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I like the idea of hosting contests and I’ve hosted a few on the previous versions of my forum. Especially posting contests, they work well.

I want to apologize for the downtime. I was in Tennessee looking at property. The power was not fully restored when I left. I though the back up power would hold things together in between. It didn't. Site went offline on Tuesday as I was doing an upgrade. I wasn't able to access the server until this morning when I got home. Power was still off. It came back at about 1630ET. It still up and down. Backup generator is keeping up this time. Thanks for understanding

Yay it's back!

I love the colour picker! It's so neat.

I have created 2 new user groups. They are: VIP Visiting Admin The visiting admin group is for admins from other sites that are active participants here. The VIP group is for members that actively participate in the discussions, create new topics and contribute articles. Members promoted to this group will get extra privileges and get a shiny badge to denote that they are indeed VIP's. If you have any questions I'll answer them.

I also use them. They’re good for navigational purposes and can help users find topics a lot easier too.

I remember that. Sure has improved since then. Download, upload, install, done. :P

Not now. I prefer to let someone else do the hard work while I get the benefits. LOL. I am thinking about starting a forum. Not sure what topic. If I ever do pick a topic I'll start one.

I got the email that the site was open again. Good to know. I guess I never introduced myself. I'm Pacman. Good to meet you.

Geek checking in! Not as active as I once was. RL takes its toll.

Howdy folks, Shawn here. Shawn Gossman. Joined in 2010... WOW! 2010? I was 26! :o I'm 40 now. Crazy. Anyways, I'm back! AWS linked here on my forum (it's just another admin forum lol) and I love admin forums, so here I am :) 40, married male, live in Southern Illinois Thanks for having me...again!

On promotion, you really want to promote mainly where your audience is. That's why it's important to choose a target audience before you launch your forum. You can even use something like ChatGPT or some other AI to help you determine your audience if you're having trouble. It's better to narrow down your niche and easily target a more specific forum audience, IMO.

Not really doing a lot. Going to a community lunch and then a small family dinner on Christmas Day.

I am a surfer. Forums used to be my passion. Both running them and visiting them. I think this is a fine idea for a forum. I'll have some of my favs posted when I get time.

Here is a scenario. A visitor signs up for your site. His first post is an introduction. In the introduction he drops a link to his community. The next post are his sites stats which he comes back to everyday to add too. Each time with a link in the stats. Doesn't add any real content or engage with other users threads. What would do? Warn? Ban? Thoughts.

The solution might be to warn the members and ask them to contribute. But the solution will likely be a ban because I doubt they will change, theoretically speaking, LOL. 😛

I don't own a forum currently but for those who do, I think it's a good to post 5 threads and 5 posts everyday across the forum.

I never go into creating forums with any expectations. I am pretty hard on myself and expect perfection in everything I do. I do this for a hobby. I am passionate about it and try to make each forum the best they can be. I just don't want to set goals.

Many people think a website has to be complicated or have numerous features to be successful. That is not always true. A simple HTML/CSS/JS website can be just as successful as a more sophisticated one if it is achieving its aims. For example, a simple landing page can drive more sales than a full website if it is optimized for conversions. It is not about the tool, it's about how you can wield and leverage it.

Google has been cracking down on "keyword stuffing" and instead now prioritizes and favors contextual keywords. If you use one keyword too many times, Google will not look at your content favorably. Top SEOs advise that you use synonyms, long-tail keywords, and alternatives to avoid this issue while also providing a wider variety of keyword for which you can rank.

Generating content for your site can be approached in various effective ways. Here are some of the best methods: Blog Posts: Write informative articles or guides related to your niche. Use SEO techniques to optimize for search engines. User-Generated Content: Encourage your audience to submit their own content, such as reviews, testimonials, or stories. Visual Content: Create infographics, videos, or slideshows to convey information in a visually appealing way. Podcasts: Start a podcast series discussing topics relevant to your audience. Social Media Integration: Share content from your social media platforms and engage with your audience to generate discussions. Email Newsletters: Send regular updates or curated content to your subscribers to keep them engaged. Webinars and Live Events: Host webinars or live Q&A sessions to provide value and interact with your audience in real-time. Surveys and Polls: Conduct surveys to understand what your audience wants and create content based on their feedback. Collaborations: Partner with influencers or other brands to create joint content that reaches a wider audience. Content Repurposing: Take existing content and adapt it into different formats (e.g., turning a blog post into a video). These are all great tips and by combining these strategies, you can create diverse and engaging content that resonates with your audience and enhances your site’s visibility.

Starting a forum can be very rewarding. I will advise you to go with the tech niches. They are broad and you can easily get topics that will spark engagement. It could be on cybersecurity, AI, or gaming. Understanding the current dynamics is also very crucial. You can leverage platforms like Discord, Reddit, and Facebook to understand the current community dynamics.

I Couldn't agree more because outdated software might cause some security problems. When you regularly update, it will ensure compatibility. My piece of advise is to consider implementing two-factor authentication and strong passwords. This will boost security.

You can get that. At the top right just above the thread list you'll see a hamburger icon. Click that to change to forum view.

Maybe make it for computer-related questions for users rather than just chit-chat. Keep it niche-based.

