Advice on building a Forum

[mckennaronnie]

Hi,

One of my websites is needing a Forum and i really am lost on how i build a forum or the best type of script/software to use.

I am a relative Newbie to webdesign with my only knowledge being what i've taught myself in HTML/CSS so i need all the advice i can get regarding forums.

Can somebody please suggest the best way of my building a forum, any decent websites for advice, the best software or scripