Forum Advice

[robbieroy]

Hi Mike
I have experience of moderating other forums, so here are just a couple of quick pointers.
1 expand the number of sub-forums that you have as quickly as possible otherwise things will get messy.
Hint... Have a look at some other forums for suggesting as to the different sub-forums you might have.
2 once populated by people and posts, you should quickly think about appointing forum moderators to help you administer the forum otherwise it'll take up at your time.
Hope this helps
Rob

[Mike]

Nice one Rob, someone else also gave me the advice not to expand the forums too early 

I don't know, it makes sense in my mind - there are two distinct stages: conversion and travel... then common room for off topic. What do you think the subs should be?

And about the moderators, yeah this will probably happen at some point

[robbieroy]

Hi Mike
Here are some suggestions for sub-forums (just a few). Yourself and others may have different ideas, these are just mine 'cos I like a bit of structure (old-fashioned I'm afraid  )

In the Van Conversion section, sub-forums might include:
- My Conversion Project
Purpose would be for folks to display photos and record the progress of their own conversions)

- Wanted and For sale
A classified section (anything from accelerator cable to Z clips

- Habitation Electrics
- Habitation Gas and Plumbing
- Habitation Furnishings and accessories
Purpose would be for folks to post hints, tips, ideas, questions, problems etc

- Guides and how to ...
How to fix...

- Mechanical advice
Self explanatory

In the Living and Travelling in a Van section, subs might include

- Out and about in my van
Folks could post their ongoing trips

- Wildcamping Locations
For posting information about places they stop over

- Campsite reviews

In the common room, subs might include..

- new members section
For new members to introduce themselves

- members vans
For members to post photos of their vans

- Insurance and breakdown deals

Mike - it is your forum and these are just suggestions for the throwing out!

Rob

[Tai-chi wanderer]

All sounds good to me, that way you can see which is going to be popular and the others not taken can be faded out.
It's a brand new Forum so hopefully peeps will want to cover a multitude of topics and not just stick to the building section, hopefully