What makes a forum active?

I've built two successful forums and helped out on others, so maybe I can help here. First, don't expect forum members to migrate to your main site easily. People who go to forums don't always even know there is a site that supports it. They bookmark the forum and that's the only place they go. You'll have to do a lot of work to get them to do otherwise. Secondly, you'll need a good moderator who understands forums and can help you build one. Even if you're doing the moderating yourself, you need a helper. This person can help you start good topics, keep them going when they slow down by asking the right kind of questions, in addition to removing posts that are spammy or offensive. Getting and keeping a good conversation is what a good forum is all about. Don't reward people in a forum. The problem with doing so is that they feel "paid" and when you quit paying or don't pay enough or someone thinks you're being unfair, they'll quit posting. It's human nature, that if they receive a reward for doing something, they'll always expect a reward for doing that thing over and over. You want your forum to pay you, not you pay the forum, otherwise, what's the point? The reason myLot does well is that it's a financial venture, with sophisticated programming and a paid staff behind it. It has a huge platform, with a lot of freedom. The topics are limitless with very few restrictions and it accepts members from all over the world. A forum that's part of a site is more limited to the topic of the site and by what a few (probably volunteer) people can do.

Hello iwrite: A good question. And good timing too. I mean, before spending the time for setting up the forum on your website, that is. What I share here is not meant to discourage you but point towards some facts from my [failed] experience of starting a forum on my web site too, quite some time back. It is a tough job for getting users to actively participate in a forum. I did try everything I could to promote my forum, attract old & new friends, subscribed to a forum directory called The Admin Zone Forum-everything. In fact, just to give a kick start, I myself started many threads. Still no one came. Of course, I'm saying all this from my experience but may be you have a very active website? Large number of loyal readers? You have to weigh everything before you invest your time & effort. Is it a phpBB forum? I don't think so. phpBB forums are the ones that are more popular because of the features they offer. I regularly post at a communion of forums under one banner and I see there are plenty of those that actually pay for posting comments & threads. Yet, not all of them are fully active. People here are certainly good. But I have a feeling not many of them are active bloggers or forum enthusiasts. I hope you take an objective view without getting carried away by mere encouraging words. Hope there was some help from my long comment!

i would have each potential member fill out a poll. I would ask them several questions about different scenarios and how they would handle it. Depending on their responses I would either invite them to join or not. If answers are irresponsible, uncaring, selfish, ruthless, unintelligent or doesn't make sense then you know what you have to work with.

If you want your site to be successful then you have to have a plan from the start and stick to it. Step 1) Define the site's purpose Step 2) Identify the site's target audience. Step 3) Determine the sites general content Step 4) Select the sites structure Step 5) Design the look and feel of the site Step 6) Specify the sites navigation system Creating a successful Web site begins with developing a detailed design plan. You have to know what you want and start with an outline. You can't just start adding images, backgrounds,and fonts because you think they look cool. You have to have a specific purpose and build upon that if you want a successful site. Refer to your goals and objectives constantly as you complete the design plan for your Web site. Evaluate how well you actually succeed in your sites objectives and your stated goals before publishing the site.

Hi! What makes a forum active, I think you should try to ask yourself what do you like to join a forum and what you trying to look or find in a forum site. Is that the money they offer you like myLot or the quality information on the forum, or the people who join the forum always helpful and willing to give correct and trustworthy information. I will definitely look for information that is helpful and work for me, if I found a forum that have a lot of useful information that I can use, I will definitely come back to the forum. So, do you get the points?

The forum must be interesting and informative. Just look at flowerpod forum, targeted at girls only. They are doing so well without any incentives rewarding its members. A site is made active by members, it's important to get as many members as u can, be flexible in your decisions yet firm on your rules. There are many forums out there doing well, so i'm sure u are able to make it too. Perhaps the market u are reaching out to is way too small, so it won't be easy.

I think it would have to be a trustworthy site and maybe offer some kind of incentive for joining and referring others to it. Rewards for referring people attracts more people. Maybe offering incentives for staying active would keep people around also.

