The toughest thing about running a forum

Someone really sent you cake?

Well hell, I hope it was good.

 

It was actually. I did give them what they "paid" for in the end also.


5000 post!?

 

Code:

http://www.adminaddict.com/forum/general-community-discussion/toughest-thing-about-running-forum-509/index3/#post5599

 

:lol: I have people mailing money orders or checks all the time for donations. I never would have imagined that people are so generous to go this much out of their way.

Anyways, I would have got a kick out of the cake ordeal.

 

I wouldn't mind cake, as long as it hasn't been tampered with. What kind of cake was it? :lol: Black forest cake with cherries on top?

 

... or perhaps it was a delicious gold cake with a smooth cream cheese frosting?

 

I've never seen a golden cake with cream cheese frosting. Divinity style frosting sure or even butter cream. *goes off to bug wife to make cake*

 

I'm in a cake mood as well - I may need to eat one now.

 

Getting started and getting it off the ground - two of the most hardest steps in running a forum.

Getting started is hard because you have to think of a nice domain name, reliable host, forum software you plan to use, rules, regulations, blah blah blah.

Getting it off the ground is also hard. This consists of promoting, getting people to join, promoting activity, etc.

In my utmost humble opinion, once your community has been advertised well enough and is active enough, it runs itself. All you need, really, is a nice memberbase.

 

Well said, Tom. Having an active and knowledgeable memberbase is what matters when it comes to running and managing a successful discussion community.

 

Yep.

Most people believe that referring family members and friends help. But in truth, they're/may be limited to what they post.

Like for example, none of my family could actually come to Setsou Design and populate the boards I want populated. But they can come and populate the general forums; after I show them how, that is. OTOH, I can bring friends AND family to Bird is the Word and won't have a problem because everybody has either heard of/can watch Family Guy - see what I mean?

 

Yes - while a forum may have an active memberbase, that does not necessarily mean that the members who compose this base are knowledgeable in the subject matter being discussed.

 

Yep...

Well said.

 

Another pretty hard thing is turning guests into members, I have a lot of new guest visits daily but really fer registrations.

 

The hardest thing I would say that I find when running a forum; is finding good, reliable, respectful staff, that can improve the forum, also working and being active!

 

For me, it would probably be getting new members and getting members to post.

 

That seems to be the consensus here... but there are ways to indeed make this an easier task.

 

Probably, but I don't know any.

 

Dealing with all of the drama is what gets to me. no matter what you do, someone is going to be mad. Its a lose, lose situation.

 

I wish I was better at them.
It seems whenever you make a forum now there will always be a much better and bigger forum for the exact same thing. And people would rather be there instead of your new forum. And I don't blame them.