Getting Started Again

[Rocky]

What would I need to do today to get a forum started? I am thinking about getting back in the forum world. 

What would I need to do to get a forum started and bring in users? Are post exchanges still good way to bring in users? What about board wars? Those worked very well in the past.

Help me out. I'm ready to start again.

[AWS]

It's tough to get a forum going now that there is Reddit, Facebook and the like. It can still be done. Takes lots of hard work.

You need to decide on a niche. After that decide on the software. If you want just a forum and don't want to pay for the software use phpBB or myBB. You can convert ti a paid software after the community gets off the ground.

If you want more than a forum then you should look into using Wordpress with a forum addon. You can add galleries later if you like.

Once you get the forum running the real work starts. Promote it, add content and promote it. Promotion is the hardest part. As long as you have content that is.

Good luck. When you get started let us know. Some of us can help get you started.

 

[Shawn]

On your niche...

Try to go with something that you're passionate about. If you can narrow it down to something that you have a lot of expertise in, that is going to even be better.

Basically, make sure it's a topic that you don't mind posting about for years to come.

[Cpvr]

Have you decided on a niche yet? Post exchanges can help you get your forum off the ground with new posts and threads. You can also get forum packages from other admin sites like Administrata and forumpromotion, which can really help you get your forum off the ground especially while doing post exchanges as well.

 

You’ll also have to promote your forum everywhere, such as, on reddit, facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc, so you can attract new members. The more places that you promote your forum, the easier it’ll be to attract new members.

[Shawn]

On 12/18/2024 at 2:07 PM, Cpvr said:

Have you decided on a niche yet? Post exchanges can help you get your forum off the ground with new posts and threads. You can also get forum packages from other admin sites like Administrata and forumpromotion, which can really help you get your forum off the ground especially while doing post exchanges as well.

 

You’ll also have to promote your forum everywhere, such as, on reddit, facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc, so you can attract new members. The more places that you promote your forum, the easier it’ll be to attract new members.

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.