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abdulsamikhan
Posts: 105
Joined: 12/23/2003
From: Pakistan
Status: offline
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how can I populate my website with visitors? - 4/2/2008 16:23:18
Hello All,
I have created a website http://www.dabclub.com
in this website, I have install and configured a PHPBB discussion forum. Its almost two months passed, and I only received SPAM in my discussion forum,
How can I really populate the discussion forum like others with lot of in and out entries and lot people posting their posts?
How can I make it more secure to prevent spam?
Your help and suggestion needed.
Thanks.
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coreybryant
Posts: 2479
Joined: 3/17/2002
From: Castle Rock CO USA
Status: offline
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RE: how can I populate my website with visitors? - 4/2/2008 17:10:12
Creating a forum is pretty difficult to do. Two months is good but depending on the forum topics (and if there are any other forums that 'compete' with yours) - it usually will take a few good posters. Some admins will create a few different users to carry on a few conversations.
Take this forum for example. I know of at least 8 other forums that talk about Frontpage / Expression web. Some people are members on all forums. What makes them unique? The people. You get answers pretty quick on them. Patience though - that will be important.
_____________________________
Corey R. Bryant
Merchant Accounts | Toll Free Numbers | Expression Web Blog
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abdulsamikhan
Posts: 105
Joined: 12/23/2003
From: Pakistan
Status: offline
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RE: how can I populate my website with visitors? - 4/4/2008 7:09:34
Thanks Corey,
The main problem I am facing is SPAM. I afraid of being included in porn. Because, in the presence of SPAM Porn Advertisements, I cannot invite someone to check it.
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coreybryant
Posts: 2479
Joined: 3/17/2002
From: Castle Rock CO USA
Status: offline
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RE: how can I populate my website with visitors? - 4/4/2008 12:34:18
There are some ways to set up a forum to help cut down on some of the spam. You might look through the website of the forum you are using to see if there are any ideas.
_____________________________
Corey R. Bryant
Merchant Accounts | Toll Free Numbers | Expression Web Blog
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womble
Posts: 5702
Joined: 3/14/2005
From: Living on the edge
Status: offline
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RE: how can I populate my website with visitors? - 4/4/2008 15:26:50
Running a forum takes time, and a lot of patience. I run three (though one main one) and it's virtually a full time job keeping on top of it all with all the technical issues and dealing with members. Two months in terms of a forum really isn't very long at all - it can take months, or eve years to build up a sustainable community. Installing the software's the easy part. Most new forums will fail within the first year, either through lack of interest, or lack of commitment to building the community up on the part of the administrator, or because they don't realise all that's involved.
It doesn't happen overnight. As Corey says, what's your competition? What has your forum got that makes it unique and makes people want to join? What's the focus of your forum? Does the world really need another forum dedicated to "X"? How are you going to market your forum? What are your plans for the forum and how do you see it developing? Those are the sorts of questions you need to be asking yourself.
Firstly, the first thing that's guaranteed to put potential new members off is an empty forum with lots of boards and no posts. Get friends and relatives to sign up, and get some conversations started. You're much more likely to attract new members if there's something there for them to read and join in with. Get yourself along to The Admin Zone and read their articles on marketing forums, building communties etc. The have boards dedicated to building communities and tips on how to get started.
As for your SPAM problem, which version of PHPBB are you using? Are you using the latest version and making use of the anti-spam CAPTCHA in the sign-up process? I'm not sure what the latest versions of PHPBB are like for handling spam, but I changed from PHPBB a couple of years ago, in part because of SPAM problems, and started using SMF. All mine are now SMF, and I don't have any more spam problems. If spam becomes a particular problem you can switch to registration by administrator approval on most forum systems, including PHPBB, but also make sure that 'guest' posting is OFF. Allowing "guests" to post is almost guaranteed to get you hit by spam, so make sure that only registered members can post.
As I said, it doesn't happen overnight, and it takes a lot of time and effort to build a successful community. My main one is nearly nine years old now (I "inherited" it from a friend), but it's only in the last three years, and more so in the last 18 months that it's taken off and really become successful. That's mainly due to the fact that we've put a lot of effort into advertising the forum and made changes to the structure of the forum and given members features they've asked for. It's a lot of hard work, and there aren't any short cuts, but it's worth it in the end.
Good luck with yours!
_____________________________
~~ "A cruel god ain't no god at all" ~~
~~ Erase hate. Practice love. ~~
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