How much time does your forum require from you?
 

Twice in the last couple of weeks, someone has posted in the Pre-Sales area to ask how much time it takes to manage a vBulletin forum. The first poster received answers indicating that it took very little. The second poster seems to have received replies that it can take a lot more than that.

So, in general, how much time does it take? The answer will obviously be: it depends.

What does it depend on? My impression is that the most important variable is the number of posters. (Is that correct?) My understanding is that the second most important variable is probably your number of added features or hacks or customizations or whatever they are called. (Is that correct?) A third variable seems to be luck - if your forum is targeted by spammers or attacked by the wrong sorts, you could end up spending quite a lot of time dealing with that.

The most basic question seems to be: if you have a small forum and are using the default, unmodified software -- how much time will it take on a weekly basis? monthly? If you have a truly minimalist approach, will it really take very little time?