Start with as few boards as possible, but at the same time, enough to cover all of the biggest topics. Then as areas gain more traffic, start seperating out those areas. If you have a Video games section and you find that new posts are being made constantly, so much so that it's pushing to a second page, seperate out the topics into subforums. Maybe "Video Game News" and "VG Discussion" or something. ^^

Having a big empty site at the beginning isn't going to attract new people to post. But a smaller index page with active posts in each section is going to look busier.

I agree with few as possible, I remember back in the day lots of people would start out forums with boards to cover every possible topic, some of them ranged up to 50.

I would say 5-10 at the very most. You don't need anymore until the site gets big.

For me, probably 6 or 7, with the usual: Music, TV, Gaming, General, etc. 🙂

As others have said, the fewer you can get away with the better because it makes the site look busier. You might find you need to add forums later when you get more active members and there is a need for a separate forum. My forum seems to change from time to time and we'll test out a new forum for a few months before deciding to scrap it or  keep it.

Names of the forums can be just as important as how many you have. If it's a General forum and you call it some absurd name, it might not be very active. If you have something unique that is appealing though, it could draw people in just to see what it's about. I know that sounds a little contradictory but it really depends on the forum and the members as to whether a weird name will work.

Posted by: Lammchen

As others have said, the fewer you can get away with the better because it makes the site look busier. You might find you need to add forums later when you get more active members and there is a need for a separate forum. My forum seems to change from time to time and we'll test out a new forum for a few months before deciding to scrap it or  keep it.

Names of the forums can be just as important as how many you have. If it's a General forum and you call it some absurd name, it might not be very active. If you have something unique that is appealing though, it could draw people in just to see what it's about. I know that sounds a little contradictory but it really depends on the forum and the members as to whether a weird name will work.

I always use unique forum category and site names.   I also enjoy customization. 🙂

Posted by: zoldos

Posted by: Lammchen

As others have said, the fewer you can get away with the better because it makes the site look busier. You might find you need to add forums later when you get more active members and there is a need for a separate forum. My forum seems to change from time to time and we'll test out a new forum for a few months before deciding to scrap it or  keep it.

Names of the forums can be just as important as how many you have. If it's a General forum and you call it some absurd name, it might not be very active. If you have something unique that is appealing though, it could draw people in just to see what it's about. I know that sounds a little contradictory but it really depends on the forum and the members as to whether a weird name will work.

I always use unique forum category and site names.   I also enjoy customization. 🙂

What kind of customization? Like images and stuff?

Posted by: Demon_skeith

What kind of customization? Like images and stuff?

Yes, and general appearance/function.  I've made tonnes of small template mods to make things look and work better.  I also have about 50 add-ons. lol  This is why I'm sticking with XF 1.5.24.  I've just made too many small changes.  And my style isn't even supported anymore, nor a lot of the plugins....

This is a difficult one, I'd actually disagree with what the majority have said.

While you wouldn't want dozens and dozens of boards, trying to cover the main topics related to your forum is a must, it will be easier for new members to know where to post, additionally, if you ever add the boards later on it will save you time, energy and effort moving the topics to their related forums.

I'm actually a fan of forum software that eliminates the need for categories as we know them and favour a system more like Reddit's, Flarum, Vanilla and Discourse allow this.

From experience, I agree with having as few nodes as possible until you feel the need to expand.

Nobody wants to see a list of nodes with 0 posts in them, if anything it might discourage people from posting in them with an additional pressure of being the first thread to be posted..

Another webmaster friend of mine argues that having more nodes encourages more varied discussions and makes it clearer where threads should be posted..

I guess there's pros and cons for both..

Posted by: Rickeo

This is a difficult one, I'd actually disagree with what the majority have said.

While you wouldn't want dozens and dozens of boards, trying to cover the main topics related to your forum is a must, it will be easier for new members to know where to post, additionally, if you ever add the boards later on it will save you time, energy and effort moving the topics to their related forums.

I'm actually a fan of forum software that eliminates the need for categories as we know them and favour a system more like Reddit's, Flarum, Vanilla and Discourse allow this.

 

I can see why people would like it, but forums should remain organized.