{"id":2104,"date":"2020-12-04T08:33:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2020-12-04T08:39:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:39:18","slug":"creating-your-own-forum-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/creating-your-own-forum-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Your Own Forum Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2104\" class=\"elementor elementor-2104\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-230899b0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"230899b0\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7ff48571\" data-id=\"7ff48571\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48deb20 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"48deb20\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"breadcrumbs-bar\"><nav class=\"blog-breadcrumbs\">\n<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/\">HOME<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li class=\"bc-2nd\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/\">BLOG<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c29e94 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1c29e94\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Creating Your Own Forum Site<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d6ac49d elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"d6ac49d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-d9c2fd9 elementor-inline-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-custom\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Douglas Moore\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-6a0ea6c elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 4, 2020\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-33b69b7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"33b69b7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1152\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum-1536x1152.jpg\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-2105\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-a-forum.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-43ea192 toc-top elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"43ea192\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-85705ab\" data-id=\"85705ab\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f76f1c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9f76f1c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-197d5d2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"197d5d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Forums have been around since (almost) the very beginning of the internet. Before social media, forums were the main spaces where internet users with similar interests got together and engaged in eye-level discussions about stuff with others within their niche. Of course, social media hasn\u2019t eclipsed the importance of forums and the role they serve for users and for customers.\u00a0<\/p><p>In fact, the internet\u2019s biggest forum website, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/\">Reddit<\/a>, received nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/443332\/reddit-monthly-visitors\/\">1.5 billion visits in September of 2020<\/a>, which makes it one of the most frequently visited websites on the internet. And it\u2019s not just older generations used to forums that go on Reddit &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/redditblog.com\/2019\/09\/30\/gen-z-on-reddit\/\">Gen Z makes up 26% of redditors<\/a>, and 51% of them believe that it\u2019s the most user-driven platform online (in comparison to Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Plus, 87% of them believe that there\u2019s a community for <i>everyone<\/i> on Reddit. And it\u2019s true! Whether it\u2019s cooking, makeup, history, or your favorite TV shows, you can find a thread that will satisfy your interests and desire to chat with like-minded folks.<\/p><p>And it\u2019s not just entertainment that brings people to online forums. Businesses use forums to create a space for customer-to-customer communication. Business-based forums aim to build a community of individuals that can help each other, work out issues together, and of course &#8211; get in touch with business representatives. It\u2019s an excellent way to raise customer engagement and foster an environment of open discussion. The perk for you, the business owner, is that you\u2019ll learn exactly what you\u2019re doing right and what needs improvement, straight from the horse\u2019s mouth.<\/p><p>Whether you want to build an independent forum website for whatever-enthusiasts, or are looking to add a forum to your business website, you\u2019ll need some help getting started. Our guide will help you figure out exactly how to create your own forum site, with simple step-by-step instructions. We\u2019ll mostly focus on using WordPress, as it\u2019s quite user-friendly &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/w3techs.com\/technologies\/details\/cm-wordpress\">nearly 40% of all websites<\/a> on the internet use it.<\/p><h2>Why Should You Create Your Own Forum Site?<\/h2><p>There\u2019re lots of reasons to create your very own forum site, both if it\u2019s your end goal, or if it\u2019s a part of a larger project &#8211; like the expansion of your business\u2019 online presence. Here are some of the main benefits of creating a forum site:<b><\/b><\/p><ul><li><b>Build a community for people with a shared interest.<\/b> Forums provide an environment for people with similar interests where they can share ideas and experiences in a candid and friendly manner. It can be anything from hobbies and tastes, philosophies and worldviews, to <i>your<\/i> product or service.<\/li><li><b>Increase user\/customer engagement.