Few or lots of boards?

[Demon_skeith]

When making your forum, do you think there should be lots of boards or as few as possible to post in?

 

[ARx1821]

Too few boards can limit discussion and too many, especially on new forums, make the forum itself look empty which gives a bad impression to potential users. You need a balance in my opinion - you can also change boards with little content into sub-forums, until they pick up in activity and content. As you can see on Chillerr, there is a balance.

 

[Deleted member 18484]

I think there shouldn't be a ton of boards. Just keep it as minimal as possible until you get more members. Start small and then go big!

 

[Altair]

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I agree. There needs a balance. I have never joined forums that have too many boards. It takes away from the forum.

 

[Ash]

You definitely need a bit of a balance. I've seen some forums with broad forum sections and it makes it almost impossible to find things you want to discuss on.
It's important you don't go overboard with the forums as well though

 

[DudeThatsErin]

The fewer the better as it is less overwhelming for new users. Once you get that user base adding more and more is okay as you have people that will post in those sections but having many empty sections does not look good at all.

 

[BrolySSJ]

I think that having a lot of boards can b a very good thing because then in that way you are able to cover more topics and this is essential when it comes to getting a wider audience.

 

[MikeHo]

Well it all depends on you, I would like to start with few main forum theme section and then will add additional section as it requires as if you have more section and no posts than it is no use of it.

 

[BrolySSJ]

That is a good point as well. It is best to have a few topics with lots of people making threads than a lot of sections with no threads. However this is when you can always start it off as the admin and create a few.

 

[Justin]

I think 25-30 boards will be enough, having a lot of boards will only confuse the members, By the way having too many boards do not mean you will get a lot of posting activities as members focus posting only on handful of boards.

 

[Good-Person]

Many forums have separate sections and I think that they have board for each section. However, this might not necessarily be the case. many forums do not have many boards.

 

[Saachi]

Less is better as it's less overwhelming for new users.Once you have that user base you can always add more as there are people posting in those sections but it doesn't look nice at all if you have a lot of empty sections .

 

[frederick_9]

Less is better because it makes things less daunting for new users.
Once you have a user base, adding more parts is acceptable because you will eventually have users who will post in them, but having a lot of empty sections does not seem good at all.

 

[Laurentta]

I think there shouldn't be too many or too little boards in a forum. It should be balanced. The boards to post in on one's forum should neither be small nor large.

 

[Kvngsammy]

I think the number of boards will be determined by the interests of the forum members and it'll be good to have a large number so that it can accommodate a large number of people who have divergent ideas.

 

[Kane]

I think the topics or niche of your forum should determine the number of boards. I have 6-8 boards on my forum, I think this is an appropriate number of boards.

 

[glitch]

If you have too many boards, your forum will look bare. You want to start with the minimal amount. It depends on the niche and the activity level. In most cases, less is more.

 

[Shortie]

When you first start a forum, I would say that it's best to have as many areas as you feel you can add threads to and strike up activity and stick with that. Once your forum starts to take off and you start to get more activity, then may be the time to add more areas if you feel they are needed.

I always say start off small and build as necessary, it's less confusion for new members as well.

 

[Aaron]

It depends on the genre and how active you will be in each board. Only make enough boards to start with that you'll post actively in and that you'll post a few threads in. People will often think if a board isn't active then the forum is perhaps dead or the owner just isn't dedicated enough. Once you grow you can add in more boards.

I would say that for example a general discussion forum would need the basics such as an announcement forum, a feedback/suggestions forum and somewhere to introduce people. Maybe a member interviews section if you enjoy that sort of thing.

And maybe for the discussion boards maybe five or six. Instead of doing one each for movies, music, gaming just name one board 'Entertainment' for example.

 

[Busybee]

Having a moderate number of boards allows for clear categorization of topics, making it easier for users to navigate and find relevant discussions. If there are too few boards, it can lead to cluttered discussions and difficulty in locating specific topics.