As an webmaster and forum owner, it's easy to get carried away with adding new features to your community website. However, adding features that aren't used by your members can be a waste of time and money. Admittedly, I have had to rethink many features or disable some after realizing the time was not right. While it's a good idea to ask your members if they want a specific feature, many will say they want it, but won't use it when it's implemented.
To avoid adding unnecessary features, keep an eye on your competitors. Finding competitors is easy - search for similar keywords on Google, and you'll find plenty of results. Once you've found some competitors, take a look around their site and consider a few things:
Which sections of...