Note: This is an excerpt from our Interview with Erwin ====================================== Common Mistakes That Forum Administrators Make ====================================== 1. Starting too big. I see many forums which are new and have a small number of members, but they have complicated sites with too many forums. Always start small, start simple, get a core group of members first, and build from there. 2. Sites that are too complicated. Newbies get confused. Make your design nice but simple. 3. Too many hacks. Only add hacks that would be useful to your particular community. 4. Overconfidence and poor security. CF was hacked into recently because I was overconfident and thought I had it secured - I overlooked a bbcode that allowed input variables - I knew it was not secure, but I didn't think anyone would know about it - I found out that hackers were copying cookies and logging into my staff accounts - this apparently went on for months. Thank God the hackers involved were not malicious, and I was told of this breach, which is now fixed. But overconfidence and pride can lead to serious consequences - always be overcautious when it comes to security. 5. Too much graphics. If you do have lots of graphics at least offer a text-based style as well. 6. No plan for growth. A lot of forum admins start a forum, but when it gets bigger, the forum closes down because: 1. Not enough staff to moderate 2. The server is not powerful enough so too slow 3. The community splits into factions and splits 4. Always assume your site will grow, and have a plan - how do you plan to pay for upgrades? 7. Poor selection of staff, and poor staff management. Members are the blood of a forum. The moderators is like the heart of a forum that controls the circulation of the blood. Without good moderators, a forum WILL fail. When it comes to moderators, a forum admin needs to: 1. Figure out how many mods a forum needs - don't have too many if your forum is too small, but you need enough so that mods do not burn out. 2. Choose mods from members who are dedicated 3. Offer a way for members to apply 4. Be strict in accepting staff - it is HARDER to fire a mod than to hire one. 5. Always have a live interview process 6. Always have a training process 7. Always have a probationary period - For example, at CF, we have a live interview with senior staff, then training for 30 days, and a probationary period of 60 days - during the first 90 days, you may be asked to step down as a mod if you are found to be unsuitable. 8. Poor people skills. Forum admins are not just administering a forum - they are administering PEOPLE too - so they need good people skills - they need to observer good netiquette, be polite, and treat their staff and members well. 9. Poor promotional skills. What frustrates me is when forum admins go to other forums and spam for more members - to me that breaches basic netiquette. The only way a forum would grow is through: 1. Good search engine positioning - CF is ranked number one for the terms "christian forum" and "christian forums" on ALL search engines. 2. Word of mouth - if you're good, people will find out. 10. Finding a niche vs doing what you enjoy. On the one hand, forum admins keep opening forums about similar topics and saturate the online world with the same types of communities. On the other hand, forum admins need to run forums relating to topics they enjoy - it's a fine balance. For example, instead of another RPG forum, why not make an RPG forum that appeals to a subgroup - this way, you can capture a niche market. Written by Erwin
Bravo Bravo! Someone else that understands forums. I would like to add to that comment. Sometimes you have mods or members that feel they can run a site better than you. Or maybe they just want their own site. For whatever reason this does happen to just about all popular forums and it can be a problem. I suggest you quickly ban those people that attempt to split up your site and steal members. It's so much worse than external spamming because member might leave permanently. So this leads me to another point he didn't touch...create good rules. It's so important. More so than selecting moderators since they are the people that only enforce the rules you lay out. Consider how you want to direct the site from day one. Part of that is getting a good keyword rich domain name. I have hackforums.net and we rank #1 for just about any combination for hack, hacking, forum, forums. Yeah...ain't that the truth. This is where I started with mentioning member thieves. I get it all the time. People think running a forum is easy and heck...why not start their own and use my forum to gain their base! Utterly ridiculous. Spammers of all types are the #1 nuisance of forum admins. Keep a tight reign and choose a forum software that you can have good tools to combat spam.
rep added to both posters... these were awesome tips... it would be great if you two could have a look at my NEW forum (link in sig) and suggest me some nice tips to promote it... please.. I have already submitted 6 articles to ezine plus..
1. Your logo is dirty and also needs to be resized. 2. Skin is too simple. Needs some flare somewhere. Something to draw some attention. 3. I have no idea what the site is about..how will anyone else? Figure out a way to make the subject matter more obvious.
Cleaned the logo..please do have a look now.. About skin Don't you think the forum being new too heavy skin might turn off people? I selected it as it matches my sites logo and is soothing to eyes... Does the new logo give you the idea what the site is about? The three lines next to the logo? The forum is for guys so that they can talk about females and various related stuff... More suggestions please. I would love to receive more help from all... thnx
This is a coprehensive list. The key is not to be to broad on the catogories. Try to welcome each member is the key also. It would be nice if everyone welcomed each new member. The problem here is only 5 to 6 people say hello. It would be great if at least 500 people would give out greetings.
3. I have no idea what the site is about..how will anyone else? Figure out a way to make the subject matter more obvious.[/QUOTE] I agree. Simply change the title from Join This Forum & Win $100 to: The Place For....... Add some Icons, throw some posts and you are on your way.
Please note that the article presented here is a cut and paste copy of my article on the Admin Zone posted on 9/22/07 Here.
why should he banned? he presented a nice article here.. although he should have linked to the original source.. by the way does the signature looks fine now? This question was for those who suggested me tips for my forum..