What makes a forum die?

[Qwerty333]

My forum was active, but is now dying. It is not really my forum, but I am a co-admin. I see myself as the owner though, because the admin is immature and inactive. If the admin is very immature and has no experience running a site, then the forum dies. Don't have no rules, and don't just let the members do whatever they want, and don't be inactive.. That will inevitably lead to the "death" of a forum.

[viruszero]

A site can fail for loads of reasons...


Admin reasons:
- The admin is too concerned with numbers... Such as posts and how active their forum is. What I mean is they are so concerned with hitting that next milestone number that they are sucking the fun out of the forum.

- The admin doesn't change/differentiate the forum. (Such as never changing the basic look of the forum.)

- The admin changes too much. That is every time you sign on everything is revamped. This is equally as annoying as nothing changes because you continually have to get used to where things are again or how everything looks.

- The look of the forum is painful or poorly designed. Such as an abundance of neon colors which sting the eyes and/or small font to boot.

- The rules of the forum are too tough or the admin punishes too harshly. I mean who wants to stay on a forum if you're going to get punished for having even a proper discussion?

- The rules are too lienent or the admin doesn't punish those who are breaking the rules. Members can get away with too much and it drives the other memers away. Who wants to really stick around if Joe forumcrasher is having a good ol' romp and the admin does nothing?

- The admin displays obvious favouritism. Some members can do whatever they want, including break the rules and nothing is ever said. Yet others "cough" and they get warned.

- The admin is too pushy/unrealistic about posting... Expecting too many posts a day and at such a length that it isn't possible for everyone.

- The lay out of the forum is horrible, such as if you have 50+ different sections all in a row and have to scroll through everything to find the one you want. EX- say you have a videogame forums for PS3/Xbox/Nintento intermingled with Sewing, Cooking, Technology, News and Random section #1-23. Very difficult to find what you may be looking for.

- The admin is unrealistic about time... That being that they think as soon as they create the forum it should flood with members who will love them/their site. And so when they don't get members within like 2 weeks they shut down and try again, thinking it'll work next time.


Now for the Members contribution to a failing site:
- Members that won't obey the rules. (Either get banned or stay and continue the abuse.) In either case it will decrease the number of members you have.

- Putting off posting, like mentioned, if everyone waits for another to post nothing gets posted. And if the admin doesn't encourage or try to help people post then it will die.

- Members who join then leave. (Worse if they get involved and you come to depend on them a bit, then they leave.)

- Members who simply moan about things all the time. Such as how the forum looks, the way the admin runs things, their life and all the things wrong with it. Plain and simple others might be sympathetic for a bit, but then it comes time to grow up and accept the issues, quit moaning about them and either do something about it or plain and simply shut up.

[! W I Z A R D]

In my opinion, based on expirience, it is always related to inactivity. Obviously, but some of the reasons I go inactive is because either the thread becomes boring or that there isn't much threading at all.

There have been a handful of times where I was really interested in the site, and after posting my bio and being accepted- I went out to begin roleplaying and there was simply nothing to post to. It happens more often that vetran members get in their little cliques and only post with people they know and have RPed with before and us new members just get left in the dark.

Oh, oh! Speaking of posting bios- there have been so many times where I have posted my bio and have been so excited to start RPing and then it takes ages to get accepted. That's a giant turn off and I have better things to do than just sit there and wait for an admin to get on. And what sucks more than that is when an admin gets on and doesn't accept you. Careless admins are a giant no-no in ProBoards sites and if they are not on top of their site, then it's just not fun.

So basically, inactive members and crappy admins make it hard for a forum to thrive. It's like whipping before ya poop, it don't make no sense.

[schmittoube]

I have to concur with "! W I Z A R D" on her synopsis: you have to have a VARIETY of topics to discuss, a semi-competent staff, at least a handful of INTERESTING and ACTIVE "regulars" who post DAILY and a couple of games/tournaments running on your board.

Plus, you (as an admin) can't take your job too seriously all the time and have to let others pick at you a little to loosen things up when the "deaded" seasons set in.

