When are forums needed?

[iwannaplay]

Hey there

I am thinking about adding a forum for my website, iWanna Play. It is about Game Design, and contains a flash arcade. However, the staff and me have been having a completely even disagreement. There is 6 of us. Me, the super admin, one Admin, and 4 Staff. Me and 2 of the staff think there should, but the rest think not.

Of course, I am not a powerhungry admin. I get final say, but I take my staff into account. So far, here are the arguments as to why, and why not:

Why

1. Brings community together
2. Allows easier sharing of suggestions
3. Discuss strategies for flash games
4. Discuss contests
5. Share profiles

Why not

1. Only important for Community-specific sites
2. Sometimes ends up killing traffic
3. More space is used

Of course, the why does outpower the Why not, but my site isn't driven by the community, so the why not has that advantage.

Now, I am asking you guys:
When is a forum worth adding to your site?
When not?

[Skuxta]

I wouldn't worry about the space. You see all the stuff that DG has. I have barely even come close to hitting 1gb of space. Even with all the stuff loaded on the server.

[iwannaplay]

Really? I hit 4GB.

The space isn't of the slightest concern to me. I could just throw in another $5/month, and get tons more.

[dvduval]

I think forums are always good so long as you have a plan to work with the people that will be using it. You have to have moderators, and you need people that will be willing to spend time participating. Ask some of your friends or regular users if they will help, and see if you can get a few people together on this.

[Menthol]

I have seen forums dedicated to some surprising subjects so if enough people are interested in a particular topic it will be popular.

[iwannaplay]

I quote my manager (That's what we call the moderators

The intentions for this website is for video games, not a place for discussion. If there are problems with any video game on the site, you can report it or drop either me or Justin a message. We could re-evaluate a forum when the site starts to get bigger and there is a reason for one. Right now all a forum would do is slow down production time on the website and give us more things to maintain.

And me:

My biggest issue in opening up a forum is that it won't be popular right away. If that happens, then no one will post, because there will be nothing to respond too. Of course, that would start a chain, and the forum wouldn't pick up.

Anyone care to debunk those arguments?

[eddy]

forums are too resource intensive IMO

[iwannaplay]

forums are too resource intensive IMO

As previously stated, resources aren't an issue for me.

[Mousee]

Maybe you can think over adding a ning social network to you site. It has embedded forum, blogs, photos, videos and so on. For my site I'm chosen it.

[LeenkzMike]

My 2 cents!

I don't think it is as much about if you need a forum or not, but about pissing half of the staff off and risking premature forumculation! <--LOL

I would say, if you have less than lets say 1,000 members, leave the forum for later, and let people comment thru the channels joomla provides you. Wait for requests from members to start a forum. (if you was to open a forum you would be lucky to get 1 in 50 to post more than 5 posts) (just an educated guess)

By the way, I signed up at your site, and after 4 hours, I am still to receive the email with further instructions, you might want to look into that!

[iwannaplay]

That error seems to be a problem with a few people. I look into it further.
Until then, I will disable email activation, and hope like hell nobody spams.

The staff wont mind if I open a forum. We are merely working on making a decision. Although, I did put a Poll on my website, to decide if the forum will come.

Wait for requests from members to start a forum

That's what sparked the idea.

I told the members that if they want a forum, I will need people to volunteer as staff, Tons more members, and a team of people to start topics the day the forum releases, to start conversations.


Anyways, you are now confirmed

[digitalseo]

forums are good if you have a lot of members but take note that a new forum site will take time to gain participants..maybe nothing wrong if you'll add forum to your site...try it, who knows right?

[yousellstuff]

i am a strong believer that forums always help. Like said earlier, as long as u have moderators it is good.

[tpflanz]

Why wouldn't you want a forum? If you site gets traffic, and you think your users would benefit from it, then add it. You can limit the space if that is really a concern by limiting attachments and profile pics

[jamaine12]

Forum is the good place where you can share your ideas and you can also get ideas from the other member..

[Noobeedoo]

Great ideas to ponder upon.. I have recently bought a domain name and setup a forum for a particular group for just about $130.00 (including domain name and free webhosting)

Pretty cheap price ( no idea how much to charge for setting up and administering a forum anyway.. )

My mindset is like this :

Since I'm just using myBB for the forum, the setup price and administration is okay for me.. It's the configuration practice and administration that I'm after... never mind about the pricing for now.

[Gate2Shop]

The more ideas you can solicite from the forum can make your site a lot user friendly.

[Aimhigh]

Forums is the best place to promote your site, to share your ideas, and to learn.