What I’ve learned from operating a discussion forum

Originally published in 2014. Updated October 2026.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

There’s a good chance you use at least one online discussion forum. Some cover all kinds of topics, others serve a specific niche or industry, and still others provide support for products and services. Whatever they’re used for, all forums deal with basically the same issues, good and bad.

In this article, I’d like to share some of my experiences, what I’ve learned and how I’ve handled the challenges of owning and running a popular discussion forum.

A little background

I’m the owner and operator of a popular niche discussion forum called RPLS.com. Land surveyors from all over the world (but mostly the U.S.) come to RPLS.com to talk about equipment, software and the day-to-day work of surveying. They also have plenty of non-surveying discussions, which I’ll touch on later. When I first wrote this article, we were running a fairly obscure piece of software to give our audience the old-school, tree-style forum they wanted. It had its limits, so we customized it heavily.

But this isn’t my first rodeo. Just the most successful.

You see, before I was a full-time web developer, I was a land surveyor. I went to school for it, got licensed in two states and worked in the industry for about 26 years. But my interest in computers and the web was always a huge distraction. After moonlighting in IT and web development for over a quarter century, I finally felt ready to go full-time.

Back in 1992, I ran a bulletin board system (BBS) called When Pigs Fly. It became so popular in Southern California, where I was living, that I made t-shirts for my users. Before long, though, BBSes became obsolete, and I eventually shut mine down. In the early 2000s, I partnered with a couple of other guys to start a land surveying forum based on a cartoon character. Unfortunately, there were some issues between the partners (that I’m not at liberty to discuss), so we shut it down. Then in 2010, the go-to land surveying forum at the time changed its format and lost most of its users. Several surveyors who knew my web development work asked me to start a new forum for them using the classic tree-style format. RPLS.com was born.

Happiness ensues

The first several months were great. Lots of happy surveyors were rejoicing in the streets over a forum made just for them. They were so happy, in fact, that many of them sent generous donations to help keep it running. From the beginning I knew it was a long shot, but somehow it worked. It didn’t take long before it was clearly the most popular website for land surveyors.

Along with the donations, we received lots of emails thanking us for creating RPLS.com. You would have thought the site was the most incredible piece of work on the internet (I beg to differ). Before we knew it, our users wanted local gatherings where they could meet fellow professionals over a few adult beverages. It was an amazing feeling for me, too. I’d never had that kind of response to a pet project.

Not without hurdles

Through all the happiness, a few hurdles popped up. At first, the biggest issue was a steady stream of threats and spam from the jealous owner of another land surveying website. He claimed we stole his ideas, which was absurd; we didn’t even know he existed. There are thousands of online communities covering almost any topic you can think of, and we were using a legacy forum style that nearly everyone else had abandoned. But I digress. After some brief legal advice, we decided he wasn’t worth our time and moved on.

Of course, any popular community will have its share of trolls and other problem users. I had little experience dealing with them, so it was stressful at first. In the beginning, I found myself arguing with them, which only made things worse. Then I realized they were a lot like pests in my home. Why let them get to me? After some trial and error, I learned that the best solution was to ban them as soon as it was clear they weren’t good for the forum.

And then there’s the politics. Oh, the politics. When we first launched, we had a “Politics & Religion” category. While I was setting up categories before launch, I actually paused before adding it. I’d seen how much trouble that category caused on other forums. Still, I wanted to give my users a place to talk about anything they wanted. It went on for quite a while before I finally shut it down. People are so passionate about politics that they become different people in the heat of battle. It was easily the most stressful part of building the forum, because it never ended. That is, until I removed the category and announced that political discussions would no longer be allowed.

The last hurdle, back when I first wrote this, was our software. It was outdated, and the developer offered very few updates or support. We’d modified it so much that it was practically a fork of the original. So we started planning a move to a new platform that would keep as many of our features and as much of our style as possible. Most importantly, we paid close attention to our users’ feature requests. They’re what made the forum so popular, and we wanted to deliver as many of those requests as we could.

Where RPLS.com is today

I’m happy to say we’re in a very good place. We eventually rebuilt the forum on a modern platform, and it now includes a Find a Surveyor directory and a Jobs & Equipment Marketplace. After years of relying on donations and advertising, RPLS.com recently became a member-supported community, with Founder Memberships for people who want to help keep it going. Content older than 90 days stays public and free for everyone.

The community has grown, too. RPLS.com now has more than 16,000 registered members, over 50,000 discussions and more than 590,000 posts, and over 8,000 surveyors spend time there every month. It’s still independent and surveyor-run, just as it’s been since 2010.

I’m not getting rich from it, but the land surveying profession is close to my heart. And with the trolls weeded out (we still ban new ones quickly), the forum is a fun, engaging place to be.

What I’ve learned

Creating and managing a forum is a bigger job than most people expect, especially if it becomes the go-to place for a profession or industry. Here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way:

• Ban trouble early. Arguing with trolls only feeds them. Remove people who aren’t good for the community before things get out of hand.
• Think twice before adding a politics category. It can take over a community and become the most stressful part of running it.
• Listen to your users. Their feature requests and feedback are what keep a community growing.
• Plan for your software getting old. Platforms age, and moving to a new one takes time, so start planning before you have to.

With a little patience and perseverance, running a forum can be a rewarding project, and it might even bring in a little side income. Got questions? Leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to answer them.