A forum is a type of website where people discuss various things. This is the primary reason why a forum may have many different sections. Having too many sections is not something that I recommend. However, having few sections isn't something that I recommend either. So, when it comes to online forums, how many sections do you need on your forum?

I wouldn’t add more than 10-12.

4-5 sections on topics that match your main niche. Create sections that align with the biggest pain points in your niche.

A new member introduction, off-topic, forum news, and forum helpdesk section.

The rest would be staff boards, a VIP section for premium members if you plan to do that, and maybe a classifieds section.

The idea is to keep the sections lower.

That’s because a lot of sections that are empty will make your whole forum look empty.

I think that creating too many sections would also confuse the users as well. This would mean that it could have a bad effect on your reachability when it comes to users seeking the right section. A forum should never be filled with unnecessary sections. This could really have a huge impact on SEO as well. A forum should be user-friendly. This is why it is always a good idea to never make too many subsections on a forum. This is the real deal.

I would say that the amount of sections you need on your forum would be based on whether your forum is new or it is established and you have an active community.

When I start a new forum, I tend to start off with minimal forums that I know will get posted in, and then I expand as I see different topics being discussed more often.

I find that if you create too many sections right from the opening of a forum, you will end up with many forums that have little or no activity at all, which is never a good look.

It depends on the niche of your forum. If you have a promotional forum you’ll most likely have more sub forums than the average general discussion forum. You’ll need a section for services if you’re offering them, a section for promotion, a section for webmaster discussions and of course an off topic area and staff areas. (Of course not everyone will get to see those.) With a gaming forum, depending on if it’s based around an individual game or if it’s general gaming will need less sections.