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Blog as Homepage and a separate forum

Discussion in 'WordPress' started by Armyqt, Feb 26, 2009.

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  1. #1
    Hey everyone, I hope this is the right place to post this. I would like to get some feedback from you guys. I have a blog and a forum that is linked. I'm considering turning off my comments and creating a link to my forum to comment on the board instead.

    I'm trying to build a community and I kow it takes time, but I guess right now there is really no incetive for my readers to join the forum. It is deserted in there. So what do you think? Good idea or no?
     
    Armyqt, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  2. ~kev~

    ~kev~ Well-Known Member

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    #2
    This is the exact same thing that I have already done. In one case I bought 2 domain names - one for the blog and one for the forum.

    On the other site, I have wordpress installed in the /html root and VBulletin installed in a /forum subfolder.

    On both sites I disabled comments and use the forum as my commenting system. A lot of bloggers complain about spam, but I dont get any. I let the security of the VBulletin forum deal with the spammers.

    I also went one step further and removed the commenting sections from my wordpress themes. So if I forget to disable comments, its not possible for people to post comments because the area where the text goes has been removed.

    So far I am happy with the results.
     
    ~kev~, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  3. dickieknee

    dickieknee Active Member

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    #3
    my preference is to install the forum into a subdomain and have the blog in the root this way you have

    forum.mydomain.com

    and www.mydomain.com for the blog

    a better solution would be to install the blog in a directory and change the settings so that it appears at the root
     
    dickieknee, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  4. Armyqt

    Armyqt Active Member

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    #4
    Hey Kev, thanks for the feedback. I don't want to turn people off from commenting at all. And I guess I'm going back and forth. I saw one blog where at the end of each post there was a link to the forum for commenting. I would go that route.

    You said you're happy with the results. Did you see increased forum membership and participation?

    BTW, thanks for the VLogging idea. I already did two video posts. lol :)
     
    Armyqt, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  5. Armyqt

    Armyqt Active Member

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    #5
    Why does this matter? I don't really understand the impact that this will have on the site. I'm still learning. :p
     
    Armyqt, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  6. sumit1710

    sumit1710 Peon

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    #6
    forums are hard to shoot of nowadays
    due to development in web 2.0.
     
    sumit1710, Feb 26, 2009 IP
  7. pipes

    pipes Prominent Member

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    #7
    I would never put a blog and forum together, one is going to rob the other of potential interest from visitors.

    Id choose the blog or forum only.
     
    pipes, Feb 27, 2009 IP
  8. Jalpari

    Jalpari Notable Member

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    #8
    If ur forum installation is in root dir then ofcourse u will get more members but if its in sub dir then ppl will visit ur home page then if they will find or like ur forum then they will join it.

    So better to have forum in root dir. i think
     
    Jalpari, Feb 27, 2009 IP
  9. Armyqt

    Armyqt Active Member

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    #9
    Can you explain this a little more please? Feel free to pm me. Thanks! :)
     
    Armyqt, Feb 27, 2009 IP
  10. ~kev~

    ~kev~ Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Your welcome.

    I have 2 main sites, 1 blog and 1 forum. Both sites also rank on the first page of google for my targeted keywords. The forum is ranked #1 and the blog is ranked between #5 - #11.

    When the blog ranks well in google, the traffic for both sites goes up. The blog is my forums 5th highest source of traffic, and one of the highest sources of targeted traffic with a very low bounce rate. Google generic search results might be an average of 40 - 50 percent bounce rate. While traffic from the the blog might be 15 - 20 percent.


    I dont think web 2.0 has anything to do with people that visit forums.
     
    ~kev~, Feb 27, 2009 IP