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If you are running a forum then you have to create more and more content each and every single day. How do you guys do so? How do you guys get the ideas? Share your opinions.
How to get ideas for topics every single day?
- Thread starter mrb1129
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What you want is topics that will get your members talking. Even if it isn’t 100% on topic. Just get members talking and keep them talking
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One way that seems to work well is discussing topic ideas internally, and anyone more informed in or interested in creating the topic can coordinate its creation.
The idea is that not everyone can both find good ideas for topics and create them (often because theyre just not confident how to write them). This system is supposed to make sure a diverse amount of topic ideas exist that staff can pick and develop.
The idea is that not everyone can both find good ideas for topics and create them (often because theyre just not confident how to write them). This system is supposed to make sure a diverse amount of topic ideas exist that staff can pick and develop.
D
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I have always believed that if you have to drive your site in order to keep people talking, your forum niche of choice is not nearly as interesting. But in the case of the OP, if you, yourself cannot even think of a topic, you have clearly chosen the wrong niche.
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Users eventually run out of things to discuss, and only so many variations can be developed.
Bringing in new contributors helps overcome this block since you can essentially restart existing discussions with a fresh set of participants and perspectives.
Bringing in new contributors helps overcome this block since you can essentially restart existing discussions with a fresh set of participants and perspectives.
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I didn't ask about how I can keep my members engaged? I ask about how you guys generate new ideas for new topic.
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I think creating new threads with fresh topics of discussion and keeping your members engaged are very closely related. After all, one of the main reasons virtually all of us want new topics to discuss is to maintain community engagement.
I would wager that most people coming up with new topic ideas aren't sitting down with the sole intention of finding new topics; this is likely a consequence of being truly interested in the niche and constantly thinking about and researching developments in their respective niches. Such activity will naturally lead to new insights and new angles on old insights, leading to new topics to discuss.
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Create variations of topics from your forum and other sites.
A 'news watch' also gives you a steady stream of recent trending topics worth discussing. If that discussion needs to happen, better have it on your site than users going to where they will find it. That may include dividise topics like politics, but users almost never run of commentary and criticism to share.
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Agreed, we do the same. Not only threads and posts about what the site in itself is about, but also hot topics such as debates and topics that we know can trigger impulsive responses from others - whilst highlighting that flaming etc isn't going to help anyone, but encouraging debating and so on.
Grit. Everyone needs some grit in their lives.. something juicy every day/other to get people stuck into. Hot topics that touch the nerves are prone to doing this.
Something I've been doing in the last couple of days.. our forum started up over a decade ago and when I run out of good ideas I just spend time going through forum pages from different years and recycling thread topics. I spent 4 hours last night going through old threads lol, but I came out with five or so ideas and they seem to be getting replies 
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This is a very good question and getting the forum member numbers up is half the battle otherwise you end up posting to yourself or a very select group of regulars.
I started my forum about four years ago in response to over the top moderation in another similar forum of which I was a member. In fact the moderation was so extreme that certain innocuous words such as 'forum' or even 'Facebook' were triggers for post moderation, but only for certain members, thus killing the flow of any meaningful chat.
But I digress and I'm finding that the topics of discussion that attract the most interest (it's an Argentina Expat forum) are the day to day current events and the sometimes hair raising antics of protesters/politicians/union leaders. Contest is king, but that content needs participants like oxygen. You can't have one without the other.
I started my forum about four years ago in response to over the top moderation in another similar forum of which I was a member. In fact the moderation was so extreme that certain innocuous words such as 'forum' or even 'Facebook' were triggers for post moderation, but only for certain members, thus killing the flow of any meaningful chat.
But I digress and I'm finding that the topics of discussion that attract the most interest (it's an Argentina Expat forum) are the day to day current events and the sometimes hair raising antics of protesters/politicians/union leaders. Contest is king, but that content needs participants like oxygen. You can't have one without the other.
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The most important thing about inspiration is that you can't predict when it's going to strike. When the sun is shining, you need to be ready to make hay. To a degree that simply involves basic preparation. Keep a file - a document or a spreadsheet - with a list of all your blog post ideas. Keep this file in a place where you can access it at all times; like Dropbox.
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On December 4th my forum started with 4 members, including me. We now have 30, but only about 10 of them are regular posters in spite of new topics being posted every day.
I always knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, so I've created a Facebook page, a Google+ post, third party login with FB and G+.
The forum is a new version of one I created about four years ago where we had 85 members, but I had to put a redirect on the old one as the hosting company can't keep it secure. I still have access to it though.
Regular emails to previous members has brought in a few new sign-ups and to be honest, I'm trying to use social media as a tool to create awareness as it can't be ignored.
Although we don't just discuss events in Argentina, we need to keep on topic because that's why people would want to join us in the first place and there's never a shortage of topics such as how-to? etc
I always knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, so I've created a Facebook page, a Google+ post, third party login with FB and G+.
The forum is a new version of one I created about four years ago where we had 85 members, but I had to put a redirect on the old one as the hosting company can't keep it secure. I still have access to it though.
Regular emails to previous members has brought in a few new sign-ups and to be honest, I'm trying to use social media as a tool to create awareness as it can't be ignored.
Although we don't just discuss events in Argentina, we need to keep on topic because that's why people would want to join us in the first place and there's never a shortage of topics such as how-to? etc
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Ideas for new threads and keeping your users engaged are very much hand in hand.
I tend to find that whatever springs up in my mind as a question or opinion goes up in my general area, although it does tend to be driven from news sites as I keep an eye on them.
However as your forum grows and you get to know your user base , you figure out what’s going to engage and what’s going to bore.
I tend to find that whatever springs up in my mind as a question or opinion goes up in my general area, although it does tend to be driven from news sites as I keep an eye on them.
However as your forum grows and you get to know your user base , you figure out what’s going to engage and what’s going to bore.
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Mindmapping. I usee Free Mind (there's also an online app I like called mindmeister). Split your topics into sub-topics (I have personal finance for instance: so I'd split into real estate, debt, small business, investing etc.). Then for each of these you can easily create other sub-topics and then subject ideas for your posts. Not to mention reading similar forums and getting inspired from there as well
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Maybe by checking your competitors and make a much better topic than them.
Just copy it and revise it to your liking and much easier to understand and interact with.
Just copy it and revise it to your liking and much easier to understand and interact with.
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If you ran out of ideas, try Google. Google always helps! There's loads and loads of different thread ideas
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Visit other sites in your niche and nick the best threads and news topics from there.