Successful Forum Guide

[Romanos]

Successful Forum Guide

Part 1........... Grammar
Part 2........... Hosting
Part 3........... Skins and Graphics
Part 4........... Creating Forums
Part 5........... Topsites
Part 6........... Advertising



Part 1 - Grammar

Spelling:
Always try to spell words correctly, if you are not good at English then use Word Document or other Spell Checkers.
- http://www.spellcheck.net/ is and easy and fast way to check your Spelling.

Shortening Words:
Never try to sherten words like:
- u
- r
- ppl
- c'mon
- omg
- thx

Always write full words like:
- you
- are
- people
- come on
- oh my god
- thank you

Starting Sentences:
Always start sentences with Capital Letter

Correct Form: Today we got a new Shoutbox!

Incorrect Form: today we got a new Shoutbox!

Announcement Templates:
Always start your Announcement post with:

Dear [Your Forum Name] Member and Staff, or Hello [Your Forum Name] Members and Staff,

At the end of each Announcement post write:

Thank You, [Your Forum Name] Team

Or

Thank you for your patience

Updates:
This is a helpful template for your updates:

Dear [Your Forum Name] Members and Staff,

Here is the list of [Date] Updates:

Forums:
New [Forum Name] has been added.

Skins:
We got a new skin called "[Skin Name]"
Thanks to [Company Name or Person's Name] for the wonderful skin!

Staff:
Congratulations to [Member Name] for promoting to [Team Name].
We hope that [Member Name] will be a great Staff Member!

Mods:
We got [Number] Mod(s)!
[Mod Name] - [Features]
[Mod Name] - [Features]

Landmark:
We finally got [Post #] Posts and [Member #] Members!

Thank You,
[Forum Name] Team

Part 2 - Hosting

Hosting for Beginners:
If you are a beginner to IPB then you should get Invision Free ( http://www.invisionfree.com ) Invision Free has less features than IPB, but it is easier to use.

Hosting for Advances Users:
If you are an Advanced Admin then you should get an IPB Board. You can get a free host from http://www.clicdev.com or other free IPB Host Providers.

Guru Administrators:
If you think that you are a really good Admin and you had a forum before with many members then you should buy hosting. http://www.asmallorange.com is a great hosting with different plans.

What if I found a great host with Ads and Pop-Ups?
Having a hosting with 2 small Ads is ok, but when you have Pop-Ups and more than 2 Ads then you will just lose members.

Part 3 - Skins and Graphics

IF Skins:
If you are using Invision Free Forum then try to make your own skin, because you will get more traffic if you will post the skin in Invision Free Limits (http://www.iflimits.com), Invision Free Skin Zone ( http://www.ifsz.com ) and Other Resource Forums.

I don't know how to make skins...
If you don't know how to make skins then try to find some skins from IFSZ or other resource forums.

IPB Skins:
If you are using IPB Skin then you can find free skins from http://www.invisionize.com.
The best way is to purchase a skin from http://www.extremepixels.com , because many people like these skins. You will get more traffic with those skins.

Graphics:
Try to match your graphics with the skins. If you don't know how to make graphics then try to find some from Resource Forums or ask your Graphics Team to make them (if you have a graphics team)

Part 4 - Creating Forums

Here are some templates for Forums/Categories.

Resource Forum:

=Administration=
Announcements
Forum Feedback

=Graphics=
Graphics Support
Database
Graphic Requests

=Skins=
Skinning Support
Database
Skin Requests

=Support=
Invision Support
Web Support
Coding Support

=Advert Zone=
Forum Reviews
Advertisements

=General Forums=
General Chat
Entertainment
Video Games
Sports

Video Game Forum:

=Administration=
Announcements
Forum Feedback

=Console Gaming=
PS2/PS1
X-Box
Gamecube
Other Consoles

=Handheld Consoles=
PSP
Nintendo DS
Game Boys
Other Handheld Consoles

=Cheats=
Cheat Database
Member's Cheats

=General Forums=
General Chat
Entertainment
Sports

If you have a forum and if it is not about Resources and Video Games then try to have something like the templates above.

Descriptions:
Always check the grammar in descriptions! Make it look professional and give a short details about the forum

Part 5 - Topsites

Topsite Boxes:
1st you need to get an affiliates box for your topsite buttons, here is an affiliate box created by Evolution Designs: http://evolutiondesigns.w4.clicdev.com/f/i...p?showtopic=784

Button:
Before joining Topsites you need a button for your forums, That button must be 88x31. If you can't make then request in Resource Forums.

Good Topsites:
Here is the list of topsites where you can get traffic:
http://topsites.evolutiond.com/
http://www.banditsplace.net/topsites
http://www.nbs-toplist.com/

Part 6 - Advertising

Tutorials:
The best way for advertising is creating Graphic Tutorials and submitting them to http://www.pixel2life.com . You will get about 500 Hits in 1 week.

Affiliates:
Affiliating is another great way for members, Try affiliating with big forums with over 100 Members and remember not to affiliate with forums which have less than 30 members.

Skins and graphics:
2nd best way for advertising is creating graphics and skins and posting them in many resource forums. the best place is IFSZ.

Chartrooms:
Never try to advertise in Chartrooms, because it is pointless, if you will try spamming whole day you will get only about 5 members.

Messengers:
3rd best way for advertising is IMing to you friends about your forums. Tell your friends to help you with advertising.

Advertising in Forums:
Try to join about 100 big forums and advertise your forum in advertisement sections. remember not to spam or PM about your forum. With advertising in forums I got over 200 Members.

Referral Contests:
One of the famous ways for getting members is making Referral Contests, Try to make a referral contest and put some money in it or else nobody will try to refer members.

Board Battles:
Board Battles is a great way for getting members, Board owner are advertising everywhere so they will get votes in the battles. I got over 40 Members online at the same time during board battles. Remember to put good prizes in the battles!



The End!
By: Romanos

[Ultimatechaos]

wow cant belive you typed all of this XD lol jk

[Lateralus]

Excellent stuff. I like the part on the advertising help a lot. Also remember that SEO is very important.

[Blaze]

Thanks that helped alot. I used your Updates template

[Alias]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Part 1........... Grammar


Spelling:
Always try to spell words correctly, if you are not good at English then use Word Document or other Spell Checkers.
- http://www.spellcheck.net/ is and easy and fast way to check your Spelling.

Shortening Words:
Never try to sherten words like:
- u
- r
- ppl
- c'mon
- omg
- thx

Always write full words like:
- you
- are
- people
- come on
- oh my god
- thank you

Starting Sentences:
Always start sentences with Capital Letter

Correct Form: Today we got a new Shoutbox!

Incorrect Form: today we got a new Shoutbox!

Announcement Templates:
Always start your Announcement post with:

Dear <span style="color:red">[Your Forum Name]</span> Member and Staff, or Hello <span style="color:red">[Your Forum Name]</span> Members and Staff,

At the end of each Announcement post write:

Thank You, <span style="color:red">[Your Forum Name]</span> Team

Or

Thank you for your patience

[/b][/quote]

I am very pleased that you have discussed this one, many forums always have numbers and letters getting confuzed. Thanks for explaining the proper grammer its needed to host a great forum like this. Likewise you don't always have to have amazing grammer just when your presenting something or evedently supporting someone. So good job on this section right here, keep it up!