I have just launched my new webmaster forum yesterday and I only have 8 members. How do I get things moving faster? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

here are some reads on this particular subject

http://www.geekvillage.com/forums/sh...threadid=27191

check the below place for a lot of tips tricks and ideas on it.
http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/index.php

hope this helps and good luck with the forum

Originally Posted by praveen

here are some reads on this particular subject

http://www.geekvillage.com/forums/sh...threadid=27191

check the below place for a lot of tips tricks and ideas on it.
http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/index.php

hope this helps and good luck with the forum

Thanks Praveen!

It's now a week since I've launched my fourm. Just started with some free rewards, so we'll see how that goes.

Question for you: Why did you copy the categories and forums of WT?

Yes, mostly. It is the best forum, so why mess with perfection? I will add others in the future when it grows.

But, if you're copying the forum exactly, then you give no reason for members to join. See?

Like webfreak says

if you have copyed a hole forum why would some one need to go to a emty website and wait longer for a reply when they could go to this one a get a quicker reply

also cos you have copyed this site what use is this to you as you could just go on this site

i would try other kinds of subjects as that is the chalinge with forums seeing what does well and what dosn't also i see alot of people saying how do i get my forum bussy well what would be the point in doing a forum if as soon as you opened it that 100's or 1000's of members come on that is the fun of a forum trying to do something different and eye catching that is the way to get it bussy also your posting on here why not think of things to post on you forum so people start to see its bussy and will post or join more

its like sitting in a ring of people that you dont know and some one saying right some one tell us a storry well no one will start till the owner or some one with guts goes first

well i hope that helps

Thanks for the help. I plan to add different topics to the forum. Using WT as a template was a good start. Thanks for all the advice. Are there any topics you would like to see included?

You've already included a lot. I would not be focused on adding forums, rather taking away forums. Find which ones can be merged to create a more general forum. Then, once they have a decent number of threads, you'll create additional forums, subforums, categories and so on.

I've slimmed down the forum so it isn't empty. I will then add new forums as it grows. I will now be working on the design itself. I can't stand the current icons. Thanks for all of your advice and maybe you'll stop by and pst something.

Kline,

It's one thing to get ideas from other forums but another to copy not only the forums titles but also the descriptions almost word for word.

Please use use some of your own creativity and revise your forum descriptions and some of the titles. Would you be happy if someone copied some of your others sites almost word for word?

We have a copyright notice on the bottom of our forums for a reason. Thank You

Yes a lot and been stolen from me and I have been unable to prosecute. Out of respect and I will change them. Thank you for heads up. No hard feelings?

I have made the changes to avoid any possible copyright infringements. Again, I'm sorry.

Hi Kline. I just signed up at your forum as "valdez" That's a nice site you got there. As far as attracting new members to the forum you can offer free advertising to members. maybe something like putting a rotating banner at the bottom of your pages reserved to the top posters as an example. the biggest thing though is content and help. if a forum is able to help me I return. i.e. answer my coding questions etc.

Nice looking forum, Kline11. I think the challenging job in building a community is getting members and members that stick around. IMO, if your site is not a business site then your forum should be targeted to your business niche or target market. As a owner I think you should contribute to your forum by starting new topics and get into a routine of making a few posts everyday. A little trick you can use to stimulate conversation is to create a few different member accounts each with their own personality. This method again takes dedication because you need to keep logging in with each character and making new posts. It appears as your forum is getting popular.

Thanks guys for advice. I have started many threads to encourage converastions. There are many views, but few sign ups at this point. I am continueing to redesign the forums as well to better match SearchBliss. Please visit again to see the changes and started topics. Maybe you'l want to post. Also make sure to add you url to your signatures. SearchBliss is a pr6 and I'm sure the next update will add pr to the forums. We all know how important backlinks are. Thanks again. See sig for forum url

P.S. Valdez, thanks for joining!

Praveen has given me some great advice to get members posted on my forum as follows:
referral competition.
contests/rewards., but they involve payng for referrals. This is a great idea, however, my wife can go into labor with our first child at any moment and I cannot afford to pay. We are now down to one income. We all have our anxieties, and this is a wonderful time for me despite finances. Is there any other way? This is aplea for help. Maybe I should just let it ride, but I've worked so hard. Sorry for all of the babble, but venting helps (like free theorapy) if there is such a thing.

you have a pm

i would say offer comps were you can give advertising etc etc away thats what i am doing on one of my forums and it seems to be helping

you do not have to offer cash for everything but there are lots of other stuff to offer as well

Originally Posted by madkad

i would say offer comps were you can give advertising etc etc away thats what i am doing on one of my forums and it seems to be helping

you do not have to offer cash for everything but there are lots of other stuff to offer as well

Good point. I'll come up with some ideas when I have the time. Thanks.