PHPBB: You Can Simplify the Set Up Process!----
In several previous articles I mentioned my having downloaded and installed the fantastic PHPBB open source forum. I shared with readers the lengthy and tedious process of selecting the right mirror, downloading the files to my computer, and following all the long, drawn out, and complicated set up steps. Fortunately, what was once a procedure that took the better part of a day can now take 30 minutes or less to complete! Let’s take a look how you can shorten the entire set up process and start benefiting from this free, popular program.
When I set up my first two PHPBB forums in June 2005, I did so under duress. Just days earlier, my then message board host – EZBoard – had their entire system shut down by hackers. Or so they claimed. My two popular sites, the Aviation Employment Board and the Corporate Flight Attendant Community were left in the dark as EZBoard’s system rendered the sites virtually inoperable. With a repair promised, but several weeks away, I decided that I needed to quickly move away from EZBoard and over to a forum where I could exercise full control. Enter PHPBB.
Because I needed to use a cumbersome EZBoard converter file to transfer threads over to the new site, I had to take the long way of setting up my new forums. Indeed, the converter file was imperfect and quite a number of threads never made the transition. Still, when all was said and done, the new forums were light years ahead of EZBoard.
Since setting up my first two forums, I had to set up a third forum for a customer. This time, I chose the quick route by setting up the forum through my web hosting company. As is the practice of some web hosts, fully set up forums are available for your downloading. Simply select a web host offering this feature, establish your database with them [usually MySQL], and download the files. Within minutes, a fully usable forum will be established on your site and all you have to do is set up the forum parameters and then you are ready to go.
PHPBB is a terrific forum, one that doesn’t charge set up fees or an annual license charge [unlike vBulletin] and is certain to help you make your site a success. Download PHPBB today to get started on building your online community!
Selling Yourself on Forums-----
Because of the anonymous nature of the internet people are generally more skeptical when it comes to doing business online. Owing partly to famous internet scams sensationalized by the media and to bad personal experiences online, people are less likely to trust a party whom they've never met in person.
As an online marketer, you face the challenge of building trust and loyalty without the benefit of a physical handshake, a face-to-face meeting, or even a smile. To this end online forums can provide an excellent way to build meaningful relationships with people and attract new customers.
By joining a forum in your area of expertise, you gain access to a community that shares your interests as well as a pool of potential customers. There are countless forums dealing with just about any topic imaginable. The vast majority of forums do not charge you a fee to register or post messages. Many allow you to include with your posts self-promotional "signatures" that you can use to promote your business and link to your website.
A good way to locate a forum relevant to your line of business is to do a keyword search using one of the major search engines. Why a major search engine? A Google search for "website marketing forum," for example, will not only return dozens of relevant forums on website marketing, but will also give you an indication of how highly they are regarded by the search engine giant, as gauged by how high they rank for that key phrase. Forums that rank higher on the search engine result pages (SERPs) are the ones of which you'll want to become a member.
Forums allow you to share knowledge and gain reputation as an expert in your field. Offering concrete advices that are immediately useful to other people is an especially effective marketing technique. Once you've gained credibility in your field, you will be sought after for your professional expertise without your having to promote yourself.
Participating in forums is also an excellent way to humanize yourself and your business. When people deal with you, they'll know that they're dealing with a real person, not a nameless, faceless business entity. By staking your reputation online, you demonstrate that you are willing to accept some degree of accountability for your actions.
If you're a generally honest and agreeable person in the real life, there is no reason to hide behind a company name when conducting business online. The personal qualities that make you likable in the real world will also make you likable in cyberspace. Indeed, establishing meaningful relationships online is a lot like making friends in the real world. After all, on the other side of the terminal is a real person with real emotions just like you.
Another key to meaningful online relationships is to create an atmosphere of openness and transparency. Although you normally use a nickname to start and respond to posts in public forums, you should use your real name in private correspondences. It is good practice to begin your messages with a salutation, addressing them by their real name whenever possible. A little courtesy can go a long way in building loyalty and trust.
Apart from selling your personal qualities, you must have something of value to offer to people-- and at prices that are fair to everyone! On a venue where your personal reputation is not at stake, you can price a widget for any amount you want and hope someone will come along and buy it. When you do business on forums, however, you must be extra value-conscious when pricing your product or service. If you overprice your widget, you risk receiving flames from other members that could harm your reputation. This is why it's so important to research what other members are charging for a similar widget and to price yours competitively. Often you'll end up charging lower prices to members of your forum than to other customers with whom you have not developed as close a relationship for the same widget.