<\/b> Forums serve for customer-to-customer communication as well as for customer-to-business communication. Not only will your forum be the place where customers give each other tips and notes on their experience concerning your product\/service, but they\u2019ll also be able to directly tell <i>you <\/i>their praises, criticisms, and questions. Unlike newsletters, which are more one-sided (the business communicates with the customer), forums are two-sided, as customers can approach you in an environment designed for that very purpose. That\u2019s how forums create engaged customers, and engaged customers are happy, cared-about customers.<\/li><li><b>Grow and solidify your online community. <\/b>A cared-about customer will stick around. Plus, if the users find themselves a part of meaningful discussions that are relevant to them, they\u2019ll come back, time and again.<\/li><li><b>Forums can save you time on customer support.<\/b> Creating a forum (much like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/build-your-business-knowledge-base\/\">creating a knowledge base<\/a>) for your business website will help customers find discussions and possible answers for questions that would otherwise be directed to your customer support team. Actually, customers prefer finding solutions quickly and on their own, and a forum can help them do just that. Plus, as they\u2019ll need less help from customer support reps, forums can save you time and money.<\/li><li><b>Get free custom content and boost your SEO!<\/b> If the people engaging in your forum contribute with original, high-quality content, search engines like Google will index your forum website and rank it higher in the SERPs. In other words, it\u2019s like free, regular, high-quality content production &#8211; an important ranking factor for search engines.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><h2>How to Create a Forum Site<\/h2><p>Now that we\u2019ve gone over the <i>why<\/i>, let\u2019s turn to the <i>how.<\/i> The following steps presume that you\u2019ve already purchased a domain (for your business website or a stand-alone forum site), and that you already have a web host. If not, you can choose an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/instant-domain-search.php\">affordable domain<\/a> that suits your purposes. If you\u2019re not sure how to do that, you can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/how-to-host-a-website\/#Step_1_Choose_Purchase_a_Domain_Name\">get some help on how to choose a good domain name<\/a>. Lastly, you should pick a web host that offers great prices, high uptime, and fast page loading speed (hint: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/web-hosting.php\">we do<\/a>).<\/p><p>We are also assuming you already have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-is-a-content-management-system\/\">content management system<\/a> that you like using, so we won\u2019t go over CMS software. In our steps, however, we\u2019ll focus on how to create a forum on <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/\">WordPress<\/a>, as it\u2019s most widely used and beginner-friendly.<\/p><p>Without further ado, here are the steps, or stages, of creating your own forum site and taking it live.<\/p><h3>1. Choose Where to Host Your Forum<\/h3><p>If your forum is a stand-alone project, you can host it on its own website.<\/p><p>On the other hand, if you\u2019re creating a forum as a part of your business website, you\u2019ll need to decide where to host it within its existing structure. Depending on the structure of your website and your hosting provider, you may wish to (or have to) situate your website in a subdomain, like so: <b>forum.example.com.<\/b> In this case, \u201cforum\u201d is at the beginning of the URL. If you go with this option, you may need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-is-a-cname-record\/\">set up a CNAME record<\/a> for the subdomain, but you can also get your web hosting provider to take care of it.<\/p><p>Alternatively, you can host your forum as a page on your website, so \u201cforum\u201d will go at the end of the URL, like so:<b> www.example.com\/forum.<\/b><\/p><h3>2. Pick and Install a Forum Plugin on WordPress<\/h3><p>Before we get into the various WordPress plugins you can choose from, bear in mind that WordPress plugins are only a good solution if you want to add a forum page or subdomain on your existing website, i.e. make it a part of a larger website. If you want to create a stand-alone forum, or a website that\u2019s entirely devoted to <i>being <\/i>a forum, then you may just skip this step and move onto the next one, where we go over choosing a theme for your forum.<\/p><p>Overall, we suggest that you opt for an open-source, frequently updated software. This ensures that you\u2019ll get the best from multiple brains and that bugs will be fixed swiftly.<\/p><p>Our top-recommended WordPress forum plugin is <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/bbpress\/\">bbPress<\/a>. It\u2019s free, open-source, and scalable based on the needs and size of your (hopefully growing) community. The discussion boards offered by bbPress are quite sleek, elegant, and classic. They\u2019re streamlined for effective integration into your website. bbPress is easy to set up and use, and comes with a host of useful features such as customizable templates where you can pick color and style, and spam blocking via Akismet.<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_2109\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2109\" style=\"width: 716px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2109\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-bbPress.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"716\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-bbPress.jpg 716w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-bbPress-300x139.