Cedric

A small update to the member cards. Your last message will appear in the user's card and in viewing user profile If the member has no messages then nothing will be displayed. A small but powerful addition to our profiles. :) Here are a few examples: [ATTACH type=full]256[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=full]257[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=full]258[/ATTACH]

BO6 has been officially released as of today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyZY_BiTmd8 I've pre-ordered it a few months ago, played the BETA too. I'll probably start playing next weekend. Anyone here who's into the game?

I have no doubt about that! 💙

Good afternoon everyone. I’ve got a little vacation planned this weekend. So have a good weekend all!

Welcome Bluezone777! A pleasure to have you and looking forward to some good insights coming from you. :)

Do you ever have any arguments or decisions you both have different takes on? Curious to hear. And if you do, does it affect your real-life situation, or does she carry grudges with her? :p

Over the last 20 years, I’ve built several large, active communities, and here’s something I’ve learned: community building isn’t as hard as people think. Hear me out. The real challenge isn’t about how difficult it is - it’s about consistency. That’s where most people struggle. But if you’ve got a solid plan and stick to it, it gets a lot easier. The most important factor? Creating immediate value for your members. Think about it - why would anyone join a community if there’s no instant benefit? Let me give an example: Administrata offers real value by running events that helps other community leaders and shares advice and ideas. As community leaders, we should always be offering something meaningful right from the start. I like to call this “painkiller content.” It’s content that solves a specific pain point or fulfills a need for your members. When you offer something they can’t easily ignore, you grab their attention. You’ve got, what, about 0.2 seconds to capture someone’s interest? Okay, that's exaggerated, but you get the idea. Whether it’s a detailed guide, a helpful tool, or quick tips, you need to provide instant gratification. But here’s the thing - your value shouldn’t stop there. It’s about creating content that people want to engage with. That could mean well-crafted discussions, articles, videos, or events. Variety is key because different members are attracted to different things. Some come for knowledge, others stay for the networking or opportunities. Once members see the value you’re offering, they’re naturally more inclined to engage. The trick is to build a cycle where value leads to participation - one member shares, another responds - and that creates even more value. And so the cycle keeps going. With the right mindset and tools, community building becomes a process. It doesn’t have to be hard. It’s all about creating a structure where value, content, and engagement feed into each other continuously. What strategies have you found most effective in creating that initial value for your community members? How do you keep them engaged after they join?

One of the challenges I’ve experienced when starting a new community is realizing that the first 10 members and the first 10 active members are very different. It’s easy to get excited when people start joining, but you’ll quickly notice that many will join and disappear without a word. In fact, I've found that to get 10 consistently active contributors, I’ve often needed around 100 members in the community. Why is this? Sometimes it's simply because people are curious or sign up on impulse but never fully commit. It might also be because your forum is still growing and doesn't yet have the content or interaction level to retain them. But that's okay - this is all part of building a community! Here are a few things that have helped me get those first active members: Strong Onboarding: Make sure new members know how to get involved right away, whether by sending a welcome message or guiding them to an active thread. You might remember my welcome PM and occasionally a welcome message on your profile. Personal Interaction: Reach out to new members, not just to thank them for joining but to ask questions and show a genuine interest in their input. Their introduction topic is often perfect for this. Don't just say "welcome" and be done with it. Involve them. Content Seeding: Ensure there’s already valuable content on the forum that members can engage with, so they don’t feel like they’re shouting into the void. If you don't have the content, remember to create content on a daily basis. What’s been your experience with getting those first active members? How many sign-ups did it take before you got a core group of contributors? Let’s share tips and ideas!

The contest had been added and is to be launched November 1st. https://administrata.net/forums/site-of-the-month-contest.35/

It’s time to enter your forum for November’s Site of the Month contest! We’re excited to see what you’ve been building and how your community stands out. Current Status: OPEN until November 15th. [HEADING=2]How to Enter:[/HEADING] Reply to this thread with your forum name, URL, and an optional short description of what makes your community unique. Make sure your submission is in before the deadline: November 15th. [HEADING=2]Prizes:[/HEADING] Banner Advertisement, under the original post of each thread for one month. Maximum size: 728x90 which you'll need to send. Advertisement Sticky Thread for one month. [HEADING=2]This Month's Theme:[/HEADING] We do not have a theme for this SOTM contest. Submissions are open from November 1st to 15th. Voting begins on November 15th. Good luck to all! 🤞

Welcome to the Site of the Month (SOTM) Hall of Fame, where we celebrate the incredible forums that have claimed the title in past months. Each of these communities has demonstrated exceptional qualities, whether in design, activity, or content. SOTM Winners:May 2025: Poker Community April 2025: OffTopix March 2025: Code Forum February 2025: jCodes January 2025: VirtualPetList December 2024: ROFLMAO November 2024: 2TonWaffle Stay tuned for more outstanding forums to be added to our Hall of Fame!