Building positive relationships is about making people feel important. Just as you want to feel good for having sold your product or service, people want to feel good for having bought it. This is why it is so important to promptly answer their questions and attend to their concerns. Listen to their inputs and incorporate their ideas into your business practices. This is how you make your customers a part of your team. It's not a stretch to speak of your customer as a member of your team. When you really think about it, no business can exist without its customers. Teamwork is not limited to interacting with other members of your company. It also takes teamwork to build a constructive, mutually beneficial relationship between you and your customers.
The Demise of EZBoard-----
For years, EZBoard was a community that offered relatively cheap and easy to maintain forums for managers. Virtually anyone could register, design, and layout a site and invite their friends to participate. Indeed, some of the largest forums on the internet are built upon EZBoard. Unfortunately, a recent system-wide hacking attack has destroyed the company's reputation and sent many managers packing. Let's look at the venerable community and the fatal flaw that has toppled the company from its perch.
At one time EZBoard boasted over 14,000 web communities. Many were started by individuals seeking a discussion forum for their favorite topics, while others were started by business people such as myself. The reasons businesses were attracted to EZBoard were two-fold:
1. We were not knowledgeable enough about PHP to create and manage a site for ourselves, and
2. We did not want to go through the expense of hosting our site on a dedicated server and, instead, used EZBoard's vast bank of computers to house our communities.
Admittedly, reason #1 was a huge part of why I stuck with EZBoard. Sure, I knew about vBulletin and related forums but purchasing a license from them and managing the site on a dedicated server was a pricey option, especially since at one time I was managing more than a dozen forums! I could handle the variable charges incurred from being with EZBoard by paying my subscription charges on either a quarterly, semi-annually or even yearly basis. I doubt that I dished out more than $500-600 in any given year, so it was cost effective for my business.
I should have known that EZBoard was not quite up to the task when their system shut down for several days in Spring 2004 after what was supposed to be a simple system-wide update of the forums. A few hours of down time was extended to several days and forum administrators were left in the dark for all of that time. More importantly, many forum members assumed the worst and peppered many an administrator's inbox with queries. Those days were not fun; EZBoard did recover and gave managers credits exceeding the number of days they were down. Still, if you relied on AdSense revenue -- like I do -- you lost big time.
History was to repeat itself on May 30, 2005, when a reported outside attack by hackers brought down EZBoard altogether. Yes, the boards were still working, but the majority of messages were gone and any new ones also began to disappear. EZBoard admitted almost immediately they were hacked and were working diligently to restore the 9000 boards affected. Soon, however, the news came out that much of their backup files were hacked as well. Forum managers wondered if EZBoard kept all their files on vulnerable servers or if the attack was done internally. Messages from EZBoard management were vague "in the interest of security" so nobody knew for sure.
As the days passed and forum managers realized that the restoral process would only be partial and take weeks to accomplish, a steady stream of managers began to hit the php sites to see about moving their boards. With trepidation I visited the PHPBB2 site knowing that my skillsets were limited in this area. However, I soon learned that this particular program was open source -- in effect, free -- and the Flash tutorials explained everything clearly and effectively. So, in one evening I set up the new site, transferred some files, and gave it a launch.
The best part? In the two years since I was with EZBoard my hosting company for web pages had upgraded their site enough to be able to house my message boards. So, instead of having web pages on one server and my forums on another, I could house them collectively. Most importantly, I would no longer have to rely on EZBoard's flawed backup plans and could backup all the files myself.
I still have one EZBoard community and I may keep it, for now. It is a small, but very well established where it is "sitting" and I lost only 4 or 5 files under the attack. Two of my sites I transferred to PHP and two others I decided to delete as they were slower performers. Fortunately, I had gotten rid of several smaller, no performing sites earlier. Still, I felt the pain of EZBoard's hacking incident and decided the time to move was now.
So, what is the future of EZBoard? That is hard to tell. They are promising a major upgrade which would include the ability allowing managers to back up their own sites. That would be a very good move. However, the administrative costs with EZBoard now exceed what managers pay with many standard web hosting companies. Few sites are large enough to require a dedicated server, therefore many managers will likely consider making the move away.
