Nothing left to set up a vb for

[dan40]

Hi all,

I've just set up a new vbulletin forum, and now that I have it up and running, I can't for the life of me figure out what I want to do with it. Every topic under the sun has already been discussed to death on the Internet using various forum software applications, and it seems as though there is nothing left.

If you set up a board using a pre-existing topic hoping for hundreds of users and thousands of messages, you're kind of sunk unless you offer something that no other board has with the same topic - something really difficult to think up. You need some kind of niche, something that will catch the visitor's eye and make that visitor stay at your site.

I find it difficult to set up a discussion board with just any topic - I want to steer away from this direction, because it can likely turn sour fast.

What do you do to attract users, and how do you get your board advertized properly so that you'll get a good user-base going?

so, you bought a 160$ software, found hosting and domain, but for the sake of it, have no idea what to do with your forum...

really, people need some advices before even starting to think about a website...

[dan40]

Further to this, the two topics I'm interested in creating a forum for are already taken and are well-populated now so what's the use? Why would someone come over to mine, which has nothing, when they can go to one that's been well established for some time?

--------------- Added [DATE]1212622054[/DATE] at [TIME]1212622054[/TIME] ---------------

Originally Posted by nexialys

found hosting and domain

It's on my own server, so I don't pay for hosting.

I did think before I set it up but when I found one that was better than mine, I just got a little discouraged and shut it down when I found it really wasn't going anywhere.

so what's up now, you need ideas or you abandon ?!

[dan40]

Originally Posted by nexialys

so what's up now, you need ideas or you abandon ?!

Well, at this point in time I need some ideas but I doubt any of you can help (who are reading this). It's not like you know me very well... hehe...

Dan

[Racecar]

What types of sites did you have in mind? Come on.. help us out, a little...lol

i don't know you very well, but i know the 48 admins i have under my hand... each site i manage have a different style and topic... it goes from yellow snakes to diapers to theologian sites... so, sure i know what could be interesting after that... lol

[setishock]

How many sites have you seen on the subject of coffee? Different blends. Machines to make it. Countries the beans come from. How it affects the flavor. How roasting affects the flavor.
Should paper filters be made from virgin paper or is recycled good enough? Copper versus stainless steel. Glass versus stainless steel caraffs. How to clean your machine. What chemicals to use. On and on and on.
You can tell I'm a caffine junkie. But honestly how many coffee forums have you seen?

[Boofo]

Just find a topic that is close to your heart and go with that. Set it up for what YOU are interested in and in time it will pick up. My site was set up because of a situation I was and am still going through. I don't have very many members but it is picking up little by little.

[dan40]

How can one talk incessantly about coffee? But it's not a bad idea. I drink tea and there are TONS of different kinds of teas in the world... maybe that would be something. I'm really into Disney stuff... the parks, the 'behind the scenes' facts, animation, etc... but like I was saying this kind of stuff is just discussed to death on other sites and I just don't feel that there is anything else to offer on the subject of Disney.

A few versions ago, I had a site up that had to do with TV themes. That went pretty well and I had quite a large database, and quite a few users, and even integrated PhotoPost with it to accept uploads of other people's recorded versions of TV themes. That was great - until I found someone else with a similar board, who stole all of my recorded videos and set them up as their own - someone who was more into it than me, so I kind of lost interest. And plus I had a couple of people write and tell me to remove copyrighted material from my site or they would sue me.

Now I'm trying a genealogy site (http://www.dansmith.ca/vb - OK, not the best URL but it's a start). I'm researching my family history and including extended families on my mom's and dad's side, and have again integrated PhotoPost as an option after registering, so other family members can upload their own images. One of the biggest problems here is that most of my relatives don't have scanners and they can just barely use a keyboard, and it's so friggin' hard to get people to contribute in such a passionate topic for me. I kind of nudged my long-lost relatives by email to participate but it's mainly falling on deaf ears (eyes?). So I'll just go with it the way it is, with 3 users (including me) and see where it goes from there. Maybe making it a general overall topic about genealogy might do - with how-to's on what to ask your relatives before they pass away and what kind of answers to record. You know, general genealogy basics.

But again, there are hundreds of sites out there already who beat topics like genealogy, TV themes and Disney to death.

Sysops: How do you keep from getting discouraged because other similar information is out there and what can you offer your users that will keep them at your site?

Thanks for letting me talk about this - I'm becoming more enlightened as time goes on...