New Message Forum Question

"Steve R." <stevie_ritchie(NOSPAM)@hotmail.com> schreef in bericht
news:t1nUb.6882$ZY2.63671404@news-text.cableinet.net...
 > Alex wrote in message ...
  > > Does anyone have any tips on how to get a
  > > new message forum going?
 >
 > Yes make the forum as part of an interesting website, then when people look
 > at your interesting website they will want to keep coming back and post on
 > the forum as well.

Well I have the interesting website down pat.

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.martialhub.com/" target="_blank">http://www.martialhub.com/</a>

At least 100 targeted visitors per day (so far, no real advertising
but a related website that is prominent in the search engines), and
a prominent link.

What I'm afraid of is that visitors see the empty boards and just
surf along.

Alex<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Alex" <avdeelen.REMOF.TakeThisOut@wanadoo.nl> wrote in message
news:402213f5$0$32729$4a441750@news.euronet.nl...

 > What I'm afraid of is that visitors see the empty boards and just
 > surf along.

If they want to post, they will post.
--
Charles Sweeney
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.CharlesSweeney.com" target="_blank">www.CharlesSweeney.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 05:35:48 +0100, "Alex" <avdeelen.REMOF.DeleteThis@wanadoo.nl>
wrote:

 >Does anyone have any tips on how to get a new message
 >forum going?

Forums are like any communication network. The utility is increased
for every new node (member) you add, providing your infrastructure
(server) can handle the new nodes.

Take ICQ. With two users it is OK as long as those two people know
each other and have a lot in common to talk about. With millions of
users you have a broader range of potential conversation partners and
you are more likely to personally know someone on the network, thus
you get more utility.

To get new users to use a forum you need to have, well, a heap of
users already using your forum. Start your topics with good articles
on your site then lead readers in to forum threads covering the
articles.

Many forum site builders recommend seeding a new forum with some made
up threads. Get yourself and a few mates to log in post some new
threads every day.

Promote topics of conversation on an e-mail newsletter, put topics on
your home page with links to threads.

Add a link to a related discussion on every article you put on your
web site.


--

Adrian Appleyard

3,000+ links on web site design, usability, accessibility, tools,
books, link checkers, associations, events, web standards...

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.theNetPlace.com/" target="_blank">http://www.theNetPlace.com/</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Alex wrote in message ...
 > Well I have the interesting website down pat.

Part of the problem is the that forum doesn't look *part* of the website
and also you might need to add a few messages yourself to start things
rolling.

If you made the forum look part of the site, (and got rid of the ads at the
top of the forum), like this example below, I'm sure it would help.

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2/" target="_blank">http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2/</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: New Message Forum Question 

Alex wrote in message ...
 > Well I have the interesting website down pat.

Part of the problem is the that forum doesn't look *part* of the website
and also you might need to add a few messages yourself to start things
rolling.

If you made the forum look part of the site, (and got rid of the ads at the
top of the forum), like this example below, I'm sure it would help.

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2" target="_blank">http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Charles Sweeney" <me RemoveThis @charlessweeney.com> wrote in message
news:bvt52k$10jv6u$1@ID-162618.news.uni-berlin.de...
 > "Alex" <avdeelen.REMOF RemoveThis @wanadoo.nl> wrote in message
 > news:402213f5$0$32729$4a441750@news.euronet.nl...
 >
  > > What I'm afraid of is that visitors see the empty boards and just
  > > surf along.
 >
 > If they want to post, they will post.

Indeed.

The trick is in encouraging site visitors to want to post. There are several
ways of doing this.

The OP might wish to try starting a news page for post occasional news
topics, or features. In those pieces you can encourage people to use the
forums to post comment on the article or news item. That's one way that can
prove very effective.


--
Rocky [ICQ UIN 41113560]
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.GhostRecon.net" target="_blank">www.GhostRecon.net</a> | <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.AGR-S.com" target="_blank">www.AGR-S.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Steve R. wrote:
 > Alex wrote in message ...
 >
  >>Well I have the interesting website down pat.
 >
 >
 > Part of the problem is the that forum doesn't look *part* of the website
 > and also you might need to add a few messages yourself to start things
 > rolling.
 >
 > If you made the forum look part of the site, (and got rid of the ads at the
 > top of the forum), like this example below, I'm sure it would help.
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2</font" target="_blank">http://www.myby.myby.co.uk/2</font</a>>

Is your name Steve or Chris?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Alex wrote:

 > "Steve R." <stevie_ritchie(NOSPAM)@hotmail.com> schreef in bericht
 > news:t1nUb.6882$ZY2.63671404@news-text.cableinet.net...
 >
  >>Alex wrote in message ...
  >>
   >>>Does anyone have any tips on how to get a
   >>>new message forum going?
  >>
  >>Yes make the forum as part of an interesting website, then when people look
  >>at your interesting website they will want to keep coming back and post on
  >>the forum as well.
 >
 >
 > Well I have the interesting website down pat.
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.martialhub.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.martialhub.com/</font</a>>
 >
 > At least 100 targeted visitors per day (so far, no real advertising
 > but a related website that is prominent in the search engines), and
 > a prominent link.
 >
 > What I'm afraid of is that visitors see the empty boards and just
 > surf along.

Another idea...

Write good, fresh, interesting/controversial articles, and at the same
time create a new thread in the forum on the topic. At the bottom of the
article, create a link to the thread saying 'Discuss this article in our
forums' or something.

Also, until you get a reasonable community up and running, I'd remove
the need to register in order to post. It gets one barrier out of the
way, so people that have something to say about your articles but lose
their will half way through registering and then can't get back to the
forum thread anyway.

This isn't a perfect solution because it will make you a target for
spammers and you will get a lot of useless or derogatory noise to start
out which means that you will have to fairly closely censor everything
that is posted, but it should get things going, and then you can make
people register.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Crazy as it may sound, but try having a conversation with yourself on it,
that whay when new people arrive they wont be daunted by a quiet forum.

Bit
--
Domain Name WHOIS (without ads).
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.qnom.com" target="_blank">http://www.qnom.com</a>



"Alex" <avdeelen.REMOF DeleteThis @wanadoo.nl> wrote in message
news:4021cab2$0$31629$abc4f4c3@news.wanadoo.nl...
 > Does anyone have any tips on how to get a new message
 > forum going?
 >
 > I made a forum about the martial arts, but no one seems
 > to be picking up on it.
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.martialhub.com/BBSTalk/</font" target="_blank">http://www.martialhub.com/BBSTalk/</font</a>>
 >
 > Alex
 >
 > --
<font color=purple> > For martial arts links see <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.martialhub.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.martialhub.com/</font</a>>
 > Karate, Taekwondo, Filipino, Indonesian, and Indo-Chinese martial arts
 >
 > If you have any question about finding a school, or are looking for an
opinion on a teacher, please
<font color=purple> > address it at: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.martialhub.com/BBSTalk/</font" target="_blank">http://www.martialhub.com/BBSTalk/</font</a>>
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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