I was twice bitten from EZBoard and did not relish a third hit, thus my two largest sites are now with PHPBB2. The move was time consuming, but the new board has many more advanced features compared to EZBoard. Sure, I have more administrative things to do -- like help AOL users who have difficulty signing up -- but I no longer am subject to the whims of EZBoard. I am glad that a major risk factor has been removed even with the increased administrative responsibilities. You will be too if you decide to make the move.
Using forum posting to drive traffic-----
Post relevant information to forums and genuinely contribute to discussions. And have your signature along so that your link will be there. When you visit sites with guestbook, forums, or blogs make posting leaving your link behind. And people will click it and find your site and shop.
But all the forums are yelling, “Don’t abuse forum rules!” What are forum rules? They don’t want you to post a link, even if it offers help. If you do, the moderator will delete your entry immediately and have you banned. If your signature is even allowed, nobody reads signatures. Ask this: when is the last time you personally read a signature?
It is only when your comments and discussion is so powerful that people will trace you. Like most traffic techniques, fun comes in first.
You should just try to help other and have fun while posting in forums and leave your signature so that anyone interested in you can find you.
Warhammer Online----
War is everywhere in this next generation Realm vs. Realm (RvR) experience that integrates PvP and PvE combat into a single seamless experience. In a world dominated by force of arm and magic, players experience the epic nature of war and the glory of battle alongside thousands of other players. Every aspect of the game, including PvE content, is geared towards the greater war in some important way. War is everywhere in this next generation Realm vs. Realm (RvR) experience that integrates PvP and PvE combat into a single seamless experience. In a world dominated by force of arm and magic, players experience the epic nature of war and the glory of battle alongside thousands of other players. Every aspect of the game, including PvE content, is geared towards the greater war in some important way.
Web 2.0 tag based forum----
Web 2.0 generally refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 application often use a combination of techniques devised in the late 1990s, including public web service APIs, Ajax and web syndication. They often allow for mass publishing (web-based social software). The term may include blogs and wikis.
Lately, a new Web 2.0 application has launched called SayOutLoud. SayOutLoud is an interesting and new approach to your average discussion board site. It's not a discussion system that you download and install on your site, but a one location where anyone can go and discuss anything at all. It uses tagging rather then using forums and threads to organize content. The system is extremely minimalist and is designed in a way that anyone can get in and start a discussion.
A tag is a keyword which acts like a subject or category. A keyword is used to organize webpages and objects on the Internet. Each user "tags" a webpage or image using his/her own unique tag. An image or webpage may have multiple tags that identify it. Webpages and images with identical tags are then linked together and users may use the tag to search for similar webpages and images.
When you submit your story to SayOutLoud, it notifies several other Web 2.0 services including Del.icio.us and Technorati about your post. Because these systems also support tagging, hundreds of users watching a the tag(s) you posted to will immideately discover your post. You can have the experts reading whatever you had to say out loud in minutes.
SayOutLoud also features your average discussion board functionality where you can search posts and users, manage your profile, and post new threads. Although the main difference is that everything is organized with folksonomy so when searching for users and threads, you can search by tag. Because of this, it also makes it easy for me to find people with related interests and to follow their discussion simply by searching for users on a specific interest tag. I type in "AJAX" and I get a list of members that are interested in Ajax. Same applies to threads. Furthermore, you can also view a tag cloud so you can find new and popular discussions.
Web Site Promotion Secret Revealed----
You've finished building your web site. Now there's all that invaluable traffic, just waiting to beat a path to your site. You've dotted all your i's, crossed all your t's and followed the standard to get the word out. You wear a path out in your carpet pacing back and forth, In between your pacing you check your server logs, hoping for a sudden increase in visitors. The reality is, unless your corporate America with a huge advertising budget, the days of staggering increases in traffic are way down the road. Isn't there something I can be doing while I wait for the search engine traffic to come?
As a matter of fact there is. Yet this particular form of Free website promotion doesn't make the headlines and requires no software to install, no backdoor tricks into the search engines, and it's totally free. What is it?
Now, Before I reveal this technique, I want you to promise you won't go near the delete button and you'll give me a chance to lay this thing out to you. Promise? O.K. The Technique is "Posting to Forums." In the first couple days of "Going Live," you can hope to attract a couple of hundred visitors, at the least. This will be small in comparison to the knowledge you'll attain, by allowing the members of these forums to critique your site. You'll then be able to make whatever changes necessary before the search engines crawl your site. Having your site critiqued by experienced marketers, For Free, Well, Let's just say, "You Can't Beat The Price."
