When Modifications and Addons Become Overkill

What is the purpose of a forum?
First we need to understand the concept of a "forum". A forum is a place for people of similar interests to get together and converse. Since when were forums a place for people to maintain their personal planner or play arcade games? This is obviously not an uncommon belief when visiting various forums. Have you ever felt bombarded by flashy colors, banner ads, mods, or multiple blocks of information? If you have visited a handful of forums, odds are - yes.

When things make a turn for the bad side
Many forum creators are under the impression that an attractive forum is one that looks nice and one that has a plethora of neat features. While such features are nice, these owners will unfortunately forget the very basic asset of a forum - content. Statistics have shown that people seeking forums for the most basic reasons do not return for the features; they return to forums for the information. Take a look at some of the most successful forums today (as ranked according to big-boards.com).

• FaceTheJury
• IGN Boards
• Nexopia
• VWvortex

They don't have all the bells and whistles that many forums have these days, yet members continue to return every day and post thousands of messages.

When is enough in terms of modifications?
The answer to this question will depend partly on the type of community you are building and the audience that will be visiting. If you are marketing towards a computer-savvy yet laid back audience, you will get away with more modifications than if you are marketing towards information-driven viewers. If it is clear that your members are coming to the forums for information, stay away from too many features. If it is clear that your members are coming to the forums for a good time, with little concern of information, a few modifications are in line. However, if your members get lost in the many modifications you have provided them, do not be surprised if they do not return out of confusion as to what your forum is about or how to use your forum.

What about my design?
Once again, I refer you to the successful forums previously mentioned. Each of those forums utilizes bold colors with very strong contrast. Do not succumb your visitors to bright, flashy colors that are hard to read. Nobody is going to return to any website that hurts the eyes or is not logically organized. Blues, reds, greens, blacks, and whites have proven to be successful colors for any website, but do not combine colors that do not go well together or do not contrast well next to each other.

How do I decide what needs to be changed?
Ask your members! Remember, your members are what make your forums what they are. Your job as the owner and administrator is to give them what they are looking for. Ask your members whether or not they would like to see additional features, and before you go about adding one of these special features - ask them if they want it first and whether or not they would even use it if available.

What can I do instead of adding features?
Now that you have all of this extra time on your hands from not modifying your forums, focus on the forum aspect of it. Encourage your members to respond to thought-provoking threads by yourself. Advertise your forums all over the web. Help your members with trouble they run into. Be constantly on the lookout for changes in your industry and adjust accordingly.


Forums are created for discussion, but this is a concept often forgotten or ignored these days. Do not turn your back on the content aspect of your forums. If you find yourself spending too much time adding new features to your forums, you will not have much time for the topics themselves. Regardless of how many features a forum has, nobody is going to be interested in one with no conversation. Think about your forums and what might interest the members. If information is the number one priority, you should spend the majority of your time on developing content and thought-provoking posts. If entertainment is the number one priority, you should spend the majority of your time on ensuring that they enjoy themselves. Do not get wrapped up in the bells and whistles we are bombarded with these days; your job is to create a place of discussion. So, forget these databases of hundreds upon hundreds of modifications. Spend your time sparking discussion and then promote, promote, promote! Good luck!

© Ryan Royal, AdminFusion.com 2005

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