When launching a new message board forum for a site, or launching a new site from scratch that includes a forum, it is easy to assume that the millions of potential visitors to your site will want forums for every conceivable option.  For instance, if you have a new web site dedicated to the Nintendo Wii - your first inclination may be to create a separate message forum for every game available.   Or if you have a site FOR video games, to have a separate forum for every version of a video game (PC, XBOX, Wii…)

Too Many Choices!

Upon visiting your forums for the first time, a new user will be intimidated by the sheer number of forums.  In addition, coming into a message board and seeing 100 forums, all of them with 0 posts could scare off even the most enthusiastic poster about your topic.  You need to lighten up.

Start your new community out slow, with a few condensed forums.   If I were to start a site about the Wii right now I might have only a few forums such as:

Wii News
Wii Games
Best Deals
General Discussion (Anything non-Wii related)

Once the community gets going, you can break out individual topics into their own boards if they show enough traffic.  For instance, if you find that conversation for Super Smash Brothers is taking up the majority of the Game discussion forum, you then make a Category called Games and create a forum called Super Smash Brothers.  Take the time to move topics from the previous forum (your users will thank you later).  You may meet with some requests to move other topics into their own forum, but use your common sense and look at post numbers, frequency, etc.

By keeping your forum count at a level that can support the community, your users will not only feel like a member, but you will also avoid the dreaded “0 Posts”  labels on your forums.

Filed under: community, community, forums