MyBB Community Forums

Site Name: Pokémon Fan Forum
Site URL: http://pokemonfanforum.com
Description: Pokémon Fan Forum is a new way to chat about Pokémon. We offer many different sections to talk about the different Pokémon games, the tv show and the card game.

We are working on adding a lot more sections and features such as an pokedex within the next few weeks. We need as many suggestions as we can to make our Pokémon forum a unique and fun community.

We currently are not finished on our theme - we are still doing tweaks and adding more Pokémon related things to it. Once again, we appreciate all suggestions.

We hope you come and visit, and enjoy meeting some Pokémon fans.

Would really like to see what people think of this!

Current stats:
Our members have made a total of 157 posts in 41 threads.
We currently have 32 members registered.

It's a Pokémon forum with no custom layout and no special features. There's nothing to discuss here.

Nothing special, 5 staff though...

The 5 staff are me and my 4 friends who are making the forum together. We won't be adding any for awhile.

It's nothing special yet, but we are working to make it more unique. We have just added an updated header, new new/old/locked icons and we're working on making other designs.

Any other suggestions? .

Nothing to discuss? I thought people came here for suggestions and feedback—not to be confronted by a bunch of elitists. What the hell is the point in any good public themes if every forum that uses one is immediately judged? Theme makers should just make themes on commission if that's the way it is...

Rant over. Your site, now. Well, it's not going to be an easy journey for you. There's over 9000 Pokémon forums out there. I think yours has decent presentation though (good enough in my eyes), and the domain name is decent and memorable. When things get a little more popular, I'd consider adding some sub-forums so you don't have a whole bunch of uncategorised movie/TV/software/games threads, etc. In terms of promoting your forum, set up a Facebook page and try to show it off on existing Facebook pages and groups.

I think it definitely has potential. The theme is a little generic, but don't let that put you off. It's no big deal, really. Most people who use your forums are not administrators and they couldn't give a toss about how common the theme is, as long as it looks good. Keep it up.

(2011-03-20, 08:37 PM)Fluid Mantis Wrote: [ -> ]Nothing to discuss? I thought people came here for suggestions and feedback—not to be confronted by a bunch of elitists. What the hell is the point in any good public themes if every forum that uses one is immediately judged? Theme makers should just make themes on commission if that's the way it is...

You can get away with a non-customized theme if your content and concept is really outstanding. That's not the case here, though; there's no real content and this subject of forum is so incredibly over-crowded that without a custom theme or solid content, I don't honestly see what there is to discuss.

Quote:In terms of promoting your forum, set up a Facebook page and try to show it off on existing Facebook pages and groups.

This isn't a helpful suggestion at all. Everyone is so quick to jump on the social marketing bandwagon but you can't just make a Facebook page and expect it to help. There are already hundreds of places full of Pokémon fans if he wants to reach out and network with them. Doing so on Facebook seems quite pointless. (As a disclaimer, I work in marketing and utilize Facebook a lot at work. It's great for some projects but it's not for everything.)

The domain is good in a "generic keyword" sort of sense but I don't find it particularly catchy or interesting. It sounds a bit like a spam site, actually.

Call me an elitist if you want, but you wrote a lot more words than I did to say barely more. Lots of the forums posted here have fundamental content deficiencies and frankly, I'm sick of being expected to beat around the bush about that, and being berated for pointing it out.

(2011-03-21, 03:41 AM)Uncontrol Wrote: [ -> ]etc.

What you've written is all well and good for your own needs. Some people are happy with a small community, though. Not everyone is looking to "hit it big" or whatnot as far as size goes. You seem to think your opinion is the be-all and end-all of forum administration. You also seem to think your current accomplishments prove everything you say as fact. Your forum is a niche. This guy's creating a Pokémon forum which is a mainstream topic and as such, he has an extra challenge to get extra members.

I'll agree that he needs to bring something new to the table. But rather than being an epic apricot, try making suggestions to help (the reason this thread was made—suggestions) or don't post at all.

(2011-03-21, 03:41 AM)Uncontrol Wrote: [ -> ]As a disclaimer, I work in marketing and utilize Facebook a lot at work. It's great for some projects but it's not for everything.

The Facebook page for my community is not that popular, no. However, it has brought in a couple of great members. Isn't any form of marketing worth the time put in? Especially if it takes half an hour (with a few minutes of maintenance every few days) and brings you a great member who might post for years.

If he's as passionate about Pokémon as I'm as passionate about Outlaw Star, every avenue is worth exploring. Never give up hope and don't let these "qualified" admins put you down. A Pokémon forum is seldom going to get praise from the pompous types on here but keep at it. Persistence will pay off, and I make no claims of being amongst the best admins on here (far from it), but if you have any questions feel free to send me a PM, NaXuh.

I'd say that my credentials in marketing -- particularly via Facebook -- are fairly relevant to a discussion about ... marketing via Facebook. Perhaps you should read a definition before posting it.

Quote:I'll agree that he needs to bring something new to the table. But rather than being an epic apricot, try making suggestions to help (the reason this thread was made—suggestions) or don't post at all.

For starters, don't try to act like the arbiter of civility whilst simultaneously calling me a "apricot." Suggestions can only be made when there's a strong base. This admin needs to focus on the basics of his community -- content and purpose -- before any meaningful feedback can be given. Your suggestion of a Facebook page is useless, because even if he does get the word out about his site in its current state there is nothing to get people hooked.

Quote:You also seem to think your current accomplishments prove everything you say as fact.

I don't, but I do think my suggestions are generally sound. You don't have to follow them if you don't want to, but I think a philosophy that entails

- Doing something first or doing it better than anyone else.
- Dedicating yourself to creating content within your niche.
- Spending many hours networking with others in your niche to forge relationships and get the word out.

is fairly sound.

Quote:Your forum is a niche. This guy's creating a Pokémon forum which is a mainstream topic and as such, he has an extra challenge to get extra members.

How about this forum then, which I created and ran for several years until it became a conflict of interest to run it, so I handed it off to the staff I groomed? I'd say these two subjects are very analogous to each other.

Also, while Pokémon is certainly quite popular I'd say to call it a "mainstream" subject is a stretch. It's a large niche, but it is a niche. I'm competing with a lot of sites in my niche as well, and my forum is young and not fully developed, but I have no doubt I can outdo every single one of them because I am dedicated to the project.

This forum shows a lack of dedication; no promising content and nothing that shows the admin went above and beyond to make his new forum stand out.

Quote:A Pokémon forum is seldom going to get praise from the pompous types on here but keep at it.

I love Pokémon, just FYI (though I haven't had a chance to play lately). I work in the toy industry and I'm a huge fan of various games, anime, manga etc. So I absolutely am not against the idea of a Pokémon forum, but with awesome sites like Bulbapedia, Serebii and Smogon out there, it's hard to see where something like this fits in. You should perhaps be careful about throwing out comments like this when you really don't know.

To the OP, try reading this editorial I wrote for MyBB Community some time back. There may be some useful info in there for you. http://mybbcommunity.com/articles/myidea.../#more-483

Site looks well, - however..
Remove "Community Rules", you don't need a forum just for your rules. Just make that thread a sticky in your Announcements forums.