I feel that it is not just one single factor that makes a forum remain popular and active.There are many contributory factors, the most important one being good administration when it is a large forum like mylot.Everything else is secondary since the forums are controlled and run by the admin and what facilities he/she provides forms the base and members contribute accordingly...

Oh common iwrite, Didn't you know I am among the right people to go to your site! Attract me. I am ready to plunge into your site. I am waiting!

If you start a forum you must have a specific goal. If it is to provide information such as the opportunities to get a job, the job requirements, the availability of jobs, the ways of writing, about Seo, about modern development in internet software and hadware, about how to apply for the job, how to write CV, covering letter, a chance to ask questions regarding job or problems in working area like a counseling centre, then you may slowly become popular. Forums should provide genuine information, give opinions according to experience etc.

The people is one of the main reason that makes mylot as a good forum than other paid sites.For me I choose mylot instead of other sites because of the site interface and design, the topic and the community itself. If I just go for the money I think I can even get more in other forum site but I still choose mylot because of the three reasons that I mentioned above. I can get the same person here and meet them in other site but it seems that mylot has the most friendly design to make me feel easy to communicate with other members. I can't see any other forum sites that have the same design like mylot. Other sites always offer the old traditional forum design that looks unorganized, messy and just give me an headache. Here every comment have their own box and we could reply and drop comments to other boxes and we know with whom we are talking too. This is the best about mylot. If you come across other site that have the same design like mylot, please do tell me~(^^)

I am having a little problem with the website that I am connected too. There seems to be a technical glitch of some sort and things that should appear is not appearing and some clients are a little on the edge. The forum is a lot busier than usual. Probably five times more active or more depending on the times of the day. So to answer that question, I think problems, controversies and conflicts makes the forum much more active. If everything is going well then people will not bother to go to forums.

I don't think it would be a good idea for earnings to be included in your forum. Members who joins for the money are a lot more than members who joined for the forum itself. I had joined this forum once, its about programming and how to pimp your friendster status. Lots of members participate there to exchange knowledge not only about programming but for other things as well. Too bad the site closed because of hosting problem and well, friendster closed as well.

I more active here than other site,my page5 yes but long time to pay,don't know why they do that..and if their reason is because busy,my lot is busy for members but still on time to pay.....

Well, attract more members.. haha If there are more members, there are bound to be more interaction. U can either cater your forum to the general public or make it a specialised forum, such as Biker boy, Hardware zone, Sammyboy and many others out there. With the existence of many forums, it's really hard to stand out among them. So what u need to do is to make your forum interesting, or check out other forums, see what's missing in theirs what u can have it in yours.. haha

Hmm...that's a difficult dilemma you have there as people think a bit differently from one to the other. But as far as I know usually people would go for topics that's "popular" and is related to "their interest" nowadays. But before we go to "what really makes the forum active", go back to theses kinds of questions: what is your forum's main topic? And who are your target audiences? If you know what's your topic (and your topic's popular/common) and who are your target audiences, then maybe your question would be a bit easier. For example, if your target audience are bloggers and you wish to get their interest, you would talk about 'blog'. Blog is the main topic while the following sub-topics follows naturally like 'common blog apps';'the usual problems people experience in blog apps';'tutorials in creating this and that widget'; and so on...if you get what I mean. The sub-topics, despite the name, are really the ones that can attract the audience depending on it's popularity... Sometimes webmasters who wish to maintain and even wish to get more people, would give something free if a particular task is performed by a target audience--that the audience might need/want; enhance his site's backlinks--this is important since it's how people connect to your site--; and even would embed certain widgets in their site to keep people entertained and would wish to come back for later. All I can say for sure is that this topic of yours needs more research. I suggest you browse around other sites like yours and try to pin point certain aspects in their site that is strong in attracting people. I know I didn't really answer your question and I'm very sorry I have little to no knowledge at all in terms of this subject but I hope this gives you some idea or so... Happy new year and Happy MyLotting!