[GUIDE]Setting up a professional Forum

[Cyndaquil]

Building a Forum for your Fiesta Private Server

Contents

I. Introduction
II. Forum Software
III. Reasons why to get premium forum softwarae
IV. Best setup and psychological setups for forum layout​

Introduction
This guide will help you in making your forum a more navigational and more professional place to be, it also will tell you the best psychological ways to get people to enjoy your forum, I will be explaining the differences in the two most popular forum software’s (Invision Power Board, IPB, and Vbulletin, VB).

Personally I find IPB is a more suitable and easier to use forum software as it is less crowded than Vbulletin, meanwhile Vbulletin gives you some areas which you can change more. Over all IPB is more stable and easier to use (it is advancing in the area very quickly!)

Forum Software
The main two-forum software which most high standard companies use and most private servers use is Vbulletin and Invision Power Board.

Invision Power Board:

You must be registered to see links

VBulletin

You must be registered to see links

These are premium products and you may have to pay for them!

Reasons why to get premium forum software
Many servers I have seen newly starting up are using crappy forums, which don’t show that you are professional. Forums are important as they are possibly the first place you go to depending on if you have a website or not.

Some main reasons why to get premium forum software are;
1. Professional Look
2. You can use your own domain
3. You can make it so that your forums and other things are on the same webserver

There are multiple more reasons why you should use premium forum software, but those above are the most important.



Best Setup and Psychological setups for forum layout
In the eyes of many; the forum needs to be set up according in importance and relevance. Most private servers are done under a ‘studio’ or ‘company’ subdomain such as terra.extrinsicstudio.com or projecteden.digital-eden.net. You should be aiming to have it under a subdomain either forums./forum./ or extrinsicstudio.com/forum/ or /forums/. It is a more logical and easier to remember to do it in that way.

The forum tree for a fiesta server can go either two ways (This is a psychological advancement in the server’s scene)

Optional:
<Studio/Company Name> (Category)

- Announcements (Forum)
- Development (Forum)
- Terms of Service (Redirect)​

<Server Name> (Category)

- Announcements (Forum)

o Staff Announcements (Forum)​

- Development

o Development Previews
o Patch Notes​

- Events

o Event’s Currently in Progress
o Event Archive
o Event Suggestions​

• Accepted
• Rejected

o Player Events​

- General Discussion

o Member Introduction​

- Troubleshooting

o Bug Reporting​

• Map Bugs
• Graphic Bugs
• Class Bugs
• Skill Bugs
• Misc Bugs​

o Player 2 Player Support​

• In Game Support
• Forum Support
• Installation Support​

o Guides​

• Class Guides​

• Trickster
• Fighter
• Cleric
• Archer
• Mage​

• Game Guides​

• Leveling Guides
• Money Making Guides
• Production Guides​

- Guild Hall

o Guild Recruitment Hall
o Private Guild Hall​

- Market Place

o Buying
o Selling
o Trading​

- Suggestions

o Accepted
o Rejected
o Forum Suggestions​

• Accepted
• Rejected​

- Off Topic Area

o Creative Study​

• Fan Art
• Signature Shops
• Shakespeare’s Notepad​

o Forum Games​

In terms of setting your forum’s up correctly the above forum tree is most effective​

 

[SeanLiT]

Was just curious, why don't servers ever use mybb for forums?

 

[Cyndaquil]

Was just curious, why don't servers ever use mybb for forums?

because MyBB is probably the most in-securest and most unreliable forum software there is, and it is the shittest.

In terms of quality it would go (In my opinion):
IPB
VB
xenForo
MyBB