Free Stuff: Message Boards

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One of the more ...
ways to create a "sticky site" (a site ... want to visit over and over again) is to add a message board.
What isa message board? It is a means whereby online group One of the more significant ways to create a "sticky site" (a site whichpeople want to visit over and over again) is to add a message board. What isa message board? It is a means whereby online group conversations can takeplace.
For example, you could post a question, several people could postanswers, and other people could expand upon those answers. On an activemessage board, these conversations can go on for pages.Okay, so let's say you want to add a message board to your site.
You haveseveral options. - You may want to use a service such as egroups, topica or communityzerobecause these offer additional features which wrap a sort of communityaround a message board.- If your host does not allow you to install your own scripts (and this istrue of virtually all free hosts) then you must use a remotely hostedmessage board.- If your host supports user written CGI routines, than you can install ascript to run on your own web site.
This is the best way, in my humbleopinion, to operate a message board as it gives you total control overeverything, including the board layout and contents.We will explore each of these options below.CommunitiesThere are quite a few community-type message boards out there. The advantageof these services is that you get quite a few other things to offer yourvisitors.
These generally include calendars, chat rooms, file sharing, listsof links, note boards and so on.On the downside, these services do not integrate well into your web site.They are very detached and have a far different look and feel. In addition,they do not tend to drive traffic to your site (since they are part part ofyour site) and thus are not very good at adding "stickiness".These type of message boards are great when your primary purpose is to hosta, well, community and your web site is secondary.Communityzero http://www.Communityzero.comIn my opinion, this is the best of the community-type message boards on theinternet.
I've found the servers to be quick and responsive, and downtimeseems to be virtually non-existent. Highly recommended.Egroups http://www.egroups.comEgroups was purchased by Yahoo several years ago.
The service is one of thelargest (if not the largest) of it's type. Egroups has just about everyfeature you can imagine and it has become very popular.
However, theirservers are down so often and response time is so poor it's difficult toimagine how they remain in business. Usable but with some issues now andthen.Topica http://www.topica.comTopica is an up-and-coming service and it is very good.
It has all of theusual features, but the servers sometimes seem slow. Recommended.User Installed ScriptsThis is, in my opinion, the best way to create a message board as it allowsyou to have complete control over your board.
When you use a script, you donot have any banners or advertisements to entice your hard earned visitorsto go elsewhere (unless, of course, you put them there yourself).The main disadvantages of these scripts are:- Since it is hosted on your own web site, any activity counts against yourbandwidth and disk space limits.- You must maintain the script on your site yourself, which can be a chore.Discus http://www.discusware.com/discus/This is the script which I use, and I must say that I am very happy withit's performance so far. The script is easy to install because it has beenentirely automated.
Just answer the questions and follow the instructions -very simple and straightforward.This script is so good that I cannot even recommend any others. It's fast,full featured and easy-to-use.
The message board that results is excellent.This script has a free version which has just about everything you will everneed, and a professional version which costs a few dollars which has justabout everything else.Remotely Hosted ScriptsThe final option is to take advantage of scripts which are hosted on anotherserver. This has the advantage that the script is maintained and supportedby someone else, and uses their bandwidth and disk space instead of yours.Of course, the disadvantages are that you lose control of the board, theboards are generally not extraordinarily customizable and, most importantly,since they are advertisement supported they tend to be peppered with bannerswhich pull visitors from your site.Boardhost http://www.boardhost.com/One of the better message board services.
Their boards are quick, rarelydown, and very customizable.Beseen http://www.beseen.com/board/index.htmlA threaded discussion forum for your web site. Build a sense of communitybetween you and your customers.
Allow your visitors to interact with you,your staff and each other by posting questions and comments. No programmingrequired.
Easy setup and simple to maintain. Customizable to your look andfeel.Bravenet Web Services http://www.bravenet.com/As visitors can publicly discuss topics of interest in your Forum.
Postingnew messages and replying to existing ones is simple and fun. Your forum iscompletely customizable so you can make it look just like the rest of yoursite.MyForum.Net http://www.myforum.net/Myforum.net is an easy way to add customized, interactive forums to your website.
They support username.myforum.net (which can be pretty cool), theirboards are easy to customize and, of course, they are free.Additional Informationhttp://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/index.htmMessage Boards A way to make a very sticky site is to have an active messageboardhttp://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/ethics.htmMessage Boards - Ethics Nothing is more sad than a once proud message boardbeing reduced to rubble by a malicious moderator.http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/contributor.htmMessage Boards - Contributor Message boards thrive on contributions. Infact, without contributors there is no board at all.http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/promotion.htmMessage Boards - Promotion Message boards are very useful in getting peopleto return to your site, but they must be promoted in order to be of maximumbenefit.http://www.internet-tips.net/Msgboards/moderator.htmMessage Boards - Moderator The best message boards are wonderfully andexpertly moderated.
The worst are frequented by nothing but spam robots.http://www.internet-tips.net/Sticky/msgboards.htmSticky Sites - Message Boards You can add a message board to your site toget people to want to come back over and over. Article Tags: Message Boards, Message Board Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .