How to start an online forum Technology: If you are a WildApricot client, you can easily create or add as many forums e. Here are some ways you can publicize your forum once you've started it: On your Home Page — your website visitors need to be able to easily find the forum. In your newsletter — remind members that they can ask questions or comment on an article through the forum and be sure to offer a clear URL or online link so they can find it quickly. On your blog — start a discussion on a blog post and ask members to continue the conversation on the forum In targeted emails — include messages re your forum in the footer of emails.
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Since anyone can comment on a public forum, it can become difficult to keep track of the ongoing thread between you and the customer. Especially if it's a long-term case, transitioning the conversation to your help desk or ticketing system can help your team retain valuable information that will help them solve the problem faster. One benefit of using a forum for customer support is that it's easy to include content that can contextualize your troubleshooting steps.
For example, you can include screenshots and screen recordings that outline what a customer needs to do to solve the problem they're experiencing. Now, when other customers have that same problem, they can refer to your images and videos instead of having to submit an additional support ticket.
Forums should inspire customers to provide honest feedback for your products and services. This will lead to valuable discussions that highlight areas to improve your business. When mediating your forum, have your team keep track of ideas and workarounds proposed by your customers. You can even assign a specific segment of the forum to these posts, like in the example below. Community forums are a great way to get feedback from and engage with your customers. When customers are actively engaged in your community, they'll be more loyal and give your company fresh ideas.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April and has been updated for comprehensiveness. Originally published Aug 4, AM, updated August 04 Logo - Full Color.
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Thank You! You have been subscribed. Start free or get a demo. Service 8 min read. How to Create a Forum Website Pick a location to host your forum. Choose a software to create your forum website. Organize your forum's structure. Design your forum's theme. Create user rules for your forum website.
Start conversations with interesting discussion topics. Publish your forum on your website. Advertise to your audience. Increase engagement with badges. Moderate user participation and respond to customer inquiries. Collect user feedback. Topics: Knowledge Base. Don't forget to share this post! Expand Offer. Download for Later. These are mine, IMO: IDEA I think a forum needs to have some sort of original idea that sets it apart from other sites, or atleast make it different in some way.
Otherwise, why would anyone go there? In fact, a small forum with two boards with only three members that post constantly is much better than a forum with twenty five boards that only have three members that post constantly. Start out small, and expand if needed. Also, try and be creative. If you've got a forum with pink, and green, and light blue colors, do you really think someone is going to stay?
Gradients also help your forum drastically. The layout needs to be decently organized. Don't put a forum about movies in a category talking about books, etc. Make everything easy to find, easy to see, and all's good. Also, make your titles and descriptions of your forum creative. What really turns someone off is if you have a forum like this: Teh Jedi Temple Talk about jedis here.
Try and be creative. There's alot to do. Star Wars Fan Forums are growing smaller in creativity as their numbers increase. You need to be as friendly, lovable, and be as active as possible. If you are not an active admin, you won't have many active posters. Another bad thing is if you have too many staff. You do NOT need a moderator for every single board, especially if you only have twenty members.
I'd say have a staff member for every fifty active posters. Choose your staff wisely! Don't put a spammer as an admin! Post in ALL forums before advertising it. Listen to your members. If they have a suggestion, try it, unless it's something totally ridiculous I probably broke everyone of my own suggestions. Anyways, let's have a little discussion if this topic remains open.
What do YOU think makes a good forum? Bacon , Sep 10, Registered: Oct 18, In my opinion, the major things are a good easy-to-navigate layout and good, unique discussions. If there are good discussions, and people can easily find them, they will put up with minor style flaws.
As long as the colors are tolerable and blend together fairly well, people will still return if they are interested in the discussion. If you have good, unique discussions, you will hopefully be able to slowly build a steady userbase. YodaJeff , Sep 10, Registered: Dec 24, Registered: Jun 2, You need something that appeals to users.
Bad Example: Jedi Stuff There are millions of jedi sites all over the place. Creativity will make your thing work. Registered: Aug 30, Because, if a member doesn't feel "at home" at your board, they won't come back that often.
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