[~Sayuri~]

Well, to me, a forum dies if:

~It's not active
~A lot of members, seem to ignore it
~Well, this is just my opinion, if the admin hired global moderators, moderators or staff are not experienced.
~ A lot of damage has been done to the site like:
1. If the site is NOT rated teen, yet the members keep on swearing and talking bad things, yet the staff ignores it.

[HoudiniDerek]

Mar 15, 2009 12:56:00 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

I see a lot of forums that are created in a state of boredom. "I'm bored...think I'll make yet another forum." Yes, it's fun to make forums, but people sometimes love only the creation part and not the hard work that follows.

I definitely agree with that. It seems that so many people have so many forums that some of them are bound to die regardless of how great the forum could be. They just don't have enough time and interest to focus on all of the forums they own, so all of them tend to slack off in membership and admin activity. It can be a lot of hard work to run a forum, even a small one with just a small membership.

I think another thing that causes most forums to die is the admin. A lot of admins get discouraged with small membership or less activity, even if it is something that happens across forums. They will get fed up and delete it or just abandon it and then the forum dies from the lack of attention. If you really love the subject and the hard work you put into a forum, why would you do such a thing?

My forum only has about four solid members, including myself. We get a couple of lurkers that randomly post, but not many new ones. Even if it was just me, I doubt I would delete it or shelve it because I put hard work into it and I still do that. Plus, for the one or two people that I do have as constant members, I would hate for them to go by the wayside because I got discouraged or bored with the topic. To me, that is one thing not enough admins do: If you are leaving, pass it on to someone else. Maybe they have the drive you don't.

[+ + ♪ {lucis}]

Speaking from my past experiences, it's mainly the admins fault, but there can also be a variety of reasons.

The admin may not be ready to even run the site. The admin might have just made the site because they were tired of never being staff on another site - and wanted to be boss for once. The site is just thrown together. A few members join, but the admin has no clue how to make the members feel comfortable. A problem arises and the admin has no clue how to quell the fighting or the problem, so the members leave.

Extended inactivity from the main admin/main staff can also lead to a forum's eventual death - especially if it's a roleplay site. Nobody with the power to move the site along is around, new characters can't be accepted, etc. The site reaches a stalemate and the members just leave.

[Ryouken]

Well, for all the sites ive been on (that have died) I notice that it starts with only a few active members. and then one at a time, people stop logging on, or wait to long and then dont know whats going on.

Other times the admins just rush things. like in our Naruto Forum (Not to be advertised because it is not Proboards) we had several villages, this caused a spread of our members and eventually it became to hard to manage.

Now we have the problem fixed, but we demanded to much from to little and eventually it died. our site got a lucky second chance. that doesnt happen that often.

Now i am just trying to keep my new site (Seen in my sig) from dying, and i am using all that i have learned to keep it afloat

[sincity61]

couple of things can make a forum die, alway hope of reviving the forum. Never give up is my motto ;D

1. Admin, global mods and mods not only getting bored but burnt out or not acting as a admin should or lack of posting, no communication...list goes on and on.
2. To many topics, I personally don't want to go to a forum and scratch my head, and say now what or read and see 20 of the same post different members over and over again. Sometimes simplicity is good.
3. Board wars, can scare off any member
4. Some members can become very demanding
5. Airing your dirty laundry on a forum. Keep it out of forums. If you want to be personal and talk about your boyfriend left you or how much your husband drinks. yatta yatta yatta, privately pm a person. For me this is a turn off. Keep it off the site or depends on what the forum is. I personal don't want everyone knowing my private and personal biz on the internet.
6. Big one constantly Flip flopping and changing a forum can become a turn off.
7. One time posters or lack of posting. Bashing or character bashing
8. Advertise, threw word of mouth or other boards and keep members informed with pm's and emails. This can also back fire if you over do it.
9. Setting to strict of guild lines, gone on board where you have to follow every rule or else. Isn't a forum to have fun.
9. Last one which is big: Let's say you have a site set on a TV show and persons don't watch that show either A Add to site, keep it exciting or B revive as something totally different.

