Forum Url:
http://gamersunite.smfforfree4.comPurpose: I've been reading other peoples guides and found that there is not really a guide that focuses on getting everything ready, this is not for everyone, if you don't like it. Don't use it. It's up to you what order you do these in, this is just the order i did it in
Before you advertiseStep 1: Get 1 or 2 people that you trust to be admins, without admins your forum could easily be spamed the death out of and any chance of having a good forum wrecked. Also make sure they will be active!
Step 2: Make a section or stickied post stating all your rules, my rules are
1) no racist behavior
2) no sexist behavior
3) no abusing admins or website
4) no abusing people
5) no advertising
Step 3: Set up all your boards, in my opinion a General board is a must. Unless your website is 100% focused on one thing
Step 4: go through all the tutorials (links are toward bottom of post) and i suggest setting up the warning system, and any others you like
Now you should get some advertismenthere are some links to advertise
http://www.smfsupport.com/support/advertise_your_boardblog-b11.0/http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=6.0http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurlhttp://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.htmlhttp://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspxAs you get members offer them something, like if they get 10 members to regiseter they will get something, that is up to you. Don't go big and offer admin becuase they could easily just be doing it so they can get a position of power then abuse it.
Also every now and then put a poll up asking something like, should we get an extra feature e.g chat box. I personally don't like them I think they take up way to much space. But really if you want to attract people it's not up to you let your members decide.
Here are a bunch of guides teaching you how to add features
Setting up a Portalhttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_complete_guide_to_setting_up_the_portal-t7729.0.htmlRedirecting URL'shttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/get_a_free_redirecting_url-t2264.0.html(although they shorten the URL, they often have downsides such as adds and decrease in enjoyment)
Guide to forum ediquittehttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_to_forum_ediqette_and_design-BB codes and basic HTMLhttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_bbcode_and_basic_html-t936.0.htmlAdding a background imagehttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_how_to_put_a_background_image_on_Adding a chat boxhttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_chat_box-t6881.0.htmlWarning systemhttp://www.smfsupport.com/support/guides_and_tutorials/guide_creating_a_warnings_system_with_picturesYou could just go and add every single one above/you can find, but i suggest not cluttering your forums. It makes them look less attractive and it's harder to find things.
Also you should hold a vote on whether they want a shorter, redirecting domain eg
www.example.tk/net.tc etc. i have found many problems with my .tk domain, it works fine on my phone, but on my computer it stops me logging in properly and using the admin section.
Hope you find this usefull, and hope all goes well with your website!
If you think i should add some more things, please tell me
RaZoR/Tawr