Anyone here owns a forum?

**david90** · 11-16-2009 03:44 PM

I'm thinking about investing in a forum. Is it a lot of work to maintain a forum? is it a good investment? I need some advice.

Thanks

**byrneof** · 11-16-2009 04:11 PM

I don't but I am thinking about adding forum social networking features to two of my sites. My web host has a system that makes it easy to install scripts so I will probably go down the opensource route for now. However, I think Vbulletin works out at about $100 a year for a hosted solution.

**coffee_kingdom** · 11-16-2009 05:35 PM

I have launched message board communities for some of my clients. The hard part isn't creating the board, it is getting eyeballs. If you plan to monetize off your forum, the main route will be through paid ads that you place on your website. No one is going to pay to read your message board...and your paid ads aren't going to be bringing in any money without traffic.

Your post content and category break down will need to be useful to your target audience. The message board isn't useful until there's a nice amount of users and posts.

I suggest doing some marketing, advertising, and hiring moderators that can write well. Have the moderators strike up helpful conversations and debates. A debate can be a great way to have new users chime in.

The moderators will also need to monitor for vulgar posts, and posts that are spam.

Just start out with economy hosting...pick a host that offers mysql databases.

**Encrypted** · 11-16-2009 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by david90

I'm thinking about investing in a forum. Is it a lot of work to maintain a forum? is it a good investment? I need some advice.

Thanks

It's extremely hard to get one started. Once it gets going it becomes fun though. I ran one for about 7 months and eventually sold it for a slight loss due to lack of patience. lol You need dedication, time, and patience.

**David Jackson** · 11-17-2009 10:02 AM

I own a vBulletin forum. I've been online for approximately 10 days now. It's a tremendous amount of work - especially if you plan on having a lot of fresh content, which I do. But it's a labor of love that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

A word of advice: If you're going to run a forum, get the best forum software available - vBulletin. They also have the best support network, in case anything goes wrong.

David Jackson

**Encrypted** · 11-17-2009 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by David Jackson

A word of advice: If you're going to run a forum, get the best forum software available - vBulletin. They also have the best support network, in case anything goes wrong.

David Jackson

That's debatable. A lot of people have been switching to IPB lately since the latest release of VB. I'm actually going to be using bbPress on my new site and hack it to my liking.

**David Jackson** · 11-17-2009 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

That's debatable. A lot of people have been switching to IPB lately since the latest release of VB.

It's not debatable to me. It's my opinion. I'm entitled to it. Just like you're entitled to your opinion. We each believe what we believe. No debate.

David Jackson

**Encrypted** · 11-17-2009 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by David Jackson

It's not debatable to me. It's my opinion. I'm entitled to it. Just like you're entitled to your opinion. We each believe what we believe. No debate.

David Jackson

No you said... "If you're going to run a forum, get the best forum software available - vBulletin. They also have the best support network, in case anything goes wrong" You didn't say.. "I think vBulletin is the best forum software." So therefor not everyone thinks vBulletin is the best forum software and.... it's debatable.

P.S. I wasn't calling you out on whether vB was a good forum script or not, so I don't know why you got all hostile on me. I was simply pointing out that there are other options and that many people have been complaining about the latest release of vB.

.
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**David Jackson** · 11-17-2009 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

You said... "If you're going to run a forum, get the best forum software available - vBulletin. They also have the best support network, in case anything goes wrong."

That's what I said, and I stand by those words 100%. I invite anyone looking into starting a forum to take your time and do your homework. Demo all the software like I did, and ask plenty of questions. Monitor the response time of the support staff.

Check out what the top forums are running like YE, DigitalPoint, SitePoint, SiteGround, SmallBusinessIdeas, V7n. I could go on forever. Talk to the owners of those forums like I did. Ask them why they use vBulletin - then make your decision.

I know that a lot of people choose to use the free software that's available, for reasons that are their own. And if that's what you want to do that's fine.

However, if your decision isn't being driven by the cost of the software, chances are, you'll probably come to the same conclusion that I did.

David Jackson

**David Jackson** · 11-17-2009 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

I wasn't calling you out on whether vB was a good forum script or not, so I don't know why you got all hostile on me. I was simply pointing out that there are other options and that many people have been complaining about the latest release of vB.

I don't think I was being hostile at all. I was merely defending my position, same as you.

David Jackson

**Encrypted** · 11-17-2009 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by David Jackson

I don't think I was being hostile at all. I was merely defending my position, same as you.

David Jackson

Oh alright, it seemed to me like you thought I was trying to say that vB was trash. Which it is certainly not. I actually used it on a forum of my own a year or so ago.

I'm actually using bbPress on my new site though, mainly because the site isn't solely based on the "forum" feature. I found that bbPress is actually quite impressive and it could be hacked quite easily to anyones liking.

**David Jackson** · 11-17-2009 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by Encrypted

Oh alright, it seemed to me like you thought I was trying to say that vB was trash. Which it is certainly not. I actually used it on a forum of my own a year or so ago.

I'm extremely passionate, when I discuss issues. That's just my personality, it's who I am. And every once in a while, someone interprets my passion as hostility. I'm not a hostile guy, I'm a teddy bear.

Don't believe me? Just ask my girlfriend!

David Jackson

**GigaNu** · 11-22-2009 08:31 AM

Personally I run a forum, and while it is enjoyable running it, it does need alot of maintenance and work put into it for very little return. If you enjoy running forums then great, invest in one! But if you're only looking for good return I think your money would be far better invested somewhere else!

**DennisChang** · 11-22-2009 11:30 PM

I used to have a forum. It's hard to maintain and you really need a core group of regular posters to get the forum going. My forum was eventually flooded with spammers to a point that I finally decided to close it down.