If you've never visited or posted in a forum. Don't be intimidated. These are people no different than you and I. Merely a group of like minded individuals seeking to get answers to their questions or providing answers to questions asked. Usually on a specific topic or topics.
Side Note: Before you Post make sure you read the rules for posting. Read some of the posts being made. Stay on Topic, You'll get the hang of it in no time.
Once you get the hang of it you'll want to make sure you don't go announcing your new site to every other forum you come across. This is viewed as Board Spamming and is definitely a No No. There are boards that will accept this sort of post but on a whole you'll have to remain on topic and wait for the opportunity to legitimately slide your announcement in. Sometimes outright and others in your signature.
Finding forums to fit your needs is easy. Just type "forums" into your favorite search box, you can then refine your search from there. Check to see if the list of sites meets your needs and go from there.
As a newcomer you'll want to keep your initial posts simple. Remember to mind your manners. Be polite and friendly and always maintain the prescence of the Business Professional that you are. When the time is right, simply ask them to look at your site. You'll recieve a pretty good cross section of positive and critical comments. Don't go getting your shorts all in a knot because someone has posted, what appears to you to be, a negative comment. Keep in mind that you've enlisted them to critique your site. Be prepared for all the comments. On a whole, the folks in these forums want to help. However, from time to time you may run into those that seem to have nothing good to say about anything or anybody. Take all comments "Buffet Style." Take what you want and leave the rest.
Initially you may want to go look at one or two other members sites and supply some feedback before asking to have yours looked at. This will give you valuable insight. What you may find wrong with someone elses site, you can apply it to your own and make the necessary changes. When looking for a site to be looked at, look for the post who has little or no responses to it. By responding to their post they're likely to express their gratitude by visiting your site when you ask in your post. This technique may seem a bit sly but nonetheless effective. Just don't get in the habit of operating in this manner.
You'll not get a ton of traffic from forums but you will have engaaged in an effective form of site promotion and all forms of site promotion need to be entered into the mix. As has been said by someone other than myself, "You don't need to get it right, You just need to get it going." By applying the above you will have "Indeed Got It Going!"
Forums are a great place to make new friends and interact with those that are trying to accomplish pretty much the same things we are. So keep things rolling right along by "Posting to Forums!"
What is the PayPal forum for?----
The Internet offers a large variety of payment systems used by thousands of people everyday: PayPal, E-Gold, 2Checkout…These powerful tools have to be used wisely because scams are everywhere and, unless you are aware of some basic rules, you risk loosing your money. If you don’t want to read an article or two and listen to advertising, the best thing is to become a member of a PayPal forum or an ePayment system forum. These are the places where you will find objectivity, discuss the best options and learn all about the available services.
Knowing what a PayPal account is, how to create one, using subscriptions, finding out about advantages and disadvantages are basics that you can easily discover by simply asking someone on a PayPal forum. Why bother reading many articles and finding out only half of the story when you can talk to real people and learn from their experience? The ePayment system forum can help persons make the right decisions regarding what method of online payment they should use, which is faster and safer, the dos and don’ts when using online services. It is very easy to receive clarifying answers to specific questions than to walk blind folded through a huge mass of information. The PayPal forum is very accessible and helpful to both beginners and experienced because sharing will open up your eyes to details you might not have noticed before.
But, be careful! Not everything you hear or discuss on the PayPal forum is true. Check everything before and ask for second opinions.
The PayPal forum is full of interesting information. Discussions on the ePayment system forum don’t refer solely to signing up or using PayPal. People discuss their newest ideas on how to make money fast in a legal way, if what they heard was effective and how it worked for them, the news in the financial field and the impact it had on them. Many people use the PayPal forum just to keep in touch with what’s new. For example, a message someone left on the ePayment system forum regarding an investigative report of the Melbourne (Fla.) office of e-gold's parent company, Gold & Silver Reserve Inc. created many interesting comments. The FBI pursuit was ironically disconsidered by the PayPal forum members who have opposite opinions. So, you see interesting subjects bring together a lot of people with common interests and enrich their horizon with the newest information available.
