What do you look for in a forum community?

[King]

What sorts of things make you want to stick around, register, and post?

For me, it's a nice clean theme that's attractive to look at, members that have been around for a while with thousands of posts - shows that you can bare sticking around, and high activity levels.

What about you?

[Infinite.]

Forums that aren't just overloaded with tons of stuff everything, just simple but catches a glimpse in your eye, ya know?

[King]

Forums that aren't just overloaded with tons of stuff everything, just simple but catches a glimpse in your eye, ya know?

Yeah. That's what turned me off ForumPromotion.net, there was just too much crap everywhere. I couldn't concentrate on anything because there was too much stuff happening.

[AMD]

I look for features and activity in the forum.

[DAMINK™]

For me there are a couple of things.
Theme, Activity and finally moderation.
I am not a huge fan of moderation. Over moderation always turns me off.
If i cant disagree with someone without the ban hammer or edits on threads then i just up and leave.
Thankfully SF supports all of those needs for me
Great theme, quite active and the staff here are cool.

[King]

For me there are a couple of things.
Theme, Activity and finally moderation.
I am not a huge fan of moderation. Over moderation always turns me off.
If i cant disagree with someone without the ban hammer or edits on threads then i just up and leave.
Thankfully SF supports all of those needs for me
Great theme, quite active and the staff here are cool.

And to add to what you were saying about moderation, don't you just hate forums with 50 odd posts and 8 members. 6 Of which are staff members. Too many inexperienced administrators give out staff positions too lightly these days. Little do they know that you don't need staff at all for at least the first couple of weeks (depending on your development rate). I think it's just a 'I have the power to do this, so I'm gonna' thing.

[MrJohn]

I like to look for a community that I can not only gain knowledge from on a particular topic, but one that has a family-friendly atmosphere at the same time. Usually awards and contests don't hurt either. Plus one that is consistent with their rules.

[Retribute]

- The appearance: Should be clean, organized, and professional.

-Management: The staff team should not be filled with idiots or have many bad qualities. They should also be active

[skorch]

Organized and clean overall appearance.
Discussions that are being held.
Contests
Active staff

[Omniscient]

An interesting thread with good detailed responses will get me. I like simple clean themes too. If a site is loaded with ads or popups to force me to join I normally click away. I almost never join a site forcing me to register to gain access to thread content.

For me moderation isn't something you'll notice right away. It's a reason I will stay or leave though. Example is TAZ. I was a member there and participated in a couple good threads but because of the lack of good site moderation I logged out and have not returned. When SF passes them I'll find a special way to gloat.

If i cant disagree with someone without the ban hammer or edits on threads then i just up and leave.

I'm with you there. I know threads get closed but beyond that I'm irritated if I'm censored or chastised. I've gotten into some awesome flame wars in my day too.

And F me I just noticed this thread was a few months old. Oh well...still good content.