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2109\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/bbpress\/\">Install bbPress<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>If you also want to integrate a social network to your website alongside the forum, you can combine bbPress with <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/buddypress\/\">BuddyPress<\/a>. BuddyPress has all the social network features you\u2019d need &#8211; friends, groups, private conversations, etc. Combining both can help you build your online community. BuddyPress is also free and open-source.<\/p><p>If you prefer a more modern design, you may wish to consider <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wpforo\/\">wpForo Forum<\/a>. This plugin is also free, but does sell <a href=\"https:\/\/gvectors.com\/product-category\/wpforo\/\">add-ons<\/a> if you want more than the basic features that come with it. The basic software offers 4 different forum layouts and designs, 6 sets of color styles, a live user notification system, and built-in SEO. It also has Akismet and Antispam built-in, so it offers automatic spam protection. Overall, wpForo is quite easy to use for forum users.<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_2108\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2108\" style=\"width: 716px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-wpForo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"716\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-wpForo.jpg 716w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-plugin-wpForo-300x138.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wpforo\/\">Install wpForo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><h3>3. Design the Theme for Your Forum<\/h3><p>The theme for your forum should match the look of the rest of your website &#8211; after all, it\u2019s an extension of it. You should carry the same patterns, colors, layouts, and logos that are present in other parts of your website. This is important to make sure that customers and users are aware that they\u2019re still on your domain.<\/p><p>The plugins we recommended offer popular color patterns, so try to find the color and layout combination that most resembles your site\u2019s original design. You can then customize the offered forum themes by adding your business\u2019s name and logo.<\/p><p>If you\u2019re planning on making an entire website devoted to a forum, you have more freedom choosing the layout and color patterns. Just make sure that you follow examples of existing forums or take a look at what forum plugins\u2019 themes look like, so that you can make a user-friendly interface for your users.<\/p><p>WordPress offers <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/themes\">countless free and paid themes<\/a> you can choose from. You can also head over to <a href=\"https:\/\/themeforest.net\/\">ThemeForest<\/a> and find a beautiful theme (prices start at $2). Pick a theme you like and then customize it (i.e. organize the layout) in the form of a forum, or find a theme that comes with existing forum features.<\/p><h3>4. Organize Your Forum Pt. 1: Pages, Topics, Navigation<\/h3><p>Think over which topics should be included in your forum. Make a list of what you think is most important, so that you\u2019ll have a better idea of which pages you\u2019ll need to create in your forum moving forward. Keep in mind that the topics and pages in your forum should be easy to find for your customers (or forum users), so employ intuitive navigation features, like using a search bar, offering a grid (or list) view of general categories, and including keywords in each topic search.<\/p><h4>Navigation<\/h4><p>Take a look at what the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/support\/forums\/\">forum page on WordPress<\/a> looks like.<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_2107\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2107\" style=\"width: 502px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2107\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-support.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"502\" height=\"654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-support.jpg 502w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-support-230x300.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2107\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WordPress support forum<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>As you can see, their forum is a part of their support page. At the top, they have general support articles prepared by the WordPress team. Below, there are support forum topics where WordPress users can ask questions and receive help from other WordPress users or WordPress admins. So, what the WordPress team has done is they\u2019ve created 9 general forum topics, or categories, allowing users to narrow down the area in which they need help. This makes it easier for people to find what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p><p>Let\u2019s take a look at how each forum is organized. Here\u2019s an example of the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/support\/forum\/how-to-and-troubleshooting\/\">Fixing WordPress<\/a> forum:<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_2110\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2110\" style=\"width: 784px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2110\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-example.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"784\" height=\"670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-example.jpg 784w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-example-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/create-your-forum-wordpress-example-768x656.