Welcome to the Site of the Month (SOTM) contest! Here's your chance to showcase your community and compete for the prestigious title of Administrata's Site of the Month. Whether you have a new or established forum, this is the perfect opportunity to gain recognition and inspire others. Here’s how it works: [HEADING=2]Contest Timeline:[/HEADING] Submissions: 1st to 15th of every month. Voting: 15th to 31st of every month. Winner Announcement: 1st of the following month. [HEADING=2]How to Participate:[/HEADING] Submit your forum by posting in our dedicated submission thread during the submission window. Ensure your submission includes your forum name, URL, and an optional brief description of what makes your community unique. Voting will take place from the 15th to the 31st. Anonymous voting ensures fairness—no one (not even staff) will know who voted for whom. Members are free to vote for all forums except their own. This is done through a poll. [HEADING=2]Prizes:[/HEADING] Winners of the Site of the Month contest will be rewarded with a selection of exciting perks, including but not limited to - Refer to the monthly submission thread: Advertising Positions on Administrata, giving your community the deserved visibility. Credits to use toward content orders, design services, or future perks within our marketplace. Free Content Orders to help boost engagement on your forum or blog. Free Design Orders, including custom logos, banners, and more. In-depth Reviews of your forum, offering valuable feedback from our expert community. Sticky Threads to keep your important discussions at the top. Featured Directory Items, highlighting your forum in our exclusive directory. These prizes will help to bring value to your community in one way or another. No month will be the same offering, so grab it while you can! [HEADING=2]Rules:[/HEADING] You may only submit one forum per month. You cannot vote for your own forum. Submissions must comply with Administrata’s guidelines (no offensive or inappropriate content). Anonymous voting will be implemented to ensure fair results. Votes from newly registered accounts (less than 30 days old) will not be counted to prevent spam or manipulation. [HEADING=2]Optional Monthly Themes:[/HEADING] Periodically, to keep things interesting, we may rotate themes. For example: November: Best Forum Design December: Most Active Community January: Best Content Thank you, Administrata Team

[mention=2]Al[/mention] begs to differ, but a chat thread wouldn't do harm. It's great for some community bonding and keeps off topic posts in one place.

Yet it has made many forums redundant. 😫

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article [plain]Editorial: From Passion to Purpose - Building a Community with Strategy[/plain]. Please add to the discussion here.

Reminds me of 90% of our conversations.

Before Discord, we had chatboxes or shoutboxes, which were often debated for their impact on forum activity. For years, it’s been recognized that these features can draw attention away from the core forum, causing a drop in engagement. Nowadays, we’ve seen shoutboxes decline, largely replaced by Discord - especially when it first gained traction. It’s now widely acknowledged that Discord can indeed hurt forum activity, and I’m glad that’s becoming more systematically understood. On Automated Posts: When done right, automated posts can be a valuable asset, but they should never replace actual content. They can help reinforce ongoing discussions or highlight important features, but real, engaging content should always be the priority. I'm going to add two points that come to mind: Failure to evolve with member needs. If your forum doesn’t adapt to changing user preferences, it risks becoming irrelevant. Sticking too rigidly to the original format without listening to members’ feedback will lead to stagnation. So it's best to stay in tune with your community’s needs by gathering feedback, staying updated on trends, and being open to change. Ignoring mobile users. With so many people browsing on their phones, (literally like 50/50 now) a forum that isn’t optimized for mobile devices will struggle to retain visitors. A non-responsive or poorly functioning mobile version will severely damage engagement. Design mobile first! Ensure your forum is fully optimized for mobile use, providing a seamless experience across all devices. Quality platforms like Invision Community and XenForo luckily have those built-in.

I'd buy if it I could, but he's never replied to my emails. 😫

Those are some good and realistically expectations that shouldn't take long to accomplish. ;)

Keep doing it, don't give it up. I was soooo disappointed by JamieW (you probably know him) when he abandoned ForumSpark. That was built on Laravel and had so much potential to become a great free forum host: https://www.wtsn.dev/projects/forumspark

Most don't. That doesn't mean there's no potential success. And honestly, success is only determined by you, not by someone else. Some are happy with just a few users and call it a success, while others expect to grow into a big board and then call it a success. In the end, you do what you enjoy and you don't let anyone tell you differently.

But you name the most difficult niches too. 😂 It starts with a passion. Where does your passion lay? Then it starts with an audience. Do you know people that would follow you in this niche? Do you have some expertise and experience to offer? Do you have some power users to help you kickstart your project? If not, it’s probably too soon to launch your project. But assume that you do, do you have a strategy for growth, and more importantly organic growth? Is there competition? What can you offer differently than your competition? What are you willing to invest (time/money)? These are some serious questions that help you forward in your community’s life and expectations.

Exciting! We've got a lot of entries so far and still a few more days to go. 🥳

I concur. It does looks great. Love the simplicity. A light mode would be welcome, as well as a profile card when hovering over usernames. How easy is it to develop modifications? What are you planning to do with it?

I agree. I'm a huge movie enthusiast, and watch movies much rather than series. But I could never give out just one favorite movie.