Have you ever opened up a forum while still working on it/being in pre-production?

[Smokey]

Have you ever opened up a forum early/prematurely while you were still developing it and it wasn't quite ready for the public just yet? I've done this in the past, but in a small scale, letting a select few 'early access' to gauge how the site felt and what changes should be made before we opened it completely to the public. Have you ever 'opened' a forum while still working on it and setting it up?

 

[Shortie]

I have done this in the past myself when I had previous forums and as much as I thought it was a good idea at the time, I later found out it wasn't and it ended up being more of a mess than a success.

I learned from my mistakes though and now when I create a forum, I tend to get everything ready before I jump and open it to the public unless of course I need someone to help test things in which case I may allow a select few to access before we officially open.

 

[Kane]

Generally speaking, I open my forum for public use as soon as it is set up and a few important pages are added. For instance, I will start inviting people to post on the forum when I have created pages like about us, terms of services, etc. created a few, boards and categories, as well as some topics, on these boards and categories. The success of a forum lies on user activities, and I want people to start using forum once it is live.

 

[Smiles20]

Early access or what some people prefer to call beta access is a very important aspect of creating a product. Early access is going to allow real-time users to use it and then give feedback on how the experience is.

 

[Heatman]

Early access or what some people prefer to call beta access is a very important aspect of creating a product. Early access is going to allow real-time users to use it and then give feedback on how the experience is.

If you want to have a few people to help you work on the forum, it's not a bad thing to do in my opinion. Their contribution is going to be on adding lots of contents that's going to help the formal launch go successful.

 

[Busybee]

I have done this in the past myself when I had previous forums and as much as I thought it was a good idea at the time, I later found out it wasn't and it ended up being more of a mess than a success.

I learned from my mistakes though and now when I create a forum, I tend to get everything ready before I jump and open it to the public unless of course I need someone to help test things in which case I may allow a select few to access before we officially open.

Taking the time to ensure everything is ready and properly tested before opening it to the public can help avoid potential issues and create a smoother experience for users. Allowing a select few to access and test the forum before the official launch can also be beneficial in identifying any remaining issues or gathering valuable feedback.