April 2010

Ditch The Default Design!

by James on April 20, 2010

Design is a very important part of your forum. Too many times do I come across a forum with the default vBulletin design and it’s just…ugh!!! It was great when it came out but too many people have it now. It’s time to become creative and unique and get our own forum design because you will be hugely surprised in the benefits it has on your forum.

Wave Good Bye To The High Bounce Rate

An attractive and professional theme will decrease your over all bounce rate. Bounce rate being if the visitor joins and visits another page before leaving again. It encourages the user to stay on and prowl the forum which will increase the chances of that visitor becoming a user.

Increase In Page Views

As we were talking about bounce rate, with a low bounce rate your are expected to see more page views. This is could if you have CPM ad networks running on your forum as potentially the more impressions the more money you make. It would also be good for CPC networks as well as the more page view you get the more chance that ads will be clicked.

You Will See More Visitors

With a great design you will see your visitor count sore up. Not so much new visitors but more returning visitors. People will feel more at ease on your forum and will not get lost as much therefore increasing the chances of them returning and more importantly turning them into an active member.

Wrapping It Up

The main benefits of having a clean, easy to use professional theme has been outline in this post. That change in stats are very impressive and it’s amazing what a few colors can do to your site.

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Forum Software Review – vBulletin

by James on April 15, 2010

vBulletin, regarded as the best forum software available.  Coming in at $195 dollars which is a very big hole to burn in your pocket.  Is it worth it?  Yes, every single penny.  vBulletin is indescribable and comes with a lot of great features already pre prepared.

Installation Score 7/10

Installing vBulletin is little bit trickier than other forum software.  When you have downloaded the software you are required to alter the config files.  Not something I would recommend to anyone who does not have any codling knowledge.  Luckily, they have a knowledge base which has step by step instructions to installing the software.  Having to edit the config files really let me down.

User Friendliness Score: 9/10

The user friendliness side of vBulletin is really good.  It was very easy to edit your profile on your forum which includes adding an avatar and creating a signature.  The admin cp link was right in front of you when you log in.  Very easy to use.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 9 /10

The admin panel is really juicy, something which I like.  Saying that,  I am not sure a person who has never handled a forum before would feel the same.  Could be intimidating for a novice but I hardly think you would go out and buy a vBulletin license if this was your first forum.  Speaking from an experienced admin point of view vBulletin lets you tweak every little setting in the forum, it has a tonne of settings.  Very nice, very nice indeed.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 10/10

vBulletin hands down has the best moderation system.  I usually have a great system set up for vBulletin moderation.  When a post is reported it is sent to a specific forum where we can discuss what action to take.  Same goes with infractions/warnings.  Everything is logged which makes it easier if people want to appeal their ban.  The infractions and warnings are great way to keep your users in shape.

Layout Score: 7/10

I don’t know if it’s just me but the default vBulletin theme can be seen in most forums making it very boring the more and more I look at it.  They have spiced it up recently when they released V4.0.  Nice rounded edges giving it a nice web 2.0 look.

Customer Support Score: 8/10

VBulletin has great support. You get access to a forum which has constant support and a great knowledge base where the installation instructions can be found. You can get support via a phone or the ticket system for an extra $80 a year. In my opinion that should be free if you are willing to buy their product.

Overall Overall Score: 9/10

You can now see why vBulletin is regarded as the most powerful forum software in the world.  From their great moderation system to their excellent admin panel vBulletin is a great all round software.  Definitely worth $195.

P.s Are you a vBulletin owner?  Check out this great plug-in which dramatically improves your SEO and the quality and the amount of traffic you get to your forum.

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Successful Forum Expands – Forum Directory

April 7, 2010

Big changes are happening at successfulforum.com and I am very proud to announce the new addition of a forum directory to the site. What Is A Forum Directory? A forum directory is basically a listing of different forums.  When your forum is added it is  placed in a category this makes the full directory easier [...]

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Why A Competition?

April 5, 2010

From the dawn of time people have been creating competitions. From newspapers to airline companies everyone does it.  Well guess what…so can a forum administrator.  A competition is a great way to bind a community together and get things clicking on your forum. In a previous blog post I talked about how a competition promotes [...]

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Forum Software Review – SMF

April 1, 2010

Simple Machines Forum, SMF, is a new but an upcoming piece of forum software.  It has quickly established a place as a respectable forum software in only its few short years of existence.  Today, in this blog post I am going to tell you what I think of SMF. Installation Score:10/10 Installation was very easy.  [...]

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