Feedback needed

[Foxy the Wolf]

tapforums.freeforums.net/
Any feedback would be appreciated

[Foxy the Wolf]

Basically I need feedback on how to get more people to join my forum and how to successfully advertise my forum

[Kami]

Jun 22, 2024 6:21:54 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

tapforums.freeforums.net/
Any feedback would be appreciated

Jun 27, 2024 6:08:36 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

Basically I need feedback on how to get more people to join my forum and how to successfully advertise my forum

For whatever it's worth: "get people to join" and "advertise" is probably not the focus you want to have. Forums are a community, and the best way to ensure success in a forum is to set it up so that people don't just join, but actively participate and form bonds with each other. A lot of admins, especially those just starting out, make this crucial mistake and then wonder why, despite having a lot of members and / or guest traffic, no one is posting and engaging.

The best way to start off is to figure out what type of community you want to build. Are you looking for hobbyists / collectors? Are you looking for a more general chat vibe with a special section for a particular interest? Are you looking for a particular kind of member? and so on.

At this time, my biggest criticism is that you haven't really done anything to encourage discussion. I clicked into a few of your more "discussion" themed threads, but they weren't made in such a way that it encourages anyone to participate. Example, the thread titled "Bells vs Sounders" in your discussion board: your opening post simply defines the two terms. You offer nothing of your own opinion, no direction in which the conversation would flow. What is a user supposed to do with this thread? How do they know they kind of response you're looking for? What about Bells vs Sounders do you want them to discuss?

You've got a lot of boards with a lot of threads, but if this one is any indication, the threads are all similarly structured to this.

You cannot expect to just create a bunch of threads and for people to just start posting and then boom, active and successful forum. If anything, you need to be the one to show people how you want members to interact. Show them by offering your opinion, your own thoughts on the topic at hand, rather than just being like "Bananas. Talk about them here." Being a forum admin means being a community manager; you can't expect a community to form on your forum spontaneously by advertising and getting people to join — you have to create a reason to get them to stay. 

[Foxy the Wolf]

Thx for the feedback

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 27, 2024 6:58:09 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jun 22, 2024 6:21:54 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

tapforums.freeforums.net/
Any feedback would be appreciated

Jun 27, 2024 6:08:36 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

Basically I need feedback on how to get more people to join my forum and how to successfully advertise my forum

For whatever it's worth: "get people to join" and "advertise" is probably not the focus you want to have. Forums are a community, and the best way to ensure success in a forum is to set it up so that people don't just join, but actively participate and form bonds with each other. A lot of admins, especially those just starting out, make this crucial mistake and then wonder why, despite having a lot of members and / or guest traffic, no one is posting and engaging.

The best way to start off is to figure out what type of community you want to build. Are you looking for hobbyists / collectors? Are you looking for a more general chat vibe with a special section for a particular interest? Are you looking for a particular kind of member? and so on.

At this time, my biggest criticism is that you haven't really done anything to encourage discussion. I clicked into a few of your more "discussion" themed threads, but they weren't made in such a way that it encourages anyone to participate. Example, the thread titled "Bells vs Sounders" in your discussion board: your opening post simply defines the two terms. You offer nothing of your own opinion, no direction in which the conversation would flow. What is a user supposed to do with this thread? How do they know they kind of response you're looking for? What about Bells vs Sounders do you want them to discuss?

You've got a lot of boards with a lot of threads, but if this one is any indication, the threads are all similarly structured to this.

You cannot expect to just create a bunch of threads and for people to just start posting and then boom, active and successful forum. If anything, you need to be the one to show people how you want members to interact. Show them by offering your opinion, your own thoughts on the topic at hand, rather than just being like "Bananas. Talk about them here." Being a forum admin means being a community manager; you can't expect a community to form on your forum spontaneously by advertising and getting people to join — you have to create a reason to get them to stay. 

That will be worked on

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 27, 2024 7:08:38 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

Jun 27, 2024 6:58:09 GMT -8 Kami said:

For whatever it's worth: "get people to join" and "advertise" is probably not the focus you want to have. Forums are a community, and the best way to ensure success in a forum is to set it up so that people don't just join, but actively participate and form bonds with each other. A lot of admins, especially those just starting out, make this crucial mistake and then wonder why, despite having a lot of members and / or guest traffic, no one is posting and engaging.

The best way to start off is to figure out what type of community you want to build. Are you looking for hobbyists / collectors? Are you looking for a more general chat vibe with a special section for a particular interest? Are you looking for a particular kind of member? and so on.

At this time, my biggest criticism is that you haven't really done anything to encourage discussion. I clicked into a few of your more "discussion" themed threads, but they weren't made in such a way that it encourages anyone to participate. Example, the thread titled "Bells vs Sounders" in your discussion board: your opening post simply defines the two terms. You offer nothing of your own opinion, no direction in which the conversation would flow. What is a user supposed to do with this thread? How do they know they kind of response you're looking for? What about Bells vs Sounders do you want them to discuss?

You've got a lot of boards with a lot of threads, but if this one is any indication, the threads are all similarly structured to this.

You cannot expect to just create a bunch of threads and for people to just start posting and then boom, active and successful forum. If anything, you need to be the one to show people how you want members to interact. Show them by offering your opinion, your own thoughts on the topic at hand, rather than just being like "Bananas. Talk about them here." Being a forum admin means being a community manager; you can't expect a community to form on your forum spontaneously by advertising and getting people to join — you have to create a reason to get them to stay. 

That will be worked on

I've tried to make some of these improvements that you suggested

[Foxy the Wolf]

Any more feedback??

[Foxy the Wolf]

Any one else have any feedback

[dragonfli]

You should follow Kami's suggestions first so then we can offer you feedback after you make changes. It looks like you didn't change or customize anything yet. Will be happy to offer feedback once I see a theme or the previous advice followed.

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 29, 2024 8:07:41 GMT -8 dragonfli said:

You should follow Kami's suggestions first so then we can offer you feedback after you make changes. It looks like you didn't change or customize anything yet. Will be happy to offer feedback once I see a theme or the previous advice followed.

I've added themes

[dustys]

My firefighter dad joined. You deleted his account and all his posts. That's not friendly to members. You can't expect growth if you do that.

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 29, 2024 9:45:49 GMT -8 dustys said:

My firefighter dad joined. You deleted his account and all his posts. That's not friendly to members. You can't expect growth if you do that.

Sorry

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 29, 2024 9:45:49 GMT -8 dustys said:

My firefighter dad joined. You deleted his account and all his posts. That's not friendly to members. You can't expect growth if you do that.

I've unbanned him

[Foxy the Wolf]

Jun 29, 2024 9:58:30 GMT -8 Foxy the Wolf said:

Jun 29, 2024 9:45:49 GMT -8 dustys said:

My firefighter dad joined. You deleted his account and all his posts. That's not friendly to members. You can't expect growth if you do that.

Sorry

Tell him to rejoin and I won't ban him

[dustys]

He spent an hour making topics. You deleted everything he wrote and banned him without a reason. He won't be returning for now.

So more feedback is to not do that to members. No one wants to start over on a forum.