How to build a Website Forum and create your own online community

Table of Content
Wix Forum is your tool for creating online communities
Why was a forum initially created?
Creating a forum
Choose a forum software
Define your forum’s theme
Be clear about the rules
Encourage active participation
Regularly promote your forum
Enhance your forum with special features
Guidelines for setting up forums
How to keep a robust forum website?


I believe it is safe to claim that forums have existed forever. Actually, it's more like the dawn of the internet (which is basically the same). Online discussion boards enable virtual communities to interact and exchange knowledge and excitement. You may significantly improve user engagement and expand your online community by including a forum on your website. In addition, adding a forum helps you improve the content of your website and gives visitors to your site something entertaining to do.

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The capabilities of Wix Forum will be covered in this post, along with the advantages of including a forum on your website and best practices for doing so. Setting up your forum is easy, simple to use, and cost-free like other Wix website builder services.
 

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Wix Forum is your tool for creating online communities

You can quickly alter the layout, set up admin privileges, and specify the information and interests of your community after adding the Wix Forum app to your website in the Wix Editor. Some of the best features of Wix Forum include the following:

• It has a stunning mobile design and is fully mobile-friendly.
• Users can easily and intuitively sign up, log in, and participate.
• Both the traditional forum layout and the elegant card display are adjustable.
• Using a sophisticated text editor, you and the other forum users can make eye-catching posts with photographs.
• Being an admin needs little work because running the forum is straightforward.
• Each participant receives a profile page that lists their forum activities.

Why was a forum initially created?

There are numerous justifications for building a forum or forum website. Contrary to popular belief, forum users are not only Minecraft or Justin Bieber fanatics. You can discover thriving forums on the internet for practically any topic or industry, from military history to interior design.

The main advantage of starting a forum is to create a group of people who have similar interests. This community will have a place to discuss issues, compare notes, and engage in dialogue with others who have similar interests, occupations, or worldviews thanks to your forum.

Additionally, an online forum creates a new line of communication between site users and the site administrator. Although both newsletters and website comments are great for interacting with visitors, they both tend to favour one side of the argument. On the other side, a forum enables more transparent and natural user participation. The platform is still under the admin or forum moderator's authority, but users are free to engage in an eye-level conversation as long as they follow the rules.

Additionally, an online forum creates a new line of communication between site users and the site administrator. Although both newsletters and website comments are great for interacting with visitors, they both tend to favour one side of the argument. On the other side, a forum enables more transparent and natural user participation. The platform is still under the admin or forum moderator's authority, but users are free to engage in an eye-level conversation as long as they follow the rules.

Last but not least, adding a forum might raise your site's SEO. Consider it an extra source of search engine-indexable website material. The forum simply generates regular, high-quality material that search engines adore as long as it is active and as long as your users make worthwhile additions to the topic.


Creating a forum

Now that you are aware of the advantages of including a forum on your website, let's talk about how to get started. How to start a forum is as follows:
 

• Choose a forum software
• Define your forum’s theme
• Be clear about the rules
• Encourage active participation
• Promote your forum regularly
• Enhance your forum with special features

Choose a forum software

Simply selecting a forum software will allow you to begin constructing a forum. You can generate interest in your website and keep website visitors interested in your project, organisation, or brand by choosing a forum creator that seamlessly interacts with your professional website.


Define your forum’s theme

Consider the particular topics that unify your members and may foster a feeling of community among them. Which topics do they find interesting, useful, or important? Select a general subject that broadly resonates with your audience, and then create forum categories to set up multiple discussion threads.


Be clear about the rules

You must establish the tone and decide what conduct is acceptable or unacceptable in your community as the forum administrator. The guidelines for the community should be given in an initial post that is pinned to the top of a topic category.


Encourage active participation

Discussion is key to forums' success. There won't be much activity if your members are merely watchers. By asking questions, making comments on other people's posts, or seeking out a specific member's perspective, you might nudge them toward participation. If you want to engage your members, try provoking a debate, launching a poll, or examining recent events that are important to your community.

By setting up a Q&A forum, you may also encourage users to submit their own inquiries. Enabling participants to naturally develop discussions and benefit from one another's perspectives, improves your forum community. Additionally, it's a helpful tool for businesses to engage with customers directly, inform them about new products, and provide a support channel.


Regularly promote your forum

When you first start a forum, you'll need to promote it on outside platforms to get as many new members as you can. To draw attention to particular discussions, use your personal or professional social media platforms. If some members are very active, ask them to spread the word about your forum among their own networks. Use your newsletter, if you have one, to invite readers to the forum. Sending out alerts that inform all members of new posts, responses, and likes is another way to increase engagement.


Enhance your forum with special features

Once you've mastered the fundamentals of creating a forum, you can give users extra value by adding unique features that are advantageous to you and your community.


As participants progress from novice users to forum experts, you can first honour them with member badges. As a result of being encouraged to frequently participate in forum conversations, raises community members' engagement levels. You can alter badges to match the style and feel of your website and assign various badges to various jobs (e.g., teacher and student).


Guidelines for setting up forums

A forum's personality is created by the users' constant contributions to content. Here are the best techniques for keeping an active, dynamic online community.


Stay on course: Your community is held together by people having a feeling of common interest. Aim to closely tie your posts to the forum's theme through the discussions you initiate, the queries you pose, and the visuals you upload.

Don't over-thread: It's a great idea to construct a forum by setting up several discussion threads with various main areas, but you should be careful not to do this. Visitors, particularly first-time visitors, may become overstimulated if there are too many threads available. A situation where certain threads have very little discussion may also result from having too many subjects. It's best to eliminate some options and maintain a vigorous dialogue.

Make it appealing: While forums survive on words, their appearance and design are as crucial. Ensure that the design of your forum matches that of your website as a whole since users will feel more at home on a forum that appeals to their interests, is aesthetically beautiful, and is easy to navigate. You may create your forum to suit your project or brand and draw in new users by altering the layout, fonts, colours, and other elements.

Be a present administrator: As the forum's administrator, it is your duty to actively participate in discussions and add your own content. Answer queries, strike up dialogues, and invite neighbours to express their opinions by being proactive.

Stay informed: As the administrator, you must demonstrate your knowledge of and authority over your field. It will be easier for you to offer high-quality material to your community and keep your members interested in what you have to say if you stay current on the most recent news, events, and trends. Your community will reward you with traffic if you make your forum a trustworthy source of knowledge.


How to keep a robust forum website?

You should think about both the practices you should keep away from and the information you want to include when deciding how to create a forum. Any astute forum administrator will tell you that maintaining a healthy forum requires constant attention. The following things should always be looked out for since they will guarantee a welcoming, safe community:

Spammers: In addition to being annoying, spammy content can harm your SEO. If you don't delete spammy comments from your site, search engines like Google may punish you.

Trolls: As the forum administrator, it is your duty to safeguard the safety of all forum users, and you owe it to them to keep trolls at bay.

Unimpressive discussion: Ensure that the topics being discussed on your forum are still intriguing, entertaining, and engaging. The key is to remain dedicated to your role as forum administrator. You'll provide your community with a forum they'll enjoy if you consistently participate in discussions, adopt a proactive attitude, highlight pertinent and engaging subjects, and recognise valuable and contributing members.



 

What is the price of creating a forum website?

Depending on the features and user experience that your site needs, the cost of developing a custom platform might be highly varied. We've estimated that a very basic bespoke platform will probably cost $20,000, with the price rising as more capabilities are added to the platform.

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