How long do you give a forum?

[Shawn Gossman]

How long do you give your forum a chance to grow before you shut it down?

What's the process of shutting it down? Do you sell it or just close it down?

 

[Douye]

I have never ran a forum before. But I think a forum should first of all define the parameters that it sees as growth before they fix the timeframe to achieve that goal. That being said, I would say that the first level growth for my forum would be to hit 50 posts from five different users everyday consistently. I would give a year to achieve that. If not, I would sell the forum.

 

[Jennifer]

I haven’t ran forums for tool long to experience frustration over it's slow growth. But I think if I shut that is not over growth but because I lost passion or I don't have time.

 

[Chris]

On a general note, a forum owner should know that running a forum is a process and such a process requires being patient with growth.

It is not going to be a situation where one would say that after 6 months of running the forum, if my targets are not met, I will have to shut it down or sell it. Anyone thinking in such a manner might end up not having a particular forum that they can boast of running for more than a year because they end up selling any project that they begin within a short period.

 

[Uzzy]

I’ve never run a forum before but I know growth can take time, so shutting it down too quickly might not be the best move. Some owners choose to sell their forum when they can’t manage it anymore while others just close it quietly.

It really depends on how active the community is and whether they still have the motivation to keep it going.