This guide covers our old ProBoards v4 software. Click here for the ProBoards v5 Help Guide.
The Promote Your Forum section of the admin panel provides options to help forum owners promote and grow their forum communities. Here you'll find instructions how to get your discussion forum listed in the ProBoards Forum Directory as well as a link explaining how to get your forum featured on our busy ProBoards.com homepage.
Every week, ProBoards selects one online forum to feature on our homepage, as well as on our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages. If your forum is selected, it's an excellent opportunity to show off your discussion forum to thousands of prospective members in a single week.
ProBoards Forum Directory
The ProBoards directory is a listing of online forums separated into different interest categories and provides a great way for new people to discover your community. Here you'll be asked for information about your discussion forum and how you'd like it to be categorized and presented.
Forum Name: This will be the name of your discussion forum as it appears in the Forum Directory and should match the Board Title field of the General Settings section of your forum admin panel.
Forum Category: Here you're provided with a drop-down list of topic categories. Choose the category that most closely describes the content in your discussion forum.
Forum Description: Here you can describe your community and let others know what your online forum is all about. Descriptions are limited to 75 characters so choose your words wisely.
Choose from a list of pre-made icons: Select this button if you're going to use one of the supplied icons from the drop-down menu to represent the content of your discussion forum. Each category has 5 icons to choose from
Upload 100x100 icon from my computer: Select this button to use an image from your computer and you'll be presented with a Browse or Choose File button (depending on your web browser). Then, navigate to the image and upload it. The recommended image height and width is 100x100px. Images larger or smaller will re-size and may look distorted after the file is uploaded.
Upload 100x100 icon from a URL: Use this option to use an image hosted with an online image hosting service. With this option selected, you'll be provided with a new field where you can enter the direct URL to the image on the hosting site.
To ensure quick approval, be sure to read and adhere to the guidelines listed at the bottom of the submission page. Once you have everything filled out to your liking, click the Submit Entry button and you'll be shown a preview of your directory entry. If you don't like the way it looks, click Delete Entry to re-do the entry.
Note that when you submit your online forum for inclusion, it is not added to the directory immediately. Rather, your entry will be put in queue for approval which can take up to one week. The main admin account on your forum will receive a PM when the entry has been approved or denied.
Once your entry has been approved, you can modify or remove it from the Directory by re-visiting the ProBoards Forum Directory link in the admin panel. Once there, you'll see a preview of your directory and a button that says Delete Entry. Click this and your current directory entry will be removed. You can always resubmit a new entry at a later date.