should i give up

my forum has been running for a month now and nothing much is happening. ive advertised everywhere that i can get away with and then some but im not prepared to throw money at it.

i feel my site is missing something major. i dont want to use a portal/article hack because i dont like them and i would rather find a way of making a normal website and adding vBulletin to it.

its been so slow that even my dedicated handful of members are getting bored. i have made 90% of the threads myself and i just cant think of anything else to put anymore.

this was my first attempt with vbulletin and the first time ive ever had to deal with a server so now i am a little bit more wise to how it all works.

do you think i should just give up on it and try and find a new subject matter and change the name? or do you think i should add something else and perservere with it?

I would say, give it another month, and keep working it harder and harder. Keep trying new things to get peple active.

one good thing you might try- Go to vb.org and get the com bull hack - it lets you send a newsletter in the email pretty effort free - I like it because people are reminded to come visit your site and it brings them back.

Never EVER give up. Seriously.

Some boards take off right away. Some (actually most) take longer to get going. I had a board that within a month had 150 members and another board that still has not taken off...but now is just starting to get visits.

The internet, although we wish it was, is not an immediate thing. Good things take time to happen. You sometimes have to be more patient than you would think.

I have seen boards that took 6 months to get "found" but once they were, their membership grew quickly.

Have you submitted to ALL the search engines you can? Posted a invitation in the use/newsgroups? Do you have a link to your site in your forum profiles and signature on other forums? If you submitted to the search engines, how often have you submitted? Once? Or more than once and at what frequency?

As I said, don't give up. Within 6 months you will have a board that will be more active. But. It is up to YOU to be patient and then let your members know what you are doing to create more interest in your site.

what do you mean posted an invitation in the use/newsgroups?

ive submitted once to all the search engines i can find.

in the last month ive made literally thousands of new posts in forums all over the place.

i just feel ive got a section missing or something.

i was considering adding a normal website and having my forum as part of it but i have no idea how to do a normal site. ive tried using dreamweaver but its way beyond me.

Go to the newsgroups and make a post on those newsgroups which are relevant to your forum. Your forum appeals to Goth and to Geeks. So post on newsgroups which would have members who would be interested in those items.

Newsgroups are different than submitting to a search engine as thousands of people surf the newsgroups daily. And many of those people NEVER surf any other place UNLESS they see something that piques their interest.

Posting on newsgroups, appropriate newsgroups, can garner you anywhere from 15 to 100 new members in a very short time. One of my best moderators came to me from a post he saw on the alt.chrysler.minivan newsgroup.

Try it...it works.

ok thanks mate i appreciate the help

I would suggest you go to vbadvanced.com - and install CMPS which is an easy to use homepage system.

Also - submit your site to as many directories you can find. There is a short list in the articles section (http://www.vbwebmaster.com/articles).

Also - go to vb.org and search for Easy Archive Hack and install it.

Google knows your site exists, but only knows about 1 page.

I would suggest you go to vbadvanced.com - and install CMPS which is an easy to use homepage system.

Also - submit your site to as many directories you can find. There is a short list in the articles section (http://www.vbwebmaster.com/articles).

Also - go to vb.org and search for Easy Archive Hack and install it.

Google knows your site exists, but only knows about 1 page.

i dont like that hack - everybody has it and i think its pretty uninteresting. i would rather make a site to go with the forum rather than rely on that particular hack.

Look at our homepage. Does it look like everyone elses? Our homepage is CMPS. It is highly customizable.

i tried it on mine but i just couldnt get it to work.

does it automatically match the skin or do you have to do that yourself? if it auto matches then i might have another go at it.

It matches - to a point. If the style you have makes use of images etc, then no, the CMPS won't inherit those for the modules or templates used and you will need to recode some of them for the best effect. This is what I do on vBXtra.com ;)

However, all the CSS elements are inherited and you do get the same colours/fonts/styles etc... essentially, in my opinion, CMPS is the best portal for vB out there today. Shout if you want assistance.

I hv a few suggestions which might help:

1. Making forums Search Engine Friendly.
2. Submitted site to the directories specially which lists forums database.
3. Trying participating in other webmaster forums.
4. Running contests.
5. Rewarding members.
6. Links from other forums.


.

Hello biagrin,

I must coincide with what tygersclaw said – my forum really only started taking off after six months.
Presentation of the site, as many have remarked, also is quite a point of consideration, although it won’t necessarily make people post more, they may just return to the site more often. And who knows, be tempted to post after a little while. Having a homepage to compliment a forum creates a feeling of depth and durability to a site, something most visitors will appreciate right away.
If your visitor does not feel at home, they just will not post.

