Starting your forum is easy.

All you need to do is follow these simple steps:

  1. Choose your sub-domain or bring your own domain.
  2. Choose your forum name.
  3. Enter your forum administrator username and email.
  4. Check your email for your administrator password.
  5. Show your forum to the world!

How to make your phpBB forum a community, not just a forum.

It's important to treat your phpBB forum as a community. Many forums lack a sense of relationship between its members. Building a community allows for your forum's members to create somewhat of a friendly relationship. It opens up discussion relating to their personal live, interests, small subjects such as their pets, and more.

Internet communities are built from different opinions and personalities. If all the forum members have the same personality, it wouldn't be interesting. Once a relationship is built, members will continue to come back, post, and refer their friends. It's important to allow the members to get to know who you are, on the Internet and off the Internet. The first thing a forum administrator should do is try to create a personal relationship between him and the members, this will fortify the sense of community. It makes it more enjoyable to talk to someone if you know a few things about them. There are many ways to approach this:

  1. Put your real name in your signature. This will help your forum members get to know you. It brings a sense of reality to your forum; the members will get to know who you are, off the Internet. Think about it; in a real life situation, wouldn't it be hard to engage in a friendly relationship if you didn't know the person's name?

  2. Set a picture of you or a head shot of yourself as your avatar. This idea is built upon the same concept mentioned above; the members will get to know who you are, both on and off the Internet.

  3. Share personal information, events, and facts with the forum. When a forum member reads personal things about you, it may help them relate to you. For example, if you share with the forum what you do for a living, certain members may be able relate to you. It will help build a friendly relationship between you and the members. When posting, don't worry about sounding smart or important. Post as if you are talking to your friends, not as if you are a robot. Give your posts a twist of personality.

  4. Allow for customization, let your forum members edit their avatar, user title, signature, etc. It gives the community a sense of homeliness if the members can adjust their surroundings, it also helps the members show their personality.

  5. Be open to suggestions, both negative and positive. When developing your community, it's important to recognize your forum members' ideas and suggestions. If the forum's administration is open to suggestions, the members will have a sense of authority. It will allow them to consider the community their community. After all, there would be no community if there is only 1 member.