The idea of starting a forum scares me a little bit because I do not know how much work it would be for me to moderate. But, I’m thinking about adding one. I just noticed that it was actually an option that through BlueHost I can use SimpleScripts to add bbPress (put out by WordPress) to my site. I thought it would be nice to have a place for people who use my site to interact with one another more, rather just randomly in the comments section of my blog. I also thought it might provide a bit more fodder for my blogging because I could see what types of questions users were asking then maybe respond here or point blog readers to the questions, so that they might offer a bit of helpful discussion.
So, I guess my question is: Have any of you ever worked with an online forum? Is it more trouble than it’s worth? Or, does it add a cool extra element of interaction to a site? …
3 responses to “Forum Questions – I'm Thinking about Starting One”
When I moderated forums, I found that it was pretty easy. It took me a while to figure out permissions, but that was the hardest thing.
Forums can be good, depending on the moderators. They are the one who actually make or break it. If they are too strict, conversation doesn’t happen. If they are too lax, the conversation goes every which way.
Thanks for the input. Is there spam protection available? That’s one of my biggest concerns.
I honestly can’t remember as it has been three years since I’ve played around with a forum. If not, that’s one thing your mods are for. With the right permissions, they can easily delete any spam posts.