If people do not know that you are around, they will not find you. So whatever method of advertising you can find, use it. Magazines, search engines, other forums, word of mouth, newsgroups, pamplets (in your local supermarket – this also depends on the topic of your site). And if you really want to go a step further, and don’t mind pushing some money behind it, you can also try the google adwords.

It is hard to get members to post frequently, for I too have found that more people enjoy to browse the content of a site, rather than to partake in it. Perhaps you can give your members some benefits over guests, by allocating some forums exclusively to them. This makes them feel just that little bit more special, and may entice them to post more often. (note that search engines cannot spider a forum that is not open to guests – they may capture the forum link, but not the threads)

Allthough I myself am not that keen on polls, I have found that users on the contrary are – so perhaps you can put up some polls in your forum so as to invite their interactivity and feedback

After only one month – don’t even think of giving up yet!

But do remember that if you require results, you will need to put in ten times more yourself (this is the behind the scenes work including much of what has been said in this thread)

Having a chat room on the site is another quite debateable aspect. Again, I would imagine that much depends on the topic of your site. You may pull in more members who are keen on the chat rooms, and not on the forums. After I closed down my chatroom (it is now only open for specific scheduled chats) our forum stats increased. Some members may prefer to go and chat in the chatroom, and hence have no need to post afterall. Other sites however may experience quite the opposite. Perhaps others here with chat rooms on their sites can offer some further feedback?

Hang in there – I know it can be a bit frustrating at times, but you have come this far, and just cannot give up so quickly.
Keep grinning!

quinte

I don't know that product well, but once someone showed me it used frames to do the boxes. I never looked at it again. Is this true?

wow thanks for the support guys. ive decided to try and add a standard website and use the forums as part of it. ive pretty much done all the things that have been suggested apart from throwing money at it.

this has got to be the firendliest forum i have ever been on - keep up the great work guys.

wow thanks for the support guys. ive decided to try and add a standard website and use the forums as part of it. ive pretty much done all the things that have been suggested apart from throwing money at it.

this has got to be the firendliest forum i have ever been on - keep up the great work guys.

... many thanks... glad you think so... we do too!!!:)

I don't know that product well, but once someone showed me it used frames to do the boxes. I never looked at it again. Is this true?


WHich product -- CMPS??

WHich product -- CMPS??


Well I have to tell ya, I'm not sure. I know it's a portal with modules.

ive added a quick site to my board.

please remember that this is my first attempt at both a forum and a website. i only used a wysiwyg site builder but if you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Biagrin,

I must hand it to you – you are a fast worker, and a good one at that!
Your homepage gives a lovely overview of the site – something I know your visitors will appreciate. It will definitely make them feel more welcome and the site more approachable.
Well done ! ;)


quinte

thanks mate i appreciate the feedback. i was wondering if it was okay or not. i certainly feel better about it now.

Hey, i'd try to have less forums as well. try to use one forum for mutliple topics if you can.

It will make your place look more alive instead of having 50 forums spread out for everyone to roam into.

and i'll sign up and cause some ruckus for you :eek:

You sound like me 2 years ago. Read this http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71273. I made that thread cause i felt the same way. Now 2 years later, i can write my own PHP code, and i have a nice growing forum. It takes time. Nothing will happen overnight. W/e you do, NEVER give it up!

Also, another advice that worked in the forum I have with my boyfriend, (we reached 450 members in less than 4 months and had 100 in the first 11 days!):
POST!!! Post as much as you can, open threads you'd like to see and try to be active like 5 members together! Try to reply instantly to new threads that new members open, it's a cool trick to make them believe that "wow, a reply in just 5 minutes??? This forums looks very active!" so it gives a nice impression and motivates him/her to post more.

Just my 2 cents. :)

So how is your site doing now?

I feel your pain. Everytime I do get users my server decides to go down, I can't win for loosing.

Wow talulah, this thread is pretty old..last year..but hey, whatever you want to post in.

Oh wow! I never even noticed the date! I just felt the pain. :p

It matches - to a point. If the style you have makes use of images etc, then no, the CMPS won't inherit those for the modules or templates used and you will need to recode some of them for the best effect. This is what I do on vBXtra.com ;)

However, all the CSS elements are inherited and you do get the same colours/fonts/styles etc... essentially, in my opinion, CMPS is the best portal for vB out there today. Shout if you want assistance.

Lol!

All you do is copy your styles image folder to the same directory as your cmps page and it will work with the images.

I wouldn't give it up. Just use the URL as a signature when you post on similar forums

it has good PR,, can't give up with that ;) if so, I'll buy the site :D