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 784px) 100vw, 784px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2110\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How WordPress forums are organized<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>As you can see, at the very beginning, admin posts are pinned. We\u2019ll pay more attention to this in the next sections, which covers how you, as admin and moderator, should set up some ground rules, guidelines, and overviews at the beginning of each forum.<\/p><p>After that, you get user posts ordered by date, starting with newest. This allows people visiting the forum to help people that have recently asked for help. If no one answers their requests, it would be good for you, as admin, to step in.<\/p><p>Although the posts are ordered by date, you can see several features which make the forum more easily navigable for users. For instance, there\u2019s the following:<b><\/b><\/p><ul><li><b>A search bar<\/b> at the top of the posts, allowing users to browse solutions on particular subjects.<\/li><li><b>Filters<\/b> on the right-hand side, allowing users to view resolved topics, unresolved topics, topics with no replies, and so on. This will help those seeking resolved issues similar to their own find the answer faster, and those seeking to help someone out answer a request with no replies thus far.<\/li><\/ul><h4>Topics and Pages<\/h4><p>So, if you\u2019re creating a forum as an extension of your website, you\u2019ll need to identify which topics you want to see fruitful discussions about, and more importantly, which topics people will <i>need <\/i>you to create forum discussion boards for. Some examples are troubleshooting, customer feedback (including suggestions and criticisms), product\/service experiences and reviews, and so on.<\/p><p>If you\u2019re specifically building a forum-website, then the scope of ideas really just depends on you. What do <i>you<\/i> want people talking about?<\/p><h3>5. Organize Your Forum Pt. 2: User Roles, User Rules, Privacy<\/h3><p>In addition to organizing the structure of your forum &#8211; what pages\/topics it will include and how users can navigate &#8211; you also need to organize and customize its settings. This includes deciding on the privacy settings and user roles, as well as outlining the user rules.<\/p><h4>User Rules<\/h4><p>Let\u2019s begin at the end: user rules. As we saw in that image above, in the \u201cFixing WordPress\u201d forum, the top three posts were pinned by an admin\/moderator. Usually, forums have these pinned posts at the top of forum discussion boards to give users an introduction to the forum and set up some rules that users should follow, unless they want to be banned. It\u2019s important to not only write out your rules, but also implement them. Your forum should be a safe place for fruitful discussions, where people are kind, helpful, informative, and stay on topic. It\u2019s not just for you that these rules exist &#8211; it\u2019s also for the forum users. They should feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.<\/p><p>Here are examples of what your rules could look like:<\/p><ol><li>Be kind and respectful to other users and opinions you don\u2019t agree with.<\/li><li>Discrimination and insults will not be tolerated.<\/li><li>Spammers will be blocked.<\/li><li>Self-promotion and links to companies are not allowed.<\/li><li>Keep it classy (no NSFW content).<\/li><\/ol><p>And so on. You may also wish to include a rule about staying on-topic &#8211; but you\u2019ll figure out if you need that moving forward. Sometimes, the best way to learn something is diligent work and experience.<\/p><h4>User Roles<\/h4><p>Our go-to forum plugin, bbPress, comes with <a href=\"https:\/\/codex.bbpress.org\/getting-started\/before-installing\/bbpress-user-roles-and-capabilities\/\">five default user roles<\/a> (which you can later customize):<b><\/b><\/p><ul><li><b>Keymaster:<\/b> you, or whomever you want to leave in charge of managing your forum. The keymaster can create, edit, and delete forums, topics, and replies made by other users. You can also manage tags and moderate forums. It\u2019s an all-access pass to all the global forum settings and tools.<\/li><li><b>Moderator:<\/b> one or more persons who can create, edit, and delete forums, topics, and replies made by other users. They can manage the tags and moderate the forums.<\/li><li><b>Participant:<\/b> forum users\/ customers. Usually, this is people with accounts. You can also enable anonymous posting, but we don\u2019t recommend that.<\/li><li><b>Spectator:<\/b> people who can visit\/read the forum, but not interact (people without accounts).<\/li><li><b>Blocked:<\/b> former users that have overstepped the boundaries and are blocked from all capabilities.<\/li><\/ul><p>You can assign roles through the bbPress plugin. For instance, you can allow multiple members of your website team to be moderators. Over time, you can also give this privilege to loyal forum users.<\/p><p>While some forums allow participation from users without accounts, i.e. anonymous users, we don\u2019t recommend this. While it may boost user engagement on the site, it also makes it a whole lot easier for angry\/ill-intentioned people and bots to post abusive content, spam, and to troll users.<\/p><h4>Privacy<\/h4><p>In fact, deciding whether to allow anonymous posting is not only a part of choosing user roles &#8211; it\u2019s also a part of adjusting your privacy settings.<\/p><p>You can also decide on whether your forum should be publicly visible, i.e. accessible to people who aren\u2019t subscribed members of the forum, or if it should be exclusive, members-only. We recommend that you make the forum publicly accessible for viewing, which will boost the number of visitors to your website (you <i>do<\/i> want organic traffic, no?). However, again, we don\u2019t recommend that you allow non-subscribers to post.<\/p><h4>Other Settings<\/h4><p>Some other forum settings that you can customize and adjust include:<b><\/b><\/p><ul><li><b>Managing subscriptions.