Managing online forums : everything you need to know to create and run successful community discussion boards

if youre running an online community, you know how satisfying, fun and exciting it can be, especially if youre in charge of a popular site where people come to discuss their favorite hobbies, movies, music and news. but you also know that theres a flip side to being the gatekeeper of a discussion board. difficult users, legal constraints, spammers, and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into total chaos. with the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure. patrick okeefe has spent years developing and managing online communities. now, he shows you how to make the right decisions about every aspect of your site. managing online forums is the first comprehensive book to cover everything you need to know to launch and run a community forum, including: conceptualizing the community and launching it attracting people to the community choosing a name and domain name picking the right software deciding on user options like avatars and private messaging setting guidelines and dealing with violators ensuring that posts stay on topic settling online disputes among users involving your users and keeping the site interesting unique, lively, and timely, managing online forums is the one book that shows you how to create a safe and entertaining community that users will return to again and again. okeefe provides an impressively insightful, comprehensive, and cogent blueprint for building a loyal and responsive community online. --ryan leslie, founder, nextselection lifestyle group, recording artist,producer, and online video pioneer. patrick is one of the true leaders in online community building, and his knowledge isnt just theoretical, it is based on in the trenches experienceand those experiences will prove invaluable as you look to leverage community in your endeavors. --jeremy wright, ceo, b5media,and author, blog marketing online forums make up the very foundation of the social web. unfortunately, there are few resources for the growing number of people who work behind the scenes to make them successful. in this comprehensive book, patrick o'keefe brings his real world experiences to bear in the form of strategies, tactics and ideas that fill a knowledge gap that has begged to be filled for too long. -- lee lefever, common craft patrick okeefe is the founder and owner of the ifroggy network (ifroggy.com), an internet network featuring content, community and e-commerce sites. he also manages 7 communities, including sportsforums.net, karateforums.com, phpbbhacks.com, communityadmins.com and photoshopforums.com,. he blogs about community management at managingcommunities.com and has written articles and editorials for several websites, including yanksblog.com and badboyblog.com. he lives in harbinger, nc