Another interesting aspect of the PayPal forum is that scamming is tried everywhere, especially on the Internet. The ePayment system forums are looking to avoid scams by discussion. There are all sorts of persons looking to scam or take advantage of your trustfulness. Some will try to convince with seemingly honest messages on the ePayment system forum, underlining the fact that their method is very legal. Don’t be fooled! And also don’t worry! These messages are on PayPal forums, so there will always be someone with the courage to contradict. However, it is up to you to decide who is wrong and who is right and do what ever it is best for yourself. That’s why the ePayment system forum is recommended: because various opinions help you make the best choice…
The Internet is a world full of possibilities that can make our life easier, but it is also dangerous because of speculation and scams. For the safety of the financial transactions it is better to investigate all possibilities and aspects of online transfers. The PayPal forum or the ePayment system forum can be very helpful for those who want to ask questions, discuss certain problems and find out information without special searches or loosing precious time.
Why Do Some Websites Have Message Boards?------
Remember when email seemed so quick and convenient? You could share your thoughts with a friend or group of friends within a period of a few minutes. Then the technology of instant messaging was developed, and with it, message boards. Website builders quickly picked up on the use of message boards, seeing how these boards allowed instant communication between everyone viewing their website.
A message board can be found in several different formats. Some websites require visitors to create an account, with a user name and password, before they can post a message on the board. Other websites have message boards that are open to anyone to post anonymously. Their post will show up instantly on the board. Sometimes, a message board will be watched over by an editor, or moderator, who can reject or delete posts based on whether the content of the post is appropriate for that website. On these boards, posts are often delayed for a brief period of time so that the moderator can read over the post. Some message boards are divided up by topic. These are also referred to as threads. Visitors to the message board can pick a topic, and when they post their message, it will appear under that topic.
So what is the benefit of a website having a message board? Some websites are actually built around message boards. An example of this type of website might be a hobby website for people who like to paint scenery. The site would have a message board where artists could come to talk to other artists to get ideas or tips, or to find out about a specific topic related to painting, such as where to buy a certain type of paint or brush. Other websites have message boards to encourage traffic on their site. Think of a music group, for example. By providing message boards for their fans, they are encouraging their fans both to visit their site and to spread the word about their group, which would in turn increase album and merchandise sales.
If you are looking for information on any topic, a message board is a great place to visit. And, if you are building your own website, consider adding one; there are many benefits, and it will be appreciated by everyone who visits your site.
You Can Double Your Website Traffic And Sales Using Relationalship Forum Marketing----
Do you need more traffic to your web site, and more sales? If you do, then you need to consider an often neglected side of web site promotion which is called forum marketing.
Most web sites make use of forums to provide the element of response from user to owner and vice versa. These forums take many forms, and include the standard forums, discussion boards, bulletin boards and currently blogs where the visitors to the web site can leave their comments on the site.
Marketing has always revolved around relationships. The basic element of relationship from the aspect of online marketing is to weave an element of trust between the potential purchaser and the vendor or web site owner. Once there is this element of trust, even the tiniest bond that has been sown between the potential buyer and seller, it becomes easier for the potential buyer to take a further step to buy the product. That is why many marketers are establishing forum boards and blogs to interact with clients and to provide support and to answer queries.
These forum boards provide a fertile ground for you to test out forum marketing for your products.
You need to compile a list of the discussion boards and blogs that are related to your product or service line that you are going to market. Then on a daily basis, visit these forums to read their postings. These forums are the best sites where newbies to internet marketing would congregate to seek free resources, or request information or advice from more experienced forumers. When you see a post where you can respond, make a brief informative post, and more importantly make sure you leave a reference to your web site in your signature line. This confers on you two advantages. Firstly, you gain a backlink to your site when you leave your website address in a much visited forum, and secondly, forumers who read your post will tend to visit your web site by following the link in your post.
Some internet marketers channel all their visitors to a squeeze page and not to a sales website directly. This squeeze page is a sign up page where you get the email address of the visitor in return for a free download of a ebook or report or software. By using this squeeze page, you gain targeted leads.
Statistics show a potential buyer would need to be exposed at least 3 to 5 times before he becomes interested to take the next step to purchase anything from you. By getting his email, you can email him on a regular schedule or use an autoresponder to channel your marketing message across.
The most important part of forum marketing is to identify a group of marketing forums and blogs related to your product or services that you are selling, from which you can then launch off. Once you have the list of forums and discussion boards, it becomes a daily affair to spend enough time to visit these forums and to post to them. Beware though, forum reading can be addictive, and you can be spending a whole lot of time on reading and posting to forums. Track your leads, and as you continue to do your forum posting daily, you will see a steady increase in your web site traffic and your sales.
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