Pick you forum name wisely, personally feel it's in the name of a forum, what the forum has to offer, members, are they nice or click-sh, active admins, what the forum looks like. Are they open to listening to what I as a member would like to see or not see. OMG Colors have seen some horrible colors. If I go on a site and it's blazing my inner eye balls, then I high tail it out of their.

Easy to read, not every one has a eye for creating a forum. Always get another views on what it's like, sometimes get two or three views, so you know. Hard to put your heart and soul into a forum and find out after it's to late your site was gross or boring to another.

Catch 22 either it's a flop or it's not.

[Venotica]

I've found that a forum's activity depends largely upon the admin. I once joined a wolf roleplay with a very unique plot, and I was very excited about it. Then slowly, the admin just came on less and less and less. The forum then died.

Also, if a board has several key, very active members, who have woven themselves deeply into the board, suddenly quit. Often, many people then find they are at the end of their plots, or are left with nothing to do. This makes it very difficult to run an active site.

Another big issue I have is cliques on boards, especially with aged boards. When there are several veteran members, that have become so used to each other, they simply only roleplay or talk with one another. It becomes very frustrating. Occasinally, it's possible to 'join' the clique, but most times, I just find myself very bored and end up quitting the site, or not logging back on. What's the point of trying to be-friend people, only to be ignored? On more than one occassion, I've joined a thread, and the other people in the thread simply ignore that I've even entered the thread, or will devote one sentence to me, and then a whole paragraph to addressing their friend. This becomes largely annoying, and often I won't bother with trying to stay on the site.

Also, when I will start a thread, and no one willl reply to it. That becomes very annoying. Or I've started a thread, and people reply once or twice, then forget about it. That's also very annoying. Those are reasons I've left a site. It's no fun to be ignored.

Ultimately, I think a forum dying depends on everybody. Though I will largely account the inactivity is mostly part of an inactive admin. But at the same time, when new members are ignored that can lead up to only having a very small amount of active people. To keep a board alive I think everyone has to work hard, and that there should always be a very active and friendly staff.

[Short of Daybreak]

I have, myself, deleted so many forums, that I have practically decided not to create anymore. I recently created 1, and still have it, but I'm the only member, it is in Guest Must Login, and I only have it just in case I may want to try 1 more time (which I may not, but it's possible).

What makes a forum die is inactivity, especially. I've had it where it appears my site is going to take off, then suddenly, no one shows up, regardless if I'm active or not!
Members really do make a forum.

Another thing is, I do think admins can get nervous. I admit, I have as well. Like I get nervous that a member will somehow break the TOS, and I'm not there to remove any damage they've done. Or that I may unintentionally break the TOS. And so on and so on.

So those are the two major things in site death and deletion. At least, from what I can see.

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

I agree with most of what is said here. It is often the fault of the Admin, but not always. We all know that if we look at a site and there are obvious things wrong with it (dumb rules, horrible layout, etc...) we won't join? Whose fault is that? The Admins. Sometimes, a too simple or a too complicated an RP can turn members away as well. Also, sometimes it can simple be the wrong kind of RP at the wrong time. For instance, as people have mentioned, there are a lot of certain kinds of RP's (Harry Potter, Twilight). Opening one of them is good, but a unique twist is needed, and that's hard to find. There are lots of different reasons for a forum to die, and sometimes, there's nothing you can do. It just happens. Somethings are not meant to be.

[Spartan]

Heres my thoughts on it, feel free to disagree or whatever because it does mostly go against everything said here... but is the utter truth.

As to date i have been the Admin on about 6 - 8 proboards sites, 2 zombie, 1 mixed, 1 Anita Blake, 1 dragon site, 1 fallout 3 and my newest is a Otherworld site,

So far the only two still running are my Otherworld (yet to be opened) and my Fallout 3 (2 1/2 months old)

SO far, most things have been related to admin faults.

I as an admin am both lazy as i am bored and wont do a thing unless i have to, and even that takes time.

