Enhancing Your Website with Message Boards

The Power of Message Boards

Message boards are a powerful tool for creating a "sticky site" - a website that users want to revisit time and again. They provide a platform for online group discussions, where users can post questions, provide answers, and expand on those answers. On an active message board, these conversations can span multiple pages, fostering a sense of community and engagement.

Options for Adding a Message Board

If you're considering adding a message board to your website, you have several options:

• Utilizing services like egroups, topica, or communityzero, which offer additional features that foster a sense of community around a message board.
• Using a remotely hosted message board if your host doesn't allow you to install your own scripts, which is common with most free hosts.
• Installing a script to run on your own website if your host supports user-written CGI routines. This option provides you with complete control over the board layout and contents.

Let's delve into each of these options.

Community-Based Message Boards

There are numerous community-type message boards available. These services offer additional features to engage your visitors, such as calendars, chat rooms, file sharing, link lists, and note boards. However, they may not integrate seamlessly into your website and may not drive traffic to your site effectively. These types of message boards are ideal if your primary goal is to host a community and your website is secondary.

Some of the best community-type message boards include Communityzero, Egroups, and Topica.

User-Installed Scripts

User-installed scripts offer the most control over your message board. They allow you to avoid banners or advertisements that could distract your visitors. However, they do count against your bandwidth and disk space limits, and you'll need to maintain the script on your site yourself. Discus is a highly recommended script for this purpose.

Remotely Hosted Scripts

Remotely hosted scripts are maintained and supported by someone else, using their bandwidth and disk space instead of yours. However, you lose control of the board, and the boards may not be highly customizable. They are also typically supported by advertisements, which can draw visitors away from your site. Some of the better message board services include Boardhost, Beseen, Bravenet Web Services, and MyForum.Net.

Additional Resources

For more information on message boards, check out these resources:

• Message Boards: A way to make a very sticky site
• Message Boards - Ethics
• Message Boards - Contributor
• Message Boards - Promotion
• Message Boards - Moderator
• Sticky Sites - Message Boards