Agreed! The color picker is a nice touch. Ehren made this theme, if I'm not mistaken?

Most of the ones I remember are not seen any longer. I am not sure what happened to them. At some point some of them will find it. I think we had 1 user already find us from an old bookmark.

Thanks for the welcome. Thank you, it was originally my custom theme designed by Doh for Admin Junkies. Good times. I definitely have more themes planned to do and release, but it will take some time.

No demo yet! I'm still working out some issues with unread tracking, and moving some stuff around. A demo will probably be up by the end of next week. :D

This is a forum for people that have visited forums. This forum is for the newbie that doesn't own a forum to ask questions and discuss what they see if good/bad about the modern forum communities. No admin experience necessary.

You can call me cap, I came here from stalking AAF, and I am a php/codeigniter/wordpress kind of person. Also currently coding a forum for fun.

Watched this happen on TV. Scary to see probably worse to be in.

I am a surfer too. Don't surf as much as before.

Still spotty? I notice the forum slows down sometimes but speeds up. But I figure it could be my end too. You can see the northern lights here last night. While awesome, it does a number of communications equipment. You being a ham already know that I'm sure haha

Just glad you're okay! :)

These are some tips for coding an addon for your favorite forum software: Understand the Forum Software: Familiarize yourself with the specific forum software you're targeting (e.g., phpBB, vBulletin, Discourse). Read the documentation to understand its architecture and plugin system. Set Up a Development Environment: Create a local development environment to test your addon without affecting a live forum. Use tools like XAMPP or Docker for PHP-based forums. Follow Best Practices: Adhere to coding standards and best practices for the language used (PHP, JavaScript, etc.). This ensures your code is clean, maintainable, and compatible with future updates. Use Hooks and APIs: Leverage hooks and APIs provided by the forum software to integrate your addon seamlessly. This minimizes conflicts with the core software and other addons. Plan Your Features: Clearly define the features and functionality of your addon. Create a roadmap or outline to guide your development process. Focus on User Experience: Ensure your addon is user-friendly. Consider the interface design and how users will interact with your addon. Test Thoroughly: Perform extensive testing to identify and fix bugs. Test in various scenarios to ensure compatibility with different themes and other addons. Document Your Code: Write clear documentation for your addon, including installation instructions, usage guidelines, and a changelog. This helps users understand and utilize your addon effectively. Stay Updated: Keep your addon updated with the latest version of the forum software to ensure compatibility and security. Engage with the Community: Join forums or communities related to the software to gather feedback, share your progress, and get support from other developers. Consider Security: Implement security best practices to protect against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF. Version Control: Use version control systems like Git to track changes and collaborate if you're working with a team. By following these tips, you'll be better equipped to create a successful addon for forum software.

I typically looks to promote once I am about 10 members in and we have some activity. I post in exclusively on my forum, not others. I recruit from within. If no one wants it, I'll keep going solo until someone within does. :) I looks for helpful, active, and, most of all, friendly people to be invited onto the team.

Good idea for a forum. I'm sure iy will get used.

Yea I know it just got back. Can't be helped. I will be updating the xenforo from 1.5.14 to 2.3.3. Backups will be made first. When I start the backup I'll close the site. If everything goes well It should only be done a couple hours. See you all on the other side.

I use a similar guide when I look for moderators. Greta infor for sure.

My first site was made with the WebTV page builder. My second website was on Tripod-Lycos. Remember that? LOL Dreambook all that stuff haha Then, I found Freepgs.com and started doing HTML. Wanted to code a Php/Mysql forum but never sat down and learned it.

I think it was a good read and an accurate depiction of the state of forums. I especially resonate with the last point - the appreciation of what forums have always been like in terms of structure. I have a Facebook group with more than 45K members. It's extremely active. It's so unorganized. If categories and prefixes existed, it would be a much better experience. I'm spoiled with forums but now social media is trying to kill the forum -- rather they have been trying for a while now.

It's planned. Once the upgrade is done I'll send out an email.

I happened to be cleaning out old stuff in my bookmarks and clicked on a link to here. Surprise when it worked. Nice to see it back.

There is a definite need for forum mentors. People that will guide a new user along. Most people that join a community either don't post because they are intimidated or because they are shy. If there were mentor who's job it was to message the new user and get them involved communities would thrive.

I'm a big beleiver in tags. I add them to every thread I start. I've got much traffic from them.

They caught a lot of grief from vbulletin users at the start. Everyone said they stole the vbulletin code. John Percival the fater of vbulletin dispelled that rumor. Problem was he waited to do it until he coukld audit the code. He was in the process of developing 2.0. mybb survived and that's a good thing. They have never wavered from what they do.

Nice re-introdution.

And what's crazy is Vanilla, I think, has been around for a long time, but they went modern really early.

It took me a minute to figure out categories and boards. It came default with a "Forums" category and one board under it. They call it channel, I call it board LOL. But I had to create a secondary category under Forums to make the category name show up on index and then child forums under the categories. So, like three deep to get a board to display under a visible category. That took me about a half hour to figure out. It's lacking some feature. Security questions, likes, etc. I figured vb would already have that TBH to compete with XF.