What is the optimum landing page for a forum site (somethingForum.com)? If i site a a pure forum, I don't see much reason for a landing page other then the forum home, but is that the best option? Seems like a lot of forums have a bl;og page for a landing home but i think a news forum section is just a s fine. Does it attacks more users if you have a landing page other then forum home or is it the opposite? Appreciate any suggestions and experiences, Thanks!
Probably best thing to do (same with any site really) would be to run multiple landing pages, do A/B testing and see which affects bounce rates, registration rate, etc. What works for one site, might not work for your user demographic.
I think the only time you should add a portal, blog or etc. as the forum's main homepage is when you have something significant enough to put on it. Articles related to the niche would be good for that. Too many forums have a portal that has nothing on it that you can't already find on the forum.
I was looking into this and will probably go with XenPorta. Its great to show off great posts and does not require writing any of your own content. @shawn gossman I know its a repeat of the content like you said, but I think of it as organizing and highlighting most popular or newest content instead of them having to dig in through threads. BTW, there'sis a news forum section as well , so popular news items could show up on home page as well.