[Mark.B]

Again, and I'll keep on saying it, lack of add-ons will not kill any of the forum products in the market, because only a TINY FRACTION of site owners are interested in modifying and customising their boards.

It doesn't matter how many times people trot this one out, it doesn't change the facts. A thriving add on community certainly doesnt hurt, but it is absolutely not essential, it is a niche and a very small one at that.

Another huge mistake forum owners make, is trying to turn their forums into Facebook,a nd demanding the vendors make their forum products into Facebook clones. It won't work. Forums are not Facebook. Facebook and Twitter have taken a lot of activity away from forums, but that's because they have taken people's TIME. The attractions of Facebook are not going to be replicated in a forum, it's the presence of family / friends / colleagues all on the same network that provides the attraction, not the fact there's a like button or that posts are laid out in a certain way.

The way to keep your forum active is with CONTENT, not by trying to make it look and feel like Facebook.