Ideas for my forum site?

[UDT89]

I know creating a successful forum takes plenty of time(years) and hard work. My forum has been live for about 3-4 months now and I was just wondering if there is anything I should do different and if I am on the right track

the domain is in my sig, www.guitarheroforum.com

Did I take the right route with the design? How should I attract new members? You think its ok to promote the contests on the guitarhero.com site?

The one cool thing is redoctane actually partnered up with me to advertise, so that has been a plus. Actually made a custom sized banner for my site.

 

[Zee]

what you should do is promote free ipods, offer links to movies and games cracks and images and have a lot of porn links to download videos.

that should bring your website right up

 

[olds]

Why is it listed twice in your sig?

 

[UDT89]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Why is it listed twice in your sig?

no idea actually. guess i did the hyperlink title and didnt realize it

 

[CrazyLazy]

I might check with the people that own Guitar Hero to see if they don't have an issue with your domain name. Getting sued over trademark infringement is no fun.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone who drops a whole $8 on a domain and installs some free forum software hoping to attract the masses - you need content. People aren't just going to flock to your forum just because it exists. Content drives traffic. Forums keep people coming back.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone who drops a whole $8 on a domain and installs some free forum software hoping to attract the masses - you need content. People aren't just going to flock to your forum just because it exists. Content drives traffic. Forums keep people coming back.

It's VB which costs a couple hundred bucks. But your right, you need content and posters. Consider getting paid posters or doing a ton of posting under different accounts yourself.

 

[rhino56]

go to admin cpanel>vbulletin options> cookies and http header options> session timeout. change that to like 10,000 so people think there are a ton of users online which would make them more likely to join. nobody joins boards that have 3 people online.

also get lots of unique content, possibly check out some url rewrites while you are starting.
forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3 would do much better for relevant content in search engines if it were forums/guitar-hero-three.html

nice domain name though for sure.

 

[rhino56]

also i forgot to mention some downloadable patterns that a person could print out and stick to their guitar might be nice

 

[UDT89]

well considering RedOctane has partnered up with me directly to advertise I dont think they have a problem. Ive also seen in the past that most "forum" domains get left alone b/c they just bring more attention to the brand.

But yes, i have changed the session timeout. I liked that idea. Also for rewrites I would have to get vbSeo which Ive been debating.

I agree the site needs content. I didnt just spend $8 and throw up a phpbb site all stock and wonder where everyone is. The site is all custom with many mods for VB. So as far as adding content how should I go about doing that? Make long posts about guitar hero? Like cheats and the like?

 

[Q]

Sell the domain, it's worth more than the site

 

[Newbian]

Needs more porn.

Let me post some.

 

[BigFatCow]

Turn off the admin having to approve accounts. That is annoying.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: UDT89
well considering RedOctane has partnered up with me directly to advertise I dont think they have a problem. Ive also seen in the past that most "forum" domains get left alone b/c they just bring more attention to the brand.

But yes, i have changed the session timeout. I liked that idea. Also for rewrites I would have to get vbSeo which Ive been debating.

I agree the site needs content. I didnt just spend $8 and throw up a phpbb site all stock and wonder where everyone is. The site is all custom with many mods for VB. So as far as adding content how should I go about doing that? Make long posts about guitar hero? Like cheats and the like?

Hire posters for the initial content and do a ton of link building to get legitimate users. Really the only way to get a forum off the ground.

 

[Crono]

Why is the site title plural (forums) but the logo and URL singular? Anyway, the site does need more content. Preferably unique content. I don't know enough about GH to make recommendations on specifically what, though. Custom songs/hacks maybe? Though legality of that may be questionable.

 

[Injury]

Your site offers nothing to attract users. There are millions of forums online, why do I want to go to your forum when it is obvious that I'd pretty much be talking to myself.

Make an actual site and give people a reason to visit regularly.

 

[UDT89]

well both forum and forums go to the same site.

I would turn off the the admin approval thing, but the spam registrations Ive been getting has become unbearable

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: UDT89
well both forum and forums go to the same site.

I would turn off the the admin approval thing, but the spam registrations Ive been getting has become unbearable

Use a captcha. Anything is better than having your account approved by an admin.

 

[UDT89]

a captcha?

 

[BigFatCow]

Originally posted by: UDT89
a captcha?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

a lot of sites use these. They are much better than having to wait on an admin.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: BigFatCow

Originally posted by: UDT89
a captcha?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

a lot of sites use these. They are much better than having to wait on an admin.

If you're gonna use captcha, use recaptcha.

http://recaptcha.net/

 

[UDT89]

ok i signed up for recaptcha, but not too sure how to add it to the registration. if anyone here has a second to walk me through it that would be awesome. i assume i have to edit the registration template?

 

[UDT89]

i got it, didnt know recaptcha is installed with VB. all i have to do is plug in my info