Let's Just Talk-- would like suggestions on how to make this unique

Hey everyone, as most of you know, I run a general chat board called "Let's Just Talk" Let's Just Talk and I would like to make it more unique. I wouldn't mind having a couple contests, but I can't give away actual prizes or anything. Any suggestions for my board as far as renaming forums, maybe adding new forums, etc. Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.

 

I would purchase a forum software to begin with, vbulletin and also a paid domain name. Having freeforum within your URL isnt going to attract so many visitors.

If youre adamant to stick with your current board, URL etc then I suggest you advertise your site in your signature on every forum you visit maybe make a banner which suits your site for it which links back to your forum, tell all your friends about it and give members bonuses for referring friends.

 

I have to stick with my current board. I don't have money for advanced hosting, or I'd probably go with VB or something similar in a heartbeat. But I'm no good with Cpanel, and I have no money for a domain, so the second option (posting in boards that are the same genera as mine) are a way to go for me. I don't have time for advanced hosting anyway because I do not have my own computer... my mom and I share a computer at home. But even if and when I get my own laptop, I still wouldn't do advanced hosting, because I have trouble with Cpanel very badly, and I can't install mods for anything, even if it was something someone else or I desperately needed for the forum. Also, they say to never judge a book by its cover, and I think the same holds true with forums as well. I guess I'm just the type that thinks that people should be greatful that there even is a forum to post on out on the Net... I don't know, that's just my way of thinking. But I am definetly going to post on boards that are the same genera as mine, as they say that that is one of the best ways to go. And hope and pray for the best.

 

If you want a successful forum you will have to learn how to use cpanel and install mods on forum softwares which is pretty easy to learn if you practive and if you get a good host theyll support and answer all your questions. We all start somewhere and learn from the grounds up.

Books are judged by their cover regardless of sayings, people will see your URL, the free forum and be put off.

There is millions of forums out there, you need to make yours worth visiting, paying for a domain name shows youre for real and that you care for your website even if it isnt too different to the rest in your niche it will show at least some determination.

 

I am lucky to have time to even run a forum right now. I can't do advanced hosting because I don't have time to sit around and install mods, plus I can't really do FTP very well ( I was lucky to even be able to install PHPBB successfully on the first try but that's about it). I'm staying with free hosting and that's my final decision. I can't afford money for anything at the moment, how many times do I have to say it? Otherwise I would get like a .net domain. I don't like domain sites like .co.cc or .tk because they aren't real domains.

 

This is nothing you wanna hear and I don't wanna be rude or anything but you seem to be totally against even learning cpanel and ftp and stuff like that and if you don't have the money for it thats fine thats an reason but to stick with an free forum hosting is not going to get you very far and if your against learning to manage your own host with an forum then I don't think you should do this since you going to have to use advanced hosting sometime if you wanna keep working with forums.

 

Dedicating time into a web-based entity (i.e. a discussion forum) is one of the two crucial requirements - it's absolutely necessary to invest time and dedication into such a project, particularly if your goal is to manage something successful in the long run. If you don't have the time to learn and/or work on your community efficiently, I fail to see how we can assist you in this matter. Adding a few categories and/or forums here or there is not going to improve the overall quality of your forum, nor will it increase the level of activity seen.

The members who have replied are trying to help you. Don't take what is said [in this thread] as an insult or non-helpful statements.

 

Dare I say that you have a group of forums at the top for announcements and the likes, then a group of forums in the middle for general stuff, and then a group of forums at the bottom for advertising (so revenue for you?)....

.... yet you have no forums that the members / unregistered visitors will want to read, the are related to the topic of the forum, of which when browsing it, I can't work out.

I hope my comments are constructive. Get some forums that are really unique and helpful to your unregistered visitor.

 

bottom line like said above...you gotta put a LOT of time into making a forum succesful...no offence...but putting up a free board and saying come join really aint gonna fly...

I knew ZERO when i started...but then i got into vbulletin, made sum friends along the way....and now im helping people that are just starting out like I was helped...know what im sayin?!

gotta pay to play is the oldest saying in the book...but its the truth...

what is this??? How do you expect to have any success then??

 

Well to be honest there are so much more options that just what you're settling with.

No money? Not the best, but Byethost Free Hosting.

Don't know how to work the FTP? Learn. At one point you will have to move to get more available options if your forum grows. I am pretty sure no one here knew at first how the hell to use an FTP. You have to learn at one point.

No money for a domain? CO.CC Free Domain Registration again, not the best, but it works.

No time to upload things? Find a software that can bring you the very basics, looks good, and functions well, download it, and use it.

I don't know how you can lose members if you're efficiently moving your servers every time you move you shouldn't have problems, you could also make the move after you've announced it. Like announce one day in advanced.

 

good post fmb...but you really gotta have the love and passion to make a forum run good...and i think this person makes way to many excuses on why theres no traffic on his/her site... just my opinion...

 

Oh lord, I just got cPanel not long ago. I have to admit I get lost in a lot of the things that it says there, which is why I bug endlessly a certain some one[Chris] ' cause I don't understand.

You're at a forum with people that are 'experts' on the forum software they use [experts in their own little way]. Plus, a lot of the webmasters here use cPanel. Have a question, got confused? Why not ask here, it's the main purpose of the site.

The free hosting uses Vista Panel, which is very different, but I've used it. My forum was a free forum software[MyBB] with free hosting I just bought the domain, and hell I even had another site with a .cc.co domain which it's actually discontinued.

 

Absolutely. However, most people will spend their time finding a forum on a topic they enjoy talking about. "Let's Just Talk" is too vague for me. For that, I can hang out on Twitter and shout random stuff at the internet all day long.

 

1) Style... You should be able to implement a unique style, even on a free forum site. If they don't allow you to upload images than host them on cloud services, flickr or photobucket and edit the templates to point to that location. Currently, your style is pretty generic.

2) Get rid of extraneous information. You're running a general chat site so why do you have an entire category on forum advertising and administration? You really should get rid of it. Once you learn about administrating your forum, than you could always start a second site if that is something you're still interested in. The staff application forum should be hidden until you have a need for it. There is no need for it at this time.

3) Content... Content is still king. Music groups can have the lights, fireworks, and video for a great show but if their music sucks, no one is going to go. Same with everything else. You can have the glamour and glitter but without content there is no reason to be there. General Chat sites have to be the hardest type of site to get people involved in. You have a very wide niche to fill. You need to look at the people that you are advertising to and mold the site to general water cooler topics they would be interested in. To be a good forum administrator you have to embrace your inner psychic and learn to read your user's minds based on their past behaviors.

Good luck.

 

We don't come into the world knowing how to use FTP and CPanel; every single person here learned by doing and making mistakes occasionally. Every single thing I've learned in this field, I've learned because I saw something on the web I liked, and asked questions, looked at code, tried it myself, broke it a few times, and figured out what I was doing. You saw forums on the web and wanted to run one, now you have to ask questions, try different things, pull your hair out a few times, and eventually you're going to master it.