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My first 6 months experience of running a forum

Discussion in 'Forum Management' started by glitto, Mar 8, 2009.

  1. #1
    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? :)
     
    glitto, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  2. 1-3-3-7

    1-3-3-7 Well-Known Member

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    #2
    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 :)
     
    1-3-3-7, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  3. NickR25

    NickR25 Peon

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    #3
    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?
     
    NickR25, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  4. phaseman

    phaseman Active Member

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    #4
    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................
     
    phaseman, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  5. glitto

    glitto Notable Member

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    #5
    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.
     
    glitto, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  6. suganindia

    suganindia Peon

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    #6
    Check my sig 50,000 posts and almost 5000 members seems great for a 6 months and a few days old forum...
     
    suganindia, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  7. glitto

    glitto Notable Member

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    #7
    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 :D
     
    glitto, Mar 8, 2009 IP
  8. suganindia

    suganindia Peon

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    #8
    Warez rulez people...
    10 times better than you is huge for us...
     
    suganindia, Mar 9, 2009 IP
  9. ~kev~

    ~kev~ Well-Known Member

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    #9
    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.
     
    ~kev~, Mar 9, 2009 IP
  10. tercede

    tercede Well-Known Member

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    #10
    And from where you read those numbers, is there any authority to back this up?
     
    tercede, Mar 9, 2009 IP
  11. glitto

    glitto Notable Member

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    #11
    Even there is no authority to back that up, but I still agree with all what he says. Very true.
     
    glitto, Mar 10, 2009 IP
  12. fcupseo

    fcupseo Peon

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    #12
    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
     
    fcupseo, Mar 10, 2009 IP
  13. davidmethew

    davidmethew Active Member

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    #13
    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
     
    davidmethew, Mar 11, 2009 IP
  14. tentwenty

    tentwenty Well-Known Member

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    #14
    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.
     
    tentwenty, Mar 11, 2009 IP
  15. glitto

    glitto Notable Member

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    #15
    glitto, Mar 11, 2009 IP
  16. NickR25

    NickR25 Peon

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    #16
    NickR25, Mar 12, 2009 IP
  17. davidmethew

    davidmethew Active Member

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    #17
    moodal box <- I think
     
    davidmethew, Mar 12, 2009 IP
  18. glitto

    glitto Notable Member

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    #18
    PhpLD paid license :)
     
    glitto, Mar 12, 2009 IP