What can I add to my forum to keep members?
I have a forum for friends and its got 25 members at the moment, but it seems a bit of a problem getting them all to frequently come on the forum. I have a core or members who post every day or every other day but there's a few fringe people who don't come on as often. How do I get these members to stay and post?
I have added a whole host of MODs to the forum to make it much easier use, given it better features, and on the front page is a list of good internet links. Is there anything else I could add to make the site more interesting?
It's only been up since last month so I suppose it's grown pretty well (perhaps better than I expected) but I think the growth rate is starting to slow so I wanted to give it a bit of a push.
Got any ideas? The address is: http://www.timjbart.dudehost.com/forums/
Any help would be appreciated
steve40 posted this at 11:41 — 20th June 2005.
He has: 490 posts
Joined: May 2005
I would actually feel good about that one. I have one that has been up about a month, only three members. Out of that I am one. I would like to see an answer to this question also!.
Megan posted this at 13:22 — 20th June 2005.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Steve started another thread with similar concerns:
http://www.webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?t=29544
When I looked at your site the first question I had was - what is Yatley????? How do I know if I want to get involved if I don't know what it's about?
Now, what exactly is the problem with your site? Is it that you are getting a lot of visitors but they're not registering and posting? Or are you not getting enough hits in the first place?
You might want to replace the default phpBB skin. I don't think that's really a huge problem but it could help to make the site look more interesting. I know phpBB has a lot of pre-made skins available from the users site. IME, people don't really care that much about what a forum looks like, or what extra features it has. They'll put up with a lot of inconveniences even if the discussion is good.
Megan
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TimJBart posted this at 17:36 — 20th June 2005.
They have: 6 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
There's a link on the right hand side: Where is Yateley?
The people I am aiming this forum at will already know of Yateley (a place in the UK) but that is an interesting point though Megan. Maybe I should address that.
Glad you guys seem to think my forum is running along quite well, I am happy with it, but you can never have too many members!
I have emailed a lot of people to get the amount of member I have. But I am beginning to wonder if I would perhaps be able to open my forum up to general internet users, but I need to decide what purpose my site would actually have first!
steve40 posted this at 16:06 — 20th June 2005.
He has: 490 posts
Joined: May 2005
Actually you will have only a small percentage out of your members, that will post regularly. I've seen the estimated number before, but I forget what it is. Anyway it's something like 10%, so according to this you are doing very well for the time length.
I've seen forums on the internet that date back several years, with not as many posts as you already have. Forum competition is stiff, there are many forums for every subject that you can conceive. So either you win, or loose. There is not really much you can do about it.
Megan posted this at 18:13 — 20th June 2005.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
So this is a local discussion forum? Then why don't you forum topics address local issuses? Why should people come to your forum to talk about things they could talk about anywhere? Why would they come to the forum to talk about this rather than talking to people in real life? These are the kinds of questions you might want to think about.
To publicize your forum you could try talking to the local newspapers or media if you have it. Even small towns around here have newspapers that seem to print every minor occurance. You could also make up postcards and post them on public boards around town or at the library or wherever.
Megan
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