<\/b> Forum users should have the option of choosing whether or not to sign up for your newsletter, as well as which topics and discussions they want to get notifications for.<\/li><li><b>Threads.<\/b> Replies on forum discussions, also known as threads, allow people to better communicate with each other and grow the discussion. Reply threading on bbPress allows users to reply to particular replies, making the discussion easier to follow and understand.<\/li><li><b>Throttle posting.<\/b> You can set up a minimum time, in seconds, of how long someone has to wait before posting again on a certain forum. This can help you prevent spamming and catch it in time.<\/li><li><b>Post revisions.<\/b> This will slow things down, <i>but<\/i> if you want to be absolutely sure that <i>everything<\/i> being posted on your website is nice and clean, you can have your team check out all posts before allowing them to be published. This is more recommended for comment sections rather than forums, though.<\/li><li><b>Include add-ons or use a plugin which can help you engage users.<\/b> Some plugins and add-ons come with features such as upvotes, user levels, and even badges. This type of \u201cgamification\u201d can incentivize engagement, and help you build a loyal community around your forum.<\/li><\/ul><p>You can also read over the full list of <a href=\"https:\/\/codex.bbpress.org\/getting-started\/configuring-bbpress\/forum-settings\/\">forum settings<\/a> offered by bbPress.<\/p><h3>6. Break the Ice<\/h3><p>Remember the first day of school? Kids standing on their own, not wanting to break focus from their shuffling feet on the floor, occasionally looking up, accidentally meeting someone\u2019s gaze, blushing and immediately averting their eyes, leading them quickly back to the floor? It\u2019s still &#8211; kind of &#8211; like that when you enter a new space or group of people. And, the same goes for brand new, fresh-off-the-press forums. Someone needs to break the ice. If in school it was the teacher forcing everyone to tell their name and favorite color\/animal\/book, now it&#8217;s going to be you.<\/p><p>Before publishing your forum, you\u2019ll want to have some discussion boards ready which will get the conversation going as soon as the forum is published and users begin visiting it. You can start discussions by choosing interesting, general topics that would entertain or intrigue users, and encourage them to participate in the conversation.<\/p><p>For instance, if you\u2019re selling some type of recording software, you may want to ask people what their favorite band, music genre, or podcast is. It\u2019s relevant to your product, but also general enough for anyone to pitch in.<\/p><p>Once people have joined in on your discussions, they\u2019ll be much more comfortable and likely to begin topics and conversations on their own, as well as to reply to others\u2019 posts.<\/p><h3>7. Publish Your Forum and Then Advertise It<\/h3><p>You\u2019re done with design, organization, and starter content: it\u2019s time to publish your forum. Take the forum pages or subdomain live, and make sure they\u2019re consistently linked back to your main website.<\/p><p>However, publishing your forum is one thing; getting people to contribute is another. Once you\u2019ve taken the forum live, you\u2019ll need to work in order to get people to contribute in the first place. You can begin by contacting your regular, loyal customers via email, for instance, and inviting them to engage in your forum.<\/p><p>You can also try incentives like the one we mentioned before &#8211; \u201cgamification,\u201d or making game-like levels\/perks\/badges to users that are regularly active and post high-quality content.<\/p><h3>8. Moderate the Forum<\/h3><p>Depending on how much user engagement there is, you may need one to hundreds of moderators. Don\u2019t worry, though &#8211; in the beginning, you certainly won\u2019t need more than one or two.<\/p><p>The thing is, once a forum develops a pulse, i.e. becomes the ground for regular discussions, you\u2019ll definitely need someone to monitor user behavior to make sure nothing fishy or unpleasant is going on.<\/p><h3>9. Learn From Mistakes, Gather Feedback<\/h3><p>When you\u2019re starting out with anything, you\u2019re bound to make a few mistakes. Closely follow the growth, changes, and problems that your forum pages\/subdomain encounter, and modify &#8211; evolve &#8211; its structure as you move forward. You may find that you need more moderators or more restrictive posting (like setting up throttle posting). On the other hand, you may find that your settings are too restrictive and put users off, so they don\u2019t engage as much, in which case you can loosen the rules up a bit.<\/p><p>Make sure to also ask your users for feedback. They\u2019ll tell you exactly what they like, what they don\u2019t like, and maybe even give you suggestions on how to make it all better.<\/p><h2>A Few Final Words<\/h2><p>Forums take some planning and work when you\u2019re starting off, as well as continued presence as they grow and thrive, but they\u2019re well worth the effort. They will benefit you <i>and<\/i> your users\/customers. You\u2019d be creating a platform for people with similar interests to gather, encouraging them to engage more with each other, your brand, and your product. They\u2019ll be able to share solutions with each other and feel like you\u2019re actively trying to improve their experience.<\/p><p>In return, you get: a free SEO boost, thanks to the original content they\u2019d be publishing; more sales from an engaged community; and lastly, less work for the customer support department. Win-win!