What do you think makes a forum professional?

You cannot limit the Forum to members 18 or older. Firstly; anybody can say they're 18. There are a number of sites on the Intenet in which a lot of people do this for. This however might stop good members from coming in because they cannot be bothered to blag it.

In my opinion, professional members make a professional forum. Of course with good moderation, the forum will be better. I dont believe that the design is part of this whole idea, its only to attract members to join it. For example look at webhostingtalk.com, the forum design is not as professional as this one( I dont like it to be honest) but that site's members make it look good. Im pretty sure that if they changed the design, most of members will vanish, because usualy they get addicted to the site by its design. A forum cannot work without good moderation no matter how professional the members are.

Mature and relevant content

Having a nice clean design is important...Gives the impression of professionalism from the get go.

The bulk of what makes a place 'professional' is how the members/moderators act. I definitely recommend having moderators to maintain the forum.

I've looked around for several forums that I would enjoy participating in that are mature in how they deal with issues that arise. I have left several forums because of immature members who made the places un-enjoyable for me. But once you find moderators you have to be careful. Their attitudes will become the feel and flavour of the forum. If their views don't co-inside with your vision of what the forum should be, let them go.

I would definitely avoid any kind of post ranking system. Those things are just asking for problems and leads to immature responses to contrary opinions.

just my two pennies worth...their canadian so not worth lots

- Mature/Professional members
- Proper moderation/administration
- Good conent
- Good design

I think most of the things have been said already
Also, encourage members to use a spell checker.
(You can download one free from the vbulletin forum )
You have to have purchased vB first though

That's something that hasn't come up, the software. Your Forum will not look professional without it basically. It is the sign on the internet of the start of a professional Forum. I myself actually don't go on other Forums specifically for that reason.

Basically it needs to have a nice clean design, all posts should be grammatically correct and no swearing. That's just my thoughts on it.

Rather simple really. I don't think the design is THAT important, it helps but it really comes down to the staff/admins. If you have good direction, a solid marketing plan that brings in quality members then your forum will naturally grow into a professional and friendly community.

If you have staff who aren't bothered, don't participate, don't have time for their members and don't work their backsides off then be prepared for a failure.

Woof, after your comment I started looking at the ages on the left and now I'm feelin' old.

What makes a forum professional? One thing is the signal to noise ratio. Unprofessional forums have a bunch of LOL and great post type replies, off topic threads, personal attacks, duplicate threads, etc. S/N is a combination of strong moderation and good content.

Does a good design make a forum professional? No, but it can make one look unprofessional. This forum is one of the best that I've seen.

I personally think that images and colors in .sigs can detract and distract. (sorry Lord Kalthorn )