Megan — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 18:13:20 +0000

So this is a local discussion forum? Then why don't you forum topics address local issuses? Why should people come to your forum to talk about things they could talk about anywhere? Why would they come to the forum to talk about this rather than talking to people in real life? These are the kinds of questions you might want to think about.

To publicize your forum you could try talking to the local newspapers or media if you have it. Even small towns around here have newspapers that seem to print every minor occurance. You could also make up postcards and post them on public boards around town or at the library or wherever.

TimJBart — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 17:36:24 +0000

Megan wrote:

When I looked at your site the first question I had was - what is Yatley????? How do I know if I want to get involved if I don't know what it's about?

There's a link on the right hand side: Where is Yateley?

The people I am aiming this forum at will already know of Yateley (a place in the UK) but that is an interesting point though Megan. Maybe I should address that.

Glad you guys seem to think my forum is running along quite well, I am happy with it, but you can never have too many members! I have emailed a lot of people to get the amount of member I have. But I am beginning to wonder if I would perhaps be able to open my forum up to general internet users, but I need to decide what purpose my site would actually have first!

steve40 — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 16:06:05 +0000

Actually you will have only a small percentage out of your members, that will post regularly. I've seen the estimated number before, but I forget what it is. Anyway it's something like 10%, so according to this you are doing very well for the time length.

I've seen forums on the internet that date back several years, with not as many posts as you already have. Forum competition is stiff, there are many forums for every subject that you can conceive. So either you win, or loose. There is not really much you can do about it.

Megan — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:22:13 +0000

Steve started another thread with similar concerns:

http://www.webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?t=29544

When I looked at your site the first question I had was - what is Yatley????? How do I know if I want to get involved if I don't know what it's about?

Now, what exactly is the problem with your site? Is it that you are getting a lot of visitors but they're not registering and posting? Or are you not getting enough hits in the first place?

You might want to replace the default phpBB skin. I don't think that's really a huge problem but it could help to make the site look more interesting. I know phpBB has a lot of pre-made skins available from the users site. IME, people don't really care that much about what a forum looks like, or what extra features it has. They'll put up with a lot of inconveniences even if the discussion is good.

steve40 — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 11:41:13 +0000

I would actually feel good about that one. I have one that has been up about a month, only three members. Out of that I am one. I would like to see an answer to this question also!.