[MinecraftGeek]

Tips on starting a new forum
This is a guide made by MCG this will help you with the basics of creating a new forum. Note NickFost taught me some of the tips that are going to be used in this thread.

Starting a new forum takes time and dedication. The forum cannot be left for others to post if the activity drops you have to make sure you post to make it look more active, Make sure HQ content is posted meaning no low quality content like "what's ur hobbies?". Begging people to join is also not a good idea as it will reflect badly on the forum and they probably won't join.

The theme/layout of the forum is also very important do not have more than two themes, Forums with 10+ themes tend to have annoyed members with theme changes. A premium theme is a good way to start as the site grows your members may want something more theme wise, A custom theme can be bought to make the site much more unique and nobody likes a forum which uses a free theme that they see everywhere.

Keep the forum sections low, A new forum with lots of tabs and 40+ forums will not gain many members. It seems Hack Forums has cursed any new forum maker. If you are making a forum which is specific about one topic for example you could make a forum about Yu Gi Oh etc, Making a general forum is hard these days so focusing in on one specific subject is easier to run. For new forums tabs are a bad idea, tabs are only useful for big forums with sections that actually have content in them.

Make sure your members are happy, If you notice a member feels left out make sure they don't feel that way anymore. If a member is being targeted by a group of members the user being targeted will most likely leave. To keep members happy make sure the rules are written properly as some rules can be easily bypassed. With the rules written correctly you have a valid reason to ban a member doing something bad or not allowed.

Get your content on the web in other words be SEO ready, If you see a member requesting help for something on another forum post a link to a thread on your forum which could assist them. When you have the content on your forum you can then advertise in a few places to bring the member base up. But read the rules before making a thread on a forum as it may not be allowed.

[Dismas]

Ah, was this from the guide you were selling?
A lot of these are pretty obvious, but they are essential.

The one mistake I made was making 40+ sections early on.
However, we seem to be doing fine. Awesome points though.

[MinecraftGeek]

The guide was a bit different but I might as well post the guide on here

[Dismas]

The guide was a bit different but I might as well post the guide on here

Totally up to you. That'd be a neat addition.

[MinecraftGeek]

The guide shall be released here only though so make sure people don't leech

[Lain]

You play yugioh too? Awesome!

[Crimson]

Well this seems a bit interesting.

[Xeronations]

One important point you missed out on is advertising. If you have no money to advertise, chances are it won't do too well. I see shitty, ugly forums with 60K+ posts, just because of their advertising.

[MinecraftGeek]

Yeah, I know alot of ugly forums with big advertising budgets turn out well.

[Xeronations]

Something I discovered the hard way is that even if your niche is very unique, it can't be too narrow. For example, I made a forum about writing/selling/advertising eBooks. It looked clean, I had custom userbars and logos made, but it still failed. Why? Because the niche was just too small.