How do you get a new forum going?

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 07:11 PM

Well, me and my friend have started a forum, I will not link it for 2 reasons, 1, its spam. and 2, you guys will think it is fucking weird.

But I was just wondering how to get a forum going, keep in mind it is a free hosting thing, so it won't be very high in google search results.

And I'm looking for a free way of doing it. Not adverts that cost money.

**Man of Steel** · 10-01-2009 07:57 PM

Tell everyone. Spam the link like crazy, but not in a spammy way. Find other sites of similar interest, and mention it there. Tell all your members to tell all their friends.

Most importantly, give it the appearance of being active already by posting a ton, and post good content relevant to the niche your forum is trying to fill.

Shoot me a PM.

**no-Name** · 10-01-2009 07:59 PM

Keeping a link in your DV signature (with a staffies permission), or other places can give it plenty of attention.

EDIT: Alright :x

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 07:59 PM

Yeah, but I feel bad about spamming like that. But, what the hey, that's buisness.

thanks

And no-Name, I've already got the site up and running. I just need members.

**C911** · 10-01-2009 08:06 PM

Link it in here.

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 09:14 PM

Oh, and by the way, I kinda copied the structure of this website

And stole the name "Newbie zone", and took a couple of other things like the catagory "important information".

I hope that is all right, if not, I can change it.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

**C911** · 10-01-2009 09:25 PM

Lets see this bad boy

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 09:44 PM

Ive PMed MoS for permission. He hasn't got back to me yet.

**slayer** · 10-01-2009 10:11 PM

Is the site really that bad?

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 10:22 PM

Erm, what comment are you referring to?

If it is about me getting permission, I'm just doing that cause it's the rules (i think)

And if its about you guys thinking it's weird. Then yes, It kinda is.
Its not actually bad, its just that you guys wouldn't understand cause the thing its about you probably wouldn't believe in, because not many people have heard of it.

**slayer** · 10-01-2009 10:45 PM

I would like to be linked to this forum you speak of :3

**kingofclutch** · 10-01-2009 10:49 PM

Dude, this is dreamviews, nothing is too wierd...

**slash112** · 10-01-2009 10:54 PM

Ok, MoS hasn't replied yet, but, its better to ask forgiveness than permission.

http://yoursecret.lozt.com/index.php

You will want to have a look at the "What is the law of attraction? (LOA)" bit near the top, if you want to know what it is about.

Just so you know, I believe in this shit, and even if it isn't true, it still gives me hope in life, so don't bother me about it. m'kay?

**Ynot** · 10-02-2009 12:44 AM

I won't say the obvious
but we're all thinking it

anyway,
if you want your site to be get members, you have to advertise it's existence
if you want your members to stick around for any length of time, there has to be something for them to do (some common goal, achievement, on-going activity) that the site members work towards

**kingofclutch** · 10-02-2009 02:27 AM

I don't really think that it is wierd at all, but is it a topic that you can build a forum around?

**slash112** · 10-02-2009 02:03 PM

Yes it is. There are tons of people interested in it. And there is already an existing forum with loads of members, and i would say it is more active than DV. But I really don't like the layout of it, and my freind doesn't either, and im sure other people dont too. So we decided to give this a shot.

People use this kind of thing to ask for guidance, and also to post their own experiences for other people's motivation.

But anyway, Ynot, I knew there would be many of you who think it's crazy talk, but to be honest, if this thing only works because it gives you confidence, then so be it. But the fact of the matter is that it works, if you do it right. And that's enough for me.

And I have a horrible confession to make, I broke the rules of the host.
I made a fake account and posted fake stuff. It was so that new members didn't get turned away by the lifelesness of the forum.
But ima delete the account and its posts. Cause it's getting on my nerves for some reason.

**spockman** · 10-05-2009 05:39 PM

I think you'd be surprised how many people have heard of this, slash. I know I have on multiple occasions. I mean, I don't buy into it, (although I think certain aspects of it may be true,) but I've heard it come up in multiple conversations from different groups of people. Mostly I've heard it mentioned like, "Hey, you guys heard of this LOA..." "Yeah, trippy huh?" "If only that was real right?"

I think it's because of that book, 'The Secret.'

Or maybe it's just the friends I hang around.

Or maybe it is less popular in other countries like Scotland.

I don't know.

If you read how the biggest webcomics and forums got there start, alot of them started with little advertising and just sort of exploded. (DV is an example. So are most webcomics I've heard about.) So you've got a chance on a real good site.

((Btw, I've heard of alot of people making dupes as the site creator to simulate conversation. Heck, I've done it. If it makes you feel awkward than don't, I guess. But I think its normal.))

**slash112** · 10-05-2009 07:21 PM

Yeah that book is awsome.

Once my friend gets back from his holiday, I think we will talk about setting up a proper, paid site(which I don't know where the fuck to start to get), and get advertised on google. I don't know how much this will cost, but I'm sure we can pay for it, and get some adverts on the site to pay for it, or at least some of it.

Any info on how to set up a paid site/forum would be greatly appreciated.

**Man of Steel** · 10-05-2009 11:47 PM

If I have the free time, I'll try and help out, slash. I can recommend some good hosting providers and free forum software to get started. Namely HostGator and SMF, in that order.

It's actually fairly easy. Something you might want to check into is getting a database dump from your current free forum provider. They may charge a small fee to provide you with this, or they may not offer it at all, but with that you would avoid losing posts in the transfer.

**slash112** · 10-06-2009 12:12 AM

Oh cool, thanks. So, Hostgator is a REAL host, as in ".com" rather than the current one ".lozt.com"?

And are there actually free forum softwares out there? Is that like the whole code for the forum including the theme?

But by the way, I'm not worried about the 30 odd posts there is

But the first thing is, when my friend gets back from holiday in about a week, we will talk about if we can do it, money wise. Like, I don't have a credit card or any bank card. If he has one it will be fine.

And I honestly have no idea how much keeping the forum running will cost, and how much the advertising will cost. And also how much money we might make back having adverts on the site.

**Man of Steel** · 10-06-2009 12:24 AM

HostGator is a hosting service provider. You pay them so much per month (they start at about $8/month) for storage and bandwidth. For the domain name you go to a site like GoDaddy or similar; a domain registrar. That will cost about $10 a year.

Yes, forum software is the whole forum, and yes, there are several free and/or open source forums. I recommend SMF above the others I've tried.

You're going to expect to put out roughly $100/year for hosting and domain. Advertising income will depend strongly on search engine rank and traffic. If you're getting a decent number of hits, ads should more than pay your hosting costs. This will, however, take time. I recommend BuySellAds or Google AdSense.

**slash112** · 10-06-2009 12:32 AM

Right, cool. Thanks a lot man.

That will help towards our decision.

**slash112** · 10-14-2009 01:47 PM

I have found a web hosting thing for the UK, and it all seems too good to be true. It is only £3 per month, and it includes free domain name for life.

Is this a con?

Here is the link.

**Marvo** · 10-14-2009 05:02 PM

You just need to change your member count with your thoughts, dude! Believe in your forum, man!

**slash112** · 10-14-2009 05:27 PM

It's not just to do with post count. Free forums are very limited with what you can do with them.

Otherwise I probably could use the secret to do that, like you said. Well, I haven't got as much belief in this stuff as my friend does, so he would.

And yes, I know you were joking around, but still.

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