\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-02d9db7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"02d9db7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e3db840\" data-id=\"e3db840\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60a6169 article-end elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"60a6169\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-565995e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"565995e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">View Related Articles<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-21bb133 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"21bb133\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-404e6d4 elementor-posts__hover-none elementor-grid-3 elementor-grid-tablet-2 elementor-grid-mobile-1 elementor-posts--thumbnail-top elementor-card-shadow-yes elementor-widget elementor-widget-posts\" data-id=\"404e6d4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;cards_masonry&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;cards_columns&quot;:&quot;3&quot;,&quot;cards_columns_tablet&quot;:&quot;2&quot;,&quot;cards_columns_mobile&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;cards_row_gap&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:35,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"posts.cards\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-posts-container elementor-posts elementor-posts--skin-cards elementor-grid\">\n\t\t\t\t<article class=\"elementor-post elementor-grid-item post-847 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-domain-names\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__card\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-was-the-first-registered-domain-name\/\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/first-ever-domain-small.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-964\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/first-ever-domain-small.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/first-ever-domain-small-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/first-ever-domain-small-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"elementor-post__title\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-was-the-first-registered-domain-name\/\" >\n\t\t\t\tWhat Was the First Ever Registered Domain Name?\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t<p>Today, the internet is entrenched in most people\u2019s daily lives. As of January 2020, there are roughly 4.5 billion active internet users worldwide. For work, education, and entertainment, the internet has become an indispensable part of the way we function. But how did it all begin?<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<article class=\"elementor-post elementor-grid-item post-1947 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-domain-names\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__card\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/free-email-forwarding\/\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1827\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/catch-all-email-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"elementor-post__title\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/free-email-forwarding\/\" >\n\t\t\t\tFree Email Forwarding on Domain Name Sanity\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t<p>Email forwarding, sometimes referred to as email aliases or email redirects, forwards emails from a custom email account, normally associated with your website, to your own, pre-existing email address. In other words, email forwarding allows you to create a \u201cdummy\u201d email address through which people\u2019s emails can reach your own existing mailbox, the one that you regularly use.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<article class=\"elementor-post elementor-grid-item post-818 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-domain-names\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__card\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-is-a-me-domain\/\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__thumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/dot-me-small.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-963\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/dot-me-small.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/dot-me-small-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/dot-me-small-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__text\">\n\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"elementor-post__title\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/what-is-a-me-domain\/\" >\n\t\t\t\tWhat is a .me Domain?\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t<p>The .me domain is a growing trend for good reason: it seems personal. After all, what\u2019s more personal than me? This domain extension offers a lot of versatility for websites names, personal blogs and resumes, call-to-action websites, and businesses seeking to emphasize&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b4fddc elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"0b4fddc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our guide will help you figure out exactly how to create your own forum site, with simple step-by-step instructions. We\u2019ll mostly focus on using WordPress, as it\u2019s quite user-friendly &#8211; nearly 40% of all websites on the internet use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wordpress-intermediate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Creating Your Own Forum Site - Domain Name Sanity Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether you want to build an independent forum website for whatever-enthusiasts, or adding a forum to your business, our guide can help you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.domainnamesanity.com\/blog\/creating-your-own-forum-site\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating Your Own Forum Site - 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