Scared of new forums?

[Ash]

Have you ever been reluctant to join a new forum because you were worried that it may not last for long? What things can an admin do to encourage you to try the forum out?

 

[Techno]

Problem is, most new forums do end up dead, so it's hard to get involved unless it's a older forum. A owner needs to gain a user's trust.

 

[Grungie]

Actually engage with the community. I’ve seen quite a few people create forums, don’t post, and expect other people to create content. Why should I put effort when you won’t?

One that’s unique to places like FP, are people who constantly close and remake their forums. Some of the staff members on FP we’re pretty notorious for shutting down their forums after like a month because they don’t try.

 

[MrDawn]

It's hard for me to join most new forums because they don't stay active. Like @Grungie pointed out, another problem is that some people off of Forum Promotion have a history of shutting down their forums and there's no longer a point in joining and putting time into something that they created because they're not going to stick it out.

 

[Ash]

Actually engage with the community. I’ve seen quite a few people create forums, don’t post, and expect other people to create content. Why should I put effort when you won’t?

One that’s unique to places like FP, are people who constantly close and remake their forums. Some of the staff members on FP we’re pretty notorious for shutting down their forums after like a month because they don’t try.

Very true. I think it can be hugely offputting to see an essentially empty forum when you visit it and I'm not sure how someone can think people will join them.

Recently, there have been a few cases of forums just being consistently opened and closed for absolutely no reason. Quite annoying and very offputting.

 

[sariki]

yeah, I agree with that. I feel like it's hard to get a forum off the ground, to begin with, let alone having a very popular forum. I think people refuse to just let their community grow organically and really struggle with that.

 

[Drac Morbis]

I'll be honest, I've had several forums that I ended up closing due to various reasons. My newest one seems to be doing great and I'm hoping it continues to do so. It has a nice and active community too!

 

[Demon_skeith]

It's been going on for a long time since I've been running forums, I did join one recently figured it go far, lasted 3 months and the owner sold it

 

[Kylie]

I’ve seen quite a few people create forums, don’t post, and expect other people to create content. Why should I put effort when you won’t?

I agree so much with this. Before I join a forum, I will "lurk" and just keep an eye on what's going on. If I see that staff makes no effort to create topics, I'm not about to join that forum.

 

[Gh0st4unt3r]

i am the same if the team/staff shows commitment and great ideas for the community i will join even if it will last or not, i always enjoy helping out communities and giving them a good start even if in the end they dont work out they gave it a good go at growing,

before i join though i always check to see if its within my interests and knowledge base so i can become an asset with great content if and when needed.

 

[Ash]

It's been going on for a long time since I've been running forums, I did join one recently figured it go far, lasted 3 months and the owner sold it

If I'm thinking of the right one, it might be returning under a new name again ?

 

[Demon_skeith]

If I'm thinking of the right one, it might be returning under a new name again ?

I'm talking about Webmaster Place if thats what you had in mind.

 

[Kyng]

I have no problem with joining new forums, if it's either a new admin, or an established admin who's starting a new forum for the first time in ages. The former need the support and encouragement, and the latter have the experience to make it work.

What I don't like, however, is admins who keep closing, moving, and re-opening their forums over and over. It's like they live solely on the honeymoon phase, and the high activity that it brings. But then, once the novelty wears off, they're unable to settle into the daily grind of maintaining an active forum, and they just give up as soon as they encounter the first speed bump. And then, a couple of months later, they come back with a new forum, and a sob story as to why the previous one didn't work out.

I do try to give people chances, but my patience with these kinds of people does eventually run out. There's no point in joining or helping a forum that the owner is likely to give up on after a couple of months.

 

[Ash]

I'm talking about Webmaster Place if thats what you had in mind.

Oh no, never mind, not that one. I had no idea it was sold though. It's pretty much dead though so not sure who would have bought it.

I have no problem with joining new forums, if it's either a new admin, or an established admin who's starting a new forum for the first time in ages. The former need the support and encouragement, and the latter have the experience to make it work.

What I don't like, however, is admins who keep closing, moving, and re-opening their forums over and over. It's like they live solely on the honeymoon phase, and the high activity that it brings. But then, once the novelty wears off, they're unable to settle into the daily grind of maintaining an active forum, and they just give up as soon as they encounter the first speed bump. And then, a couple of months later, they come back with a new forum, and a sob story as to why the previous one didn't work out.

I do try to give people chances, but my patience with these kinds of people does eventually run out. There's no point in joining or helping a forum that the owner is likely to give up on after a couple of months.

I think that's a fair way to think about it. We can give admins a few chances, after all, we've all made some mistakes regarding our sites in the past. But at some point, it does just become a bit too annoying and problematic to deal with.

 

[Grungie]

I have no problem with joining new forums, if it's either a new admin, or an established admin who's starting a new forum for the first time in ages. The former need the support and encouragement, and the latter have the experience to make it work.

What I don't like, however, is admins who keep closing, moving, and re-opening their forums over and over. It's like they live solely on the honeymoon phase, and the high activity that it brings. But then, once the novelty wears off, they're unable to settle into the daily grind of maintaining an active forum, and they just give up as soon as they encounter the first speed bump. And then, a couple of months later, they come back with a new forum, and a sob story as to why the previous one didn't work out.

I do try to give people chances, but my patience with these kinds of people does eventually run out. There's no point in joining or helping a forum that the owner is likely to give up on after a couple of months.

I remember quite a few people on FB who were on forum #5 on the same subject, because they kept closing and re-opening it. Surely at your 5th name change, it’ll stay long.

One user I tried to be nice to, because we had a similar forum topic, so we did some post exchanges, but I told him I was stopping, because he wouldn’t respond or anything to the exchanges. He also wasn’t posting at all on his own forum, so I felt like he was making me make all of the content for him.

 

[ZandraJoi]

I have joined 70 some forums. I don't post or even log on all the time. I do try to make my rounds but then I find some were deleted. It does irk me when somebody creates a forum, expects members to add content, they are not around, & then they shut it down. Then another month or so later, they create another one. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I ended up making a rule that I won't join someone's 3rd forum. Exception are those I do Posting Packages for of course.

 

[Drac Morbis]

I have joined 70 some forums. I don't post or even log on all the time. I do try to make my rounds but then I find some were deleted. It does irk me when somebody creates a forum, expects members to add content, they are not around, & then they shut it down. Then another month or so later, they create another one. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I ended up making a rule that I won't join someone's 3rd forum. Exception are those I do Posting Packages for of course.

I'm glad you hang out on my forum! My main issue is money. I only had a single XF license and to get another was $140. In the interim, I tried several free forums which were all junk. So I saved up and got a license and opened my forum!

 

[Grungie]

I'm glad you hang out on my forum! My main issue is money. I only had a single XF license and to get another was $140. In the interim, I tried several free forums which were all junk. So I saved up and got a license and opened my forum!

That’s the crappy thing about free stuff sometimes. Though it’s good to see you got what you wanted.

 

[Ash]

Other than MyBB, I can definitely agree with all the free options being awful. None of them are good enough compared to the other forum options

 

[Fait]

Other than MyBB, I can definitely agree with all the free options being awful. None of them are good enough compared to the other forum options

Mybb is great but I noticed the plug-in dev team is completely dead
I was going to use it but decided to stick to Xenforo.