I own a webmasters discussions forum which completed its first 6 months yesterday 7th March, 2009. As a forum owner it is really time-consuming job to keep the forum updated with fresh content and also keep eye on many things which include forum software, members activities, security related things and any kind of hosting related issues. But I am happy my forum is doing great so far. People are now joining and participating more than before In the first 6 months my forum has got 5000 posts with 200+ members. It might be not too impressive but I am happy with it Would you like to share how was your first 6 months of forum?
Well the first forum I made did not go too smoothly, I don't even think I reached 2K posts within that time-span, however after trying again the next forum I made did a bit better but still failed. Then finally I tried yet again and that time it actually worked out. Now I have several decent forums however, I mainly just focus in one in particular. The rest are small side projects.. Good to see you had some success
From what you have shared, your first 6 months are similar to what mine were like. I started my forum last February and it took off surprisingly well. Like you, I spent a lot of time keeping the forum going and maintaining the back-end aspect. You may not think those stats are great, but I did. I was so glad to have had anywhere near that many members so early on. By December (of 2008), the forum was pretty much running on its own. I had a major decrease in the amount of time I spent on the site, but I still checked in often because I had many responsibilities (managing the contests, Member of the Month, etc.). As we speak, we are at roughly 30,000 posts with 565 members. I'm quite proud regardless of what others may think. The forum is continuing to do great. I'm glad to hear you are having success, too. Doesn't it feel so rewarding?
Forums are time consuming, most ppl don't realize how much time goes into a forum. Mine is 7 months old with 11k posts, I'm on the friggen thing day and night, I nearly gave up on it a few times, thinking whats the point. Every time you come across a forum in the same niche as yours but ten times bigger you think to yourself, mine sucks. Yet you keep going, you've invested to much time to give up then suddenly it starts to pick up and think, good thing i didn't quit. We all want our forums to work but remember why we started the thing in the first place. Good to hear your having fun with your forum................
You are right @Phaseman, me too got disappointed with my forum few times that why it is not getting traffic, why members are not participating...etc I decided to not give up at any cost... I will keep the forum live as long as I can pay for it in terms of money and time.
Check my sig 50,000 posts and almost 5000 members seems great for a 6 months and a few days old forum...
That's great But your forum is not webmasters related, mine is webmasters forum and it is difficult to promote forum in this niche because some big fishes are already there
The first 6 months can be a pretty rough time. That time peroid is when most people give up and close their forums. The next 6 months is a little easier, but can still be filled with doubt. From what I read, on average 80% - 85% of all forums will close before they reach 1 year old. The key is to stay with it and dont give up. Once you pass that 12 and 18 month mark, things start getting a lot easier. It looks like most of the people here are doing pretty well. Keep up the good work.
My forum died in first months. Now i haven't the time to start again but i will try in 2009 end and i hope this time all go fine. Wish me luck xP
my forum is one year old with 10 years of hosting paid and I am actively participating in it, I am sure I Will come up with something better soon
I am withing my first week of opening my forum. I found submitting an RSS feed to many places helped me get indexed withing a day with the first few posts.
Btw, those who have established forums they can submit to my directory here http://directory.decentdiscussions.com/computers_and_internet/discussion_forums/ It will help your forum get some more popularity