Do you want to have a website that is easy to generate traffic? Or, want to build a community online? If the answer is yes, creating a forum website is one of the best choices.
Don’t worry, how to make a forum website is not difficult. By following the right steps, your website is ready to become a place for people to chat in cyberspace.
In this article, we will share how to create a forum website in WordPress in 6 easy steps. Come on, see the full explanation!
What are Forum Websites?
One type of website is a website forum. Well, the forum website itself is a website that functions as a place for online discussion for registered members.
On the forum website, each member is free to post questions or answer questions from other members. This is what then gives rise to discussions that will make the website forum so crowded.
Generally, this type of website gives its members the freedom to discuss topics from various niches. For example, the Kaskus forum which has discussion topics around technology, sports and games.
Unlike other types of websites, forum websites are one of the easiest to generate traffic. The reason is, the topics in it can be very complete in accordance with the discussion developments of its members.
Not only that, the engagement from the forum website is also quite potential because each member will certainly continue to follow developments on topics that interest them. Moreover, if the topic discussed is being discussed.
This is also often used by business people to build forum websites according to their business niche. Besides being able to get closer to the audience, website forums are actually able to encourage more leads to get.
Now, after understanding the meaning and benefits of forum websites, let’s learn how to create a free website for forums.
How to Make a Forum Website in WordPress
WordPress is not a special platform for creating online forums. However, how to create a forum on WordPress is one that is quite easy because it can be done in just six steps.
How to create a website or website development for forums on WordPress:
1. Subscription to Hosting and Domains
The first step, make sure you have subscribed to an affordable domain and hosting for your forum website.
Actually, you can use a shared hosting service at the start of creating a forum website. However, if the forum website is growing or your forum niche is wide enough, using cloud hosting is certainly more promising.
The reason is, cloud hosting has bigger and more flexible resources to suit the needs of your forum website. Especially, when the forum is growing rapidly and traffic becomes quite high.
2. Install WordPress
After subscribing to hosting and domain, you need to install WordPress as a Content Management System for your forum website.
3. Determine the Forum Website Theme
After the WordPress installation, it’s time to choose a theme for your forum website. The trick, from the WordPress dashboard, click Appearance > Themes.
You will see a wide selection of default themes from WordPress for your forum website. If it’s still not suitable, you can choose another theme. Some of the WordPress themes that you can try are Zakra and Astra because the website design is more attractive and lighter.
4. Install Plugins
Actually your WordPress website is ready to be accessed. However, to make it a forum website, you need to install a plugin first.
From the WordPress dashboard page, you can click the Plugins menu > Add New.
After that, type “forum” in the search box in the upper right corner.
There are many forum plugins that you can choose from. If you prioritize convenience, bbPress is the right choice. But if you are looking for a plugin with more functionality, you can choose Asgaros Forum or SimplePress.
In this tutorial, we use bbPress. So, the next step is to click Install Now and Activate the plugin.
5. Create a WordPress Forum Website
After the bbPress plugin is installed and active, select the Forum menu > Add New.
You will go to the forum editor page. Enter the forum name and forum description.
Don’t forget to specify the forum website settings in the Forum Attributes options:
– Type: Forum – To display a list of topics
– Status: Open – List of topics open for discussion by members
– Visibility: Private – Only forum website members can access your forum website.
After all forum information is confirmed to be appropriate, click Publish.
6. Setting up Forum Member Access
After creating the forum page, it’s time to create a topic for your forum website.
The first step, click Topics > Add New.
Then fill in the topic form with questions/reviews about the topic you want to appear. Then, specify the topic settings in the Topic Attributes options:
– Type: Normal – The topic is displayed on the front page of your forum website. If there is a new topic, the old topics will be in second place and so on.
– Status: Open – The topic is open for discussion
– Forum: Your forum name – Choose the right forum if you have more than a few discussion forums on the website.
After all the information is filled in, click Publish.
Ready to Create a Forum Website on WordPress?
After listening to this article, you must have understood about forum websites, right? This type of website can easily generate traffic thanks to the topics discussed and the interactions that occur between members.
How to create a forum website is also quite easy. You can use the WordPress platform, install plugins and start creating topics according to the niche of your forum website.
Apart from building a popular community, forum websites can also be used to support business. One of the reasons, website forums can help increase engagement with the audience and attract new leads or customers.
Whatever it is, don’t forget to use a reliable hosting service so that your forum website can be accessed 24 hours a day.
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