I have an old forum which I pretty much abandoned and I was thinking of starting a new one aimed at the same age group. Would it be better to get rid of the old database or would it be a good idea to use it for the new site because it has over 16,000 posts? The posts could easily be moved to new subforums if I end up moving it but I'm concerned over how members will react. There are very few active members at the moment but I'm not sure how people feel about the site they signed up on changing its niche slightly. What would you suggest?
I think you should keep your old forum, and make an announcement in it to inform your regular posters of your intention to change your niche. They might stick around, especially if they've been posting for a long time.
That said, I'm expert in this field, so you should wait and see what some of the other members here advise
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16,000 posts is a lot and I'd hate to see you get rid of all that content. I would either archive them or as you said move them to another forum. In fact you could call the sub forum "Archived posts".
What if someone wants to search for information on your forum? Those old posts could come in handy... especially if you are relaunching to the same target group. It would be different if you were changing your focus.
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Thank you so much for the advice ShakespearesBrother16 & Lisa
Guess I will keep the database. Archiving the posts is a great idea, I'll definitely try it.
Should I get rid of the database?
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