fights; you will intervene to stop the fights, and then everyone and their dog will pile in to attack you for being grossly unfair (to both sides at once), running a police state, being weak-willed, too easily intimidated and uncaring (yes, all at once), and to point out that the other person started it. If you have a thin skin and need people to like you, consider a different business model.
• People who join forums don't often spend money.
• Starting out on Hostgator or other shared hosting is fine, but if your forum gets popular you will need to move and spend more money.

Admin Zone Forums - Discussion Forums & Resources for Online Community Administrators

This site is a forum for forum owners and there is plenty of advice and support for those who own and moderate forums. It should be pretty helpful for you.