When should you close down and start again?

[Sam1]

At what point do you think your should wipe a forum and start again? Or do you think there are no circumstances under which this should be done?

 

[ford1001]

I have wiped forums on numerous occasions, usually when the site is seriously stuffed up through coding. It was only 50 or so posts though. Wouldn't wipe it nowadays

 

[xpl0iter]

Close down and start again?
I don't know under what reasoning I should start it again.
And I have done the closing down part, but not he start again part! Well it was for my cool facts forum!

 

[Jason1]

I have done this thing in one of my forum for few times. But now no planning of starting it from the scratch again.

 

[Hubok]

I usually replace "close down and start again" with "mass money mode"; sadly, I haven't hit that stage yet. I'm in the "SEOHATESME" stage.

Point to what I just said: Closing down really makes no sense: your website at some point becomes a resource for everyone else (, and can also earn you some money).

 

[Sam1]

I usually replace "close down and start again" with "mass money mode"; sadly, I haven't hit that stage yet. I'm in the "SEOHATESME" stage.

Point to what I just said: Closing down really makes no sense: your website at some point becomes a resource for everyone else (, and can also earn you some money).

The only issue is a stats issue. If you have an idle forum on a good domain then you're not likely to revitalize it because people will look at the stats. They will see you've only achieved 1000 posts in a year and think- why would I join that?

 

[flame]

I closed down and sort of started again (returning to the domain I thought I had lost) when I was loosing posters hand over fist and discovered I had been well and truly shafted on the sly by a competing forum set up by an ex member of my former forum. When it had got down to a couple of posters plus myself with those posters being manipulated by my competitor I gave up and closed it all down.

I was not intending a restart but discovered first that the domain I thought I had lost I could get back (it was a free domain "won" on a free host and it looked like they were going to seize it and make me start paying which I was unwilling to do) and transfer to my own paid host, and then I discovered a wonderful admin forum that was massively helpful and it also led here which is massively helpful as well, I was able to make a clear assessment of where I had gone wrong and how to start again - and the restart is flying.

 

[YanOri]

Not to be rude or something, but when you say "your ex member manipulated your active members", I don't understand how. Don't you think you lacked 'That' relationship with your members?
I'm glad that you have accepted it as a challenge and progressed, all the best

 

[flame]

As I tend to go for debate and encourage people with opposing views so long as they are respectful quite a few members have easy trigger points. I also have no issues with people disagreeing with me on the boards.
I did make several mistakes. It started with the ex member sending PMs to people on the original forum as I was trying to move it to the new domain offering an alternate - and I did not crack down. I allowed the competitor to join the new forum where he not only continued to PM, but I allowed him to promote on boards. He then proceeded to set off members known trigger points resulting in a lot a bad feelings and anger and the more I tried to sooth the more he aggravated. In the meantime many people were members on both forums although I did not join his - and he had boards not open to the public where he was able to start falsehoods about both my forum and me. Members who joined both boards posted about the false stuff on my forum and it ended up as looking like there was nothing but complaints about another forum and a group of people who hated each other so people started to leave.

 

[YanOri]

Well explained, I like this part,

As I tend to go for debate and encourage people with opposing views so long as they are respectful quite a few members have easy trigger points.

I guess I understand your situation then. There was little / nothing you could do to avoid it.
Maybe people take your views towards positive criticism as an advantage, but eventually that members whom he was successful in manipulating, would regret their choice.
Anyways, hope such issues never occur in the future

 

[flame]

Oh I made mistakes - and should have spotted it earlier, but c'est la vie - I am back on me feet and doing well, and have learned several important lessons.