Like the title asks what do you do before you open? I make sure the rules are up,topics are made,I have a few members already posting,get the theme up,make the banner,and test for errors. What do you do?
make some posts, make sure everything looks alright from all group viewings, get some members on to do a few posts and anything else that needs to be done.
Change my password, panic at the amount of work I have ahead of me, procrastinate for a few days, and then start working on the forum..
I enjoy working on forums and setting everything up so I'm more excited to work on it then panic. :^^:
In the beginning, I am very excited as well, especially when there are new features involved, and it was the excitement, and anticipation of newer features to come that has gotten me through this last move. I think I made the right call, by moving because of how well my forum has done on this host, compared to the others I was on before,but still, moving everything, and having to start all over again was a huge pain in the ass. Anyway, for me, the first thing I do is change my password, then I shut the forum down. For the first few hours I am checking out the controls and getting used to the ACP. I turn it offline, and disable registrations and start tweaking the security, forum and post settings. From there, I create new member groups, and tweak the setting for the default ones, and then proceed to make the permission masks for them. After that, I make the post ranks, add the rank images and then I start making the categories, and start with the creation of forums.. especially the staff forums and the rules, news, intros, test and support areas. I might wait a day or so to see if I have forgotten anything, and if I didn't, then I will open. To set up my current forum, I went through a LOT more than I have with the other forums. I have had to do this, in addition to moving the posts over as well.. and really, my work is never really done as I am always in the ACP tweaking settings and adding different things to the board.
First I put up the rules, then I make sure that the graphics and colors look OK from all browsers, then I do a few private exchanges to fill the forum a bit before I start advertising, then I make a bunch of informational topics, then I tell my close friends to get some active members, and then - finally - I open it
I make sure the forums are set up correctly, all groups are made, all rules/guides are made and pinned, that the forum has a unique look that I would most likely design, and then I start filling the forum up with topics and get staff/friends to do the same
Make sure you fill-up every section, you don't wanna look your forum empty. Also make sure you have rules set up and you have proper staff.
rules is the number one. then adding categories and sections, edit the permissions, and make sure everything works well. maybe adding groups and edit their setting. lastly, adding some topics to the sections, then I'm open for public! ^^
