How to make a quality forum. 😝 🌺

You’ve been introduced to a more social side of Chess.com. Welcome! Whether it be club or forums, we’re glad to have you. Lots of people discuss things here, both chess-related and not. You might’ve been part of these discussions yourself! Fun, innit? So many different topics, by so many different creators.

Do you want to be a creator too? Well go ahead! Slide your mouse on over, and press that ‘Create Forum’ button! Spout whatever gibberish you want, and go over to that ‘Post Topic’ button, and-

HEY, WAIT!

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Despite what you might (or might not) think, there are some basic (unwritten) rules to follow. When these rules are broken, people might look at your threads with disdain and disapproval.

Why is that?

 Because this is a site where it’s been done before, and said before. Nobody wants the same old recycled garbage. Or any garbage, for that matter, recycled or not.

“So what am I to do?” You might be asking. Well, I’m glad you are. Here’s the deal.

The first step of creating a forum: Have a good idea.

If you create a forum because you think: “I should make a forum”, then DON’T. 

However, if you create a forum because you think: “[SUBJECT] would make for a good forum idea.”, then please DO. 

Make sure your idea is good, though. The second step, the longest one, is to check your idea.

 If you want to make a forum game that relies on the previous user’s comment, please don’t. The genre is oversaturated, rarely actually fun, not to mention frowned upon, and often the object of blueshells. 

 If you want to advertise a club or product, please don’t. There are often dedicated places to do so, such as advertising threads in clubs, and threads about similar products in the Off-Topic-Forums.

 If you’re making a controversial (political, religious, NSFW, etc.) topic, please don’t. As a whole, the community should attempt to keep Chess.com a safe space, through both self-moderation and moderator activity. There are often rules against it in either clubs or forums.

 If you’re attempting to make a thread calling out a specific member for drama, please don’t. If they’re an offender of Chess.com rules, report them and moooo-ve on. If you’re simply fighting with them, keep it to yourself.

 If you’re making a thread that has been done before, please check yourself. Are you doing it in a way that’s unique? If so, how so?

 If you want to make an AMA (Ask Me Anything), please check yourself. Have you made one before? Are you prematurely making this type of thread (Have you been in the community long enough for people to desire to ask questions about you)?

 If you want to make a Member rating chart, please check yourself. Are you making it at a safe time, where nobody will take offense? Are you making it too prematurely, where you don’t know many members? Do you know enough members that will actively participate?

If you pass all these boxes, then go ahead.

The third step is formulating your idea. 

Hit a notebook, or do it on the forum page, and brainstorm. Make sure all the possible kinks could be worked out, make sure there’s a way to make it compatible with many users, and make sure it’s an engaging and worthwhile idea. 

The fourth step is to finally write it.

 Write well, write simply, and write to get your point across. Make sure it’s legible and properly punctuated, for some users (myself included) do get quite annoyed by improper grammar. Once you have something you like, maybe get some review. Just make sure it’s just right.

Now, you’re done! The last step is to press that button. That big ol’ ‘Post Topic’ button. Go ahead. You’ve earned it. You’ve passed Go, collected your 200$, and you’re on your way to making quality forums. 

Now, these rules are pretty versatile, but they’re not the best. Of course, with everything, there are some outliers. Person-above-you threads? There are some good ones. Forum-game-revivals? The same case with those. Controversial topics? God, yes. Some of the biggest forums on the Off-Topic-Forums are built upon arguments over heavily debated topics. But make sure it’s worthwhile, and a decent thing to argue over. Don’t attack others. Be kind. But besides that, you can go against the current, as long as you swim carefully with a good plan. However, the most important part of making a forum that wasn’t discussed: Have fun with it. That’s all.

Peace out!

-T

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brilliant, thanks teri!

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A quality Forum? Just jump in your time machine, go back in time several years, and scroll through the forums there...

I don’t have the attention span to read this and have decided to make a thread to gain popularity here with more posts. Thanks for trying, though.

Yeah, I'm not reading all that. How about I make a person-above-you thread instead? That ought to garner some positive attention. Or maybe a drama thread.

A member seemed to have blocked me. I should call him out in front of everyone to make him feel ashamed of himself.

DM ME! I WANNA HEAR SOME GOSSIP😋

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