Computing Forum

[LooeyUK]

Im creating a computer forum, I wont say the address as that would be advertising but I do need some help with sections and that.

Where do I start?

I have no idea what to put, like I could put internet section, and then broadband, dialup, p2p all as forums but then i go all over the place trying to figure out where to put other bits like mac's, pcs etc...

Could any1 help me? List out the forums and sections for me?

Never know... could get yourself a job with me :)

[willie]

These type of forums are really easy to poulate just getting the right format for them is the key i would put in a catagory for each platform you wish to include and then specific forums in that catagory just have a look at other sites of this ilk i have one such forum myself among others running at the moment.

[cjll3]

Best advice I can give you is not to over organise it, just open a couple of general sections and let the site develop naturally overtime.

[homealone]

Originally posted by Web Junkie
These type of forums are really easy to poulate just getting the right format for them is the key i would put in a catagory for each platform you wish to include and then specific forums in that catagory just have a look at other sites of this ilk i have one such forum myself among others running at the moment.

I just had a look at yours and thought it was really good. The forums are well structured - it'll be interesting to see how the Journal one develops, given the popularity of blogs.:)

[LooeyUK]

Thanks for the advice!

Im getting there, link in sig now.

[jrobbio]

Could I suggest maybe changing the default theme, I can't read anything without squinting.

Its a nice idea to have general forums to get things going, but to have some specific one's in amidst helps the search engine traffic come to your site. There's too many people competing on general terms that's all.

Rob

don't make it view only for members either, especially when your just starting off

[LooeyUK]

oh, i like that theme :(

[Steve H]

You've got your permissons set up incorrectly mate.

Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.

The error returned was:

Sorry, you do not have permission to start a topic in this forum

Cant start a topic :(

[LooeyUK]

Steve, its showing that you havnt validated your email.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally posted by jrobbio
Could I suggest maybe changing the default theme, I can't read anything without squinting.

Its a nice idea to have general forums to get things going, but to have some specific one's in amidst helps the search engine traffic come to your site. There's too many people competing on general terms that's all.

Rob

don't make it view only for members either, especially when your just starting off

Sorry I have to agree, there is a lack of contrast between background and text, making it too hard to read.

I also have to say that I think the need to register before you can even see what the forum is about is a bad idea. Most visitors will just go away, as they aren't gonna give out their email addy without knowing whether it's worth signing up. Even ifg they do sign up, you could end up with a lot of "dead members", who never come back. It maybe a deliberate policy to stop the site being scanned by search engines though? By all means require ppl to register if they want to post, alternatively some forums have got a "pop up system" which keeps putting up messages about registration.

[LooeyUK]

People can now veiw the board without signing up :)

Cheers for your opinions guys.

now, im going to try and change the font colour


EDIT/ have also changed the skin to default but you have 2 other skins to choose from if you want :)

[Tricky]

Personnally I'd split XP/2000, this would allow distinction between server based products and desktop OS's

[Russ]

Maybe you could make the font colour white? That would be quite a contrast against the blue :)

[ic14]

What did you do that with?
Ive tried phbb (I think!)
And i just couldnt figure out how to use it.......

[dingosar]

Hi LooeyB

just had a quick look at your site
i like it and will look in as often as i can , it seems that you have started off the right way , just let it evolve :wavey: :wavey:

[birchyboy]

Nice, uncomplicated site on initial impression, but you sure have some competition out there. Best of luck.

[MikeyB]

Yeah looking good, apart form the font colours, can hardly read it, white text would be much better on that background colour.
I'm just setting up a forum with Invision Power Board, I think it's very good, just tons of skin settings to change.

And I'd agree with Tricky, split Windows 2000 & XP, they are too different to keep together.

[alan.ralskey]

Definatley needs something doing with the colours but apart from that it looks OK to me.

The next step is to get some traffic coming your way then you will get googled.

[LooeyUK]

Changed font colour to white. I suppose it does look better.

Can I just thank everyone for giving me tips and idea's!!!

[alan.ralskey]

That is much better.

Although I am not keen on the dark background myself.

[LooeyUK]

Alan, are you sure? I like the blue background with the white font colour. Makes it looks professional kind of

[alan.ralskey]

I just think it is a little dark.

Maybe just lightening it a little would help.

[LooeyUK]

i suppose. thanks for helping