Hi, I have a programming forum and i was wondering if there are any people that are interested in posting on such forum? I know game(mmo etc) / general forums can do pretty good and have a larger user base than programming forum in general. What do you think: http://www.engineeringserver.com/t3hc0d3z/forum.html Is my forum just crappy or is there no future for software engineering forums? Not that it matters a lot because i get my main income from my blog & donators but i still wish the forum would do better because i like to discuss and help people with their programming questions. Any tips to make my forum (or any programming forum for that matter) work? Regards, Ark
Hey, Well having a look at it, you seems to be off to a good start, with any forum its hard to get hard core users who post daily, one thing you must try and do is make it unique, get a new skin etc You ask will users post, yes they will but you need to make sure you have got a niche and stick with it, do not expanded into the general areas as then you will fail. Build up your unique content, such as tutorials , code examples etc You have got a good idea, the market is saturated with wannbie forums just keep with your guns and you will be ok -Dan
Thanks for your kind words. I'm already posting on my forums and help as much as i can by making posts and create java tutorials/ code examples but it seems that no one wants to post on my forums except me. My plan is to help other developers with their questions because i like to help but like i said no one really posts their except me. My blog gets around 400+ / 600+ UV's daily so getting visitors isn't the problem. Maybe i need to change the layout of my forum or "hire" people that want to post? Although i think hiring people to post will hurt the forum in the long run.
Hi, I think you got a good base, do not hire anyone. Like you say, your blog is getting good traffic, maybe try to run a contest, create some unqiue resources and submit them to other sites. Your blog will be a good point to use. As its getting traffic try to tap into that by having your own forum us some of the blog AD space to promote your forum? Also yes, you need to get another theme, something that stands out and no just out of the box -Dan
Hmm, you are right about the themes. I just changed it and i do think it improved my forum layout a lot. Here's a link: http://www.engineeringserver.com/t3hc0d3z/recommended+linux+distros-t535.0.html I'll also make a blogpost about the new layout and i hope people will take a look and like it better than the old one. Thanks!
I like this new form. But one thing I could recommend maybe remove the top posters bit at the top of the forum? it looks out of place and it making the forum look a bit like its just been thrown together -Dan
Right I visited it and there is quite a lot that can be said. Yes first you need to improve the layout slightly, you cannot actually see the main forum sections properly because of the extra stuff at the top. I also think customising the theme, so that it is individual for your forum, would be quite a nice thing to do. You have a good number of members, but I see one major problem. The bulk of your posts are being made in either the Announcements or Off-Topic regions of the forum. YOU must concentrate on encouraging discussion and posting in the main topic sections of your forum. YOU should submit articles and start getting more people involved. I don't know if you do, but maybe having the articles section enabled, would be good Otherwise it is quite good, large number of members.. just need to get those posts in the main sections. You can get a full review at the forum in my signature
Thanks, i don't have any articles on my forums because i'm not sure what people like to read. Any tips how to get people involved? I have the members but for some reason they don't post. ;/
You, being the administrator, must start the discussions. Start polls, so they get involved. Start debates regarding programming. Articles relating to programming, anything.. e.g. basic tutorials like 'Hello World' in a language. It is not about what they like to read, it should relate to your forum topic.