Good Forums & their Future

I though it would be interesting to ask what makes a good forum? What do you think are their important features?
[SUP]Are @tags or the ‘unanswered threads’ page pivotal in making a successful forum? What extra functionality does ‘friends’ and ‘groups’ provide?[/SUP]

What do you think is necessary for a forums survival? And what do you think is unnecessary in most forums that are implemented today?
[SUP]What advantage does showing the number of posts in a category of a forum have? Does post count encourage quality posts? What purpose does ‘hot topics’ serve?[/SUP]

And lastly, what do you think is the future of forums? What would you like to see implemented?
[SUP]Could they take some cues from facebook, having ‘like’ buttons & news feeds? Or wikipedia providing community wide moderation? Or other social media.[/SUP]

I look forward to what you have to say.

i don’t think any of that stuff matters

a forum is only as good as its members

:slight_smile:

I think, having a number of different topics and sub-topics makes a forum readable. Their important features are, the distinct logo/symbols which differentiate them as sticky, unread, and locked/closed.
Necessary things are:

  • closed topics must appear at the last page not on the top
  • different section for announcement
  • posts must be checked by the moderator before approval to avoid spamming.

I always feel that forums and message boards are the best source of getting knowledge, because you are not only sharing your views but also see the thoughts of experts. Therefore, I think that forums having very nice future and possibly become the next data-centers in the future after search engines.

I agree with r937, it’s only as good as it’s members.

As long as a forum has the basic capabilities and is half way usable, it all comes down to it’s members to make it a success.

Yeas, as long as members are finding what they need, it will last. Features that matter are the ones that make it easy for users to navigate and find what they need.

The important feature of forums is providing a hub that lets its members communicate with one another. As long as the members are there, as the people here have already stated, forums are still going to remain strong.

Yeah this question really needs to be rephrased. The quality of a forums members are difficult to control, so basing a forum’s quality on them is hardly constructive. The question that really should be being asked is:

What is good forum design?

In which case, we are drifting from Social Media Content to Design. Please post your question in one of the design forums.

Thread Closed.