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What does one need to know about creating a forum?
Snake Gandhi
Des Moines, IARegistered User regular
Des Moines, IARegistered User regular
I've been giving some thought to starting up a small forum. I know of a lot of free forums, but honestly I want something a bit more 'professional' than that.
My only real obstacle is that I know nothing about the other side of running a place like this, the dark and mysterious technical side of things.
So I come begging for help. What are some good, yet beginner friendly, resources one should check out before embarking on such a quest? Like something that works even if you don't know what the hell mySQL is? (seriously, while checking out different hosting places along with the vBulletin I see that phrase all the time.)
My only real obstacle is that I know nothing about the other side of running a place like this, the dark and mysterious technical side of things.
So I come begging for help. What are some good, yet beginner friendly, resources one should check out before embarking on such a quest? Like something that works even if you don't know what the hell mySQL is? (seriously, while checking out different hosting places along with the vBulletin I see that phrase all the time.)
Snake Gandhi on
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Oh and I always liked Ikonboard if that still exists.
Now to check out this phpBB...
It's a nice little idea in theory. A place where people can hang out and chat, but it's a constant uphill struggle behind the scenes.
GabeN
GabeN
Politics.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
But true.
over-structuring of a small new forum can kill the mood; keep things casual.
don't have your members spam other places to recruit new members.
Another good idea.
http://www.simplemachines.org/
This is the most important and I know this from multiple experiences. People don't randomly flock to forums, you have to draw them there first. Even when you have nearly a dozen people at the start, it will stagnate and DIE if you have no way of bringing in new people.
This idea mainly came about as a place for folks who where tired of asshattery on an existing site to go to get the same type of discussion but without the asshole mods.
So I expect to have a decent core of people to start with, and maybe some growth as we go along, but it's not a huge concern.
it just leads to awkward conversations, drudges up drama, and prevents the community from moving on.
Don't you DARE say that shit!
Another splinter forum piece of advice. Keep an eye out for "secret club elitism" that can easily ruin any chances for future growth. This is especially important if the splinter members are going to continue posting on the old forum. The biggest problem with splinter forums is that they tend to be made as part of alternative to a forum (because of certain people bothering others) only to end up with a type of paranoia setting in that any outsiders who didn't initially make it over are there to ruin things. A steady stream of new regulars can easily combat this, but if registrations occur in waves for some reason, you can experience this sort of "this is our special club" mentality develop.
On a side note, don't allow attachments ever, not even images. If someone wants to share something, let them find their own webspace to do so. You don't want to give anyone the chance to upload things that shouldn't be there to your webspace.
Man, you're just jealous you aren't part of The Secret Club. We already have a thread giggling about you!
http://87.194.115.207/forums/index.php (hopefully should work...)
Not might. Will.
Personally, I like punBB for the lightweight and open source nature of it.
edit: Do not even consider phpBB 2.xx because it is complete shit. There's a reason we don't use it here anymore.
3.x is shaping up to be pretty decent, but I haven't played with it enough to know how worthwhile it is over the many other existing softwares.
Might want to see if there's a patch.
Edit: Yeah, 2.0 is current. Might want to update it.
Edit: Or not - it's linked in the news, but the download page still had 1.1.2
Edit: Oh, 2.0 won't be out until octoberish.
PunBB is setup too:
http://87.194.115.207/forums2/index.php
I didn't set up the forum, I don't know php or mysql, but I have to make sure this puppy doesn't break or get flooded with spam. Things I can tell you so far are as follows:
1. A captcha on the sign-up will stop precisely dick. I tried several and still the spam came. Instead, try to find an add-on that adds a captcha to the first 5 posts made by a new sign-up. I got one for my phpbb forum and it works like a charm.
2. Never underestimate how stupid your people can be. "But no-one actually clicks on spam, do they?" yes, they do, and then they know your forum is active and flood it. Therefore constantly checking for spam is crucial, otherwise one of your sheep will decide they really want to see 'hot black horse mom action' and you can kiss your forum goodbye.
3. People will spam ANYTHING. Wheel spam? check. Mortgage spam? check. Financial advice spam? check. SPAM FILTER SPAM? check!
4. If you are using PHPBB their website is really really helpful. I would recommend it.
5. Set up your rules early, make it an announcement at the top of each and every forum and adhere to it completely. Not only will people click spam, they will post it. Even if they've been a member for ages.
The first 5 posts thing though? 100% stop rate. nothing has gotten through yet.