Overall Guide to Having a Successful Forum/Community
Written by Ghost
Written by Ghost
Introduction
Forum. What comes to mind when you hear that word? Chances are, if you havn't been on the web much, then you simply think you misread that a "form". Yeah, you didn't. A forum is an online community where people can share ideas and thoughts on a varity of subject matters. I've seen forums for just about every topic you can think of, yeah, even that one. There are many big forums out there, and by big I mean having millions of vistors and users daily. Most forums require users to join, although there are some based as anonymous, with no joining needed. The most notable anonymous community is 4chan (Warning, explict content) although it is an imageboard. Sony, makers of the PlayStation gaming console have an offical forum and community. Now you're probably wanting to know how to start your own, which is exactly what you should be wondering. This guide will help you get started, and keep you going for a long period of time.
1. Picking a theme
Not theme as in colors, we havn't made it that far yet. A theme for a forum is the topic. You have the ability to make it about anything that interests you, or stuff that doesn't, it's up to you. Personnaly I own a forum dealing with humor, which i'm good with. I also own a forum that allows people to share files and works using the KopiMi licence. I picked these topic because I was good at humor, and I was extremly interested in how copyright systems worked, and the negatives the current one in place can cause. My suggestion is to look around at your daily life, and see what you like that others might be interested in as well. Once you have your topic of choice, feel free to move on to step two.
2. Picking software
When starting an online community, its extremly important to pick which software will suit your needs. The first question that should come to mind is, do I want my community freely hosted, or on a paid host. I won't go into detail on that matter in this guide, so don't be afraid to do some Google researc on the topic. Once you have that figured, you are faced with the choices of software. Heres a quick run down of the most widely used software, and the positvies and negatives of each.
»Invision Power Board
-Advanced moderation functions
-Easy content sharing via RSS
-Community-focused user profiles
-Powerful customization options
-Flexible permission system
-Extensible with components
-Comprehensive administration area
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-Costs the most of all the software
-Can be hard for new admins to use
»vBulletin
-Scalable solution - database server and web servers can reside on separate machines.
-MySQL back-end database
-vBulletin can be run on any machine that can support PHP and MySQL (Solaris, BSD, Linux, Windows, Mac)
-Written in PHP which makes for a fast and efficient product
-Admin Control Panel
-Moderator Control Panel
-User Control Panel
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-Can also be hard for new admins to use
-Alot of features come installed that won't be used
»phpBB
-Completly open source and free
-Lots of premade MODs and customizations
-Huge support community to back you up
-Thousands of open source skins
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-MODs may be hard for new admins to install
-Security patchs can be slow (although 99% of the time its fast)
»MyBB
-MyBB makes use of AJAX to enhance its features
-MyBB's inline moderation makes management easier
-Extensive permissions allow for complete control
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-Can be hard for a new admin to update
-Is not widely used, smaller support
-Security patches the slowest
»SMF
-The Package Installer allows easy installation of mods & themes
-Great support forums
-Huge database of mods & themes
-Easy to administrate
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-Could be considered "unorganized" for some people
-May be confusing at first
Overall, its up the end user to decide. I also only covered forum software, so if you're looking for imageboards software or the like, i'd ask around a few admin forums. If you insist on asking me, if you have the money purchase IPB, if not then use phpBB. Those are the two best in my opinion, however don't take my word for it. IPB offers a live demo, and i'm sure you can sample the others as well. Try before you buy, and you might also want to check this wiki page.
3. Kicking off
By this point i'm assuming you have your software, and were able to install it. If not, try asking around or looking on sites such as YouTube for video tutorials. You should also have the forum setup how you want it, although remember anything can be changed later. It is now time for your grand opening. Here's the best way to go about it, post around on other forums announcing that you will open on "Insert date here" and this is what your forum will offer. This builds hype, which will help to get guests to your site on opening day. I suggest doing this to around 5 or 6 different forums, although not too many. On grand opening day, return to those forums which you posted on. Make a new seperate topic about the opening, and when members click and read it, it will ring a small bell in their head. Its like watching commercials on televsion, when you see that product again you remember it and it can get you to possibly purchase it. The same effect applies, and works with forums and guests. Don't expect to get 1,000 members the first day, depending on how many forums you posetd on, expect at very most 25. If you only end up with 5, don't quit! It simply means you need to pay even closer attention to the rest of this guide, as I explain how to keep the forum going strong.
4. Keeping the community active
No matter how many guests you have daily, none of them will join unless your forum is active. Now you can't always have an active forum, sometimes it died down. This is where you, as admin, need ot kick things up a notch. Many people have secrets to keeping their forum active, but it all boils down to a single secret, magic. In real life, people who preform magic tricks do just that, they trick you into seeing something that isn't really happening. You don't need your forum active per say, you just need to make it look active. The most common way of doing this is by creating alt accounts that you control, and reply to topics. Although this can help out, it alone won't be enough. The members you do have need to post from time to time. Hold contests, giveaways, and have events to help force users to stay. Another good idea is to order "packages" or free forum posts from free web advertsing forums. A few good ones to note would be,
-Divine Adverts
-Forum Resources
-Ultimate Adverts
-Forum Advertiser
-Forum Promotion
Also, make sure you are online as much as possible. You don't even have to be there, just keep it open in another tab, or leave you computer on while you run to the store. The presence of an admin makes guests feel like you care.
5. Search engines
Im not going to go into detail on how to make search engines index your site well, theres millions of guides on that. Here's a good one I found written by Rotting, who appears to know his SEO stuff. I'm going to focus more on the many different places to stick your url, many of which you probably didn't think of. Blog comments. Blogs usually have high page rank simply because they dont have that many out going links, which makes them the perfect place to feedoff of. When leaving a comment, add your url to the bottom of it. As long as you make good, well written comments, the blog author probably won't mind. If they do ask you to stop, or remove it, maybe you should find another blog to be reading. Other fourms can be of good help as well, using your signature there to gain extra inlinks. The most inportant thing to remember here is, inlinks never hurt. Be creative in how you find ways to place them.
6. Use blogs
I'm not saying start your own blog, because not all of us are good writers. I mean use blogs that are about the same topic as your forum. Become a reader for awhile and after a few weeks of leaving your url in the comments, send the blog author an email asking if they would like to do a write up about your forum for a slow news day. Often times they will agree, if your content is close to theirs. Every blog has a period of time where theres really no news in the subject, yet they want to keep their readers. Its a win win, with their readers staying connected and your forum gaining free advertising out of it, with people who are interested in your forums topic.
7. Know your rivals
Know your rivals. Google up the sites that contain content like yours, and keep a close watch on what they do. Try to come up with ideas they havnt yet, be unique. Personally, I keep a close watch on my rival sites so that I dont "copy" them by mistake. If we both think up the idea of adding "a" and they release it a day before I do, it would be smart to allow "a" to be theirs, while you then improve "a" and release it as better and more thought out than their "a", if that makes any sense. This allows you to be unique, a key factor with so many look-alike sites today.
More to come as I add it.
If you find this useful. 
If you find this useful. Current version: 1.01 (1/27/2009)
Changelog;
1.01 (1/27/2009)
-Added SMF info thanks to Shotgun
-Link to wiki chart, thanks to Murder he Wrote.
This guide was created in full by Ghost of Ghost Webz Network.. It is released under Kopimi, and may be used on any site, as long as this notice it kept in place. For a copy/paste version of this guide complete with links in place, please visit Society for Sharing
So what does everyone think? Any feedback would be GREAT, and anything you guys want added, let me know, its a work in progress 😉