All my sites have had some degree of success, ranging from a very happy post happy group of 10 to my fallout which is ranging on 50.

the secret to what makes a forum work and not work?

friendly staff:

first impressions are everything. im lazy but everyone who asks a question gets an answer, every answer is fair and non besis and every answer is given as soon as received.

Everyone who signs up gets a warm welcome from myself, NOT an auto message but a genuine message of welcoming

I ask questions and interact with the member, i talk just as much to the 50th member as i do the 1st...

any problems i ask to hear about and help when needed.



Boards:

keep tidy and ordered nothing more off putting than 2 boards with 1000's of messages in it or 1000's of boards with none.

dont spam your boards. with post here or opening posts ect, leave room other others to make the first move



colours and codes

try everything on a test board first, nothing worst than the board shattering into a hundred diffrent peaces cos the code went wrong when you have members online.

keep colours basic and in tone with site pictures ect..

no bright reds and greens because its TOO hard to see with blinding colours
no pure white images on a blue background ect...






More to the point, my sites are plain boring and have been repeated 100's of times, im a crap admin who makes sites when im bored, or cos i feel like it and for no perpose great than, oh, that'll waste time.

the only thing i like is the management side of things.

so what do i do.

i order my site, advertise like hell, get staff to pick up may slack and work hard-ish


long story short, the only thing that makes a site die?

its not the admin
or the members
or the board

its the lack of community

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Okay, almost all of you seem to think that it's the admin's fault most of the time for a site dying. MOST of the time. I'm the co-admin of a wolf site, and the admin's almost never on, so I'm kind of looked at as the actual admin (I have basically all of the admin powers except for maybe add-free and deletion of the whole board), and I just cannot figure out what is wrong with it. I'm very friendly, and I send all new members a personal welcome message, and I advertise like CRAZY. So what am I doing wrong?

I've begun to think that I'm a little overzealous, but I wouldn't know because to me it looks like there's nothing wrong with my demeanor. I talk to new members a lot, but I often find them not replying to me.

Here are the things I think are good about my site:

• Friendly staff (me)
  
• Recently revamped to be more organized and (IMO) pretty
  
• Constant advertising
  
• I post immediately when I get a reply (though that often takes a day or two)
  
• Plenty of places for new members to fit right in
  
• No character limit
  
• Reasonable word minimum

Here are the things that I suspect might be wrong with it:

• There's no form of reward system, because there's nothing anyone has to buy. I was thinking of adding this, but I don't know what I'd have for sale because it's a fantasy rp and there's no limit to what you can make your wolf look like.
  
• Of the existing packs, mine is the only active one. One alpha has recently gone inactive, and the other three are owned by the equally inactive admin. I don't want to ask her to give up her characters, but I don't know how to get new members to join apparently inactive packs.
  
• Some people don't like the blue, but I just cannot figure out that "Multiple skins" code. >.<
  
• I might be a little overzealous in my admining. Unfortunately, I cannot tell because, well, it's me. >.<

If any of you have experienced sites going dead from any of the things I mentioned, I would like to know. Especially about the overzealous admining part.

[Spartan]

Recently revamped to be more organized and (IMO) pretty... has there been many revamps or other customization? lots all at once is confusing for members and often drives them away.

Reasonable word minimum... its fine having a maximum limit (in my view) but having a limit on minimum posting is always going to be a prob, instantly its pressure on those who like me like to Rp, but dont have the skill to write long posts, or for thoses who have writers block.

There's no form of reward system, because there's nothing anyone has to buy. I was thinking of adding this, but I don't know what I'd have for sale because it's a fantasy rp and there's no limit to what you can make your wolf look like... a reward system is a must, it really is the easier and best why for a member to track how well there doing by seeing what they have... maybe do something like pack points? when you get to a certain amount of something, you can challenge your alpha? sort of like strength?

Of the existing packs, mine is the only active one. One alpha has recently gone inactive, and the other three are owned by the equally inactive admin. I don't want to ask her to give up her characters, but I don't know how to get new members to join apparently inactive packs.... Email the other pack alphas if you can, if not, offer the places to regular posters...