What draws you to a forum?

[bindiirwinfan]

I am in the middle of making a good Snow Patrol forum but I could do with some advice please

[HoudiniDerek]

Sept 2, 2008 10:30:09 GMT -8 bindiirwinfan said:

I am in the middle of making a good Snow Patrol forum but I could do with some advice please

You have two good bets. First, I would read this entire thread to get an idea of what draws people to a forum. I would then take the suggestions and work to implement them in your forum...or at least the ones you like and agree with the most.

Second, I would put your forum up to be rated in GOAYB. That way, a rater can tell you what they like and what they don't like and you can take some of those ideas into consideration. These are the best two ways to get idea-based help on a forum. Good luck.

[bindiirwinfan]

Could you tell me what I could do to make it better

[HoudiniDerek]

Sept 3, 2008 6:57:00 GMT -8 bindiirwinfan said:

Could you tell me what I could do to make it better

Not here. GOAYB is the place to post your forum so people can make comments on what you can do better. D:YP is the area where people discuss and debate about forums more generally. If you post it in GOAYB I might rate it, but I cannot promise it at this time. Others might rate it for you though if you post it.

[Jayd Scarlett]

I noticed a lot of people have said things like, "needs lot of active members" or close to, "if it doesn't have many active members in the past 24 hours, I won't join." I do wonder what you'd say if the board had only started...

...I, personally, started a board with a friend of mine, just a week ago. The coding is good; the skin is simple, and it's just a site where we showcase our writing and that.

We've four members, which is pretty good.

I just think, if it's a new site (and you can usually tell when it is) then I'd still join if it was based on a topic I like, for the simple matter that I know the board'll pick up.

[omaki]

What draws me to a forum?? Hehe!

1) The speed it takes to load up- if it takes a god-awful amount of time to load up just cause the admin put graphics on and stuff, Im most likely to disapear in a flash.

2) The colors. I dont like bright stuff, and pitch black is well... to black- blues, reds, greens, browns and beiges are the preferable colors for me.

3) The subject/whats it about- If its ponies, nah, Im more of the action and mystery role-plays and such. Fan sites are... ok... depending on what its about!!!

4) Admin and staff behavior::
things I look for
a) active admin and staff
b) nice, calm, doesnt blow up easily, takes things with ease and corrects things that need to be corrected.

5) Happy members- members who are willing to give good words about the site when a guest asks.

[Rachel]

Usually activity is what first draws me to a forum. It also has to look tidy, organised, and have a good colour scheme at first glance. After that, the staff and admins need to be friendly and not abusive, ect. And the members also need to be nice, and talk to new members. Otherwise I'll probably feel left out and leave.

[Lucky. C]

Interaction. That's what draws me to a forum. Actually I used to have a website, but then my friend introduced me to a forum, which later I found it more interesting! People (visitors) can interact easily with the owner of the forum (admin). In website, you can only provide stuff like Cbox in it to interact with people. But it isn't enough.

in forum, we also make a community or group, where we support each other.

[Lamp Shade]

Well, I think that the organization of a forum is important.

I believe that the more professional it looks and seems, the more people will be attracted to it. Also if the members are friendly and welcoming. I do find it important.

Plus I also find that when a forum keeps updated and is active, that is another important feature.

I don't know if anyone discussed that the way I have just now... I can't read all those posts! XD

[Gylfie107]

I like good color chemes, a genere that interests me, and activity. I hate forums where nothing happens. I also like kind members and staff, and rules that are enforced.

[clobopallymad]

What I usually look at is;

• Decent Graphics. The forum must have a banner, affiliate banner and a few other graphics for me to join, but not too many.

• Nice Skin. If the colors don't match and the skin doesn't match the theme and feel of the skin, I will leave.

• Active Staff. There must be obvious tries by the staff to make the forum active.

• Welcoming Members. Members must help others and welcome new people into the forum.

• Interesting Plot [if roleplay]. I must have enough muse to make a good application because of the plot.

That's round about it.. I may add or remove more later.

[Gylfie107]

I'm pretty fussy about spam. I don't usualy join anything with random "hAy wT Yo DoIN" posts. If a forum has more then, say, three chinease spam bot posts or runescape gold posts, I'm outta there.
The colors also matter a bunch. As I dream of being an inteirer designer, I care a lot about a good color scheme. Graphics are another thing. I like forums that have an on/off icon other then the defult one. In addition, if the forum still has the defult skin, I don't join. (Though I like the defult skin, I feel it means the owner dosn't care)
The defult prboards look matters to me. I don't like change, so a sleek, modern-esc board turns me off, while I love normal boards with no hacks to make it look, erm, odd.

[sassylii]

Things I usually look at in a forum:

[/b] forum to run the way you invisioned it, a little flexibility is always nice.

5) Lastly, I really enjoy sites that try to involve everyone with plots and events and awards and such things. It's always fun~[/ul][/size]

[2ndgaterocklee]

As a suggestion for the "Default" skin, I think the boards could be a little more curved on the edges, just because of the color scheme I don't think that angled edges look good with the color. Too bad there wasn't a quick way to change the border edges... for peoples who don't know how to make skins...
Anyway, that's my idea!

[Xx.simple.wishes]

The content of the boards is important. If it's a general chat board I'd like all different topics, not just one board to talk about anything. If it's a rpg, it should have many boards to rp in. And the layout has to be nice. I want to see what i'm reading, I don't want to squint just to read one paragraph. If there are nice graphics, maybe a side table... something that doesn't take f o r e v e r to load, then it's a good board. And nothing with way too many codes, then it's just code heaven, not a good board.

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