Totse started off with only a few forum categories, and only added more when it grew.
It's a bit silly to have 40 odd forums when we have an equal number of members.
It probably would be best to merge a few of the forums which have similar topics until the community starts gathering momentum.
Comments
yeah that's our main obstacle right now.
But the more categories; the more contributors needed.
There are shitloads of forums on the web; people can discuss stuff anywhere they want. The goal has to be draw in decent posters and keep them posting and responding: to form communities.
If there are half dead forums, then people may post once with an interesting thread, but are going to be less likely to come back if there are no replies after a certain amount of time.
If a given forum area encompasses a wider ranger of topics, then its going to increase the audience, and thus give a greater chance of people replying.
Additionally, it takes less time to visit one forum and check for updates, then to click through 3. The time they spend flicking through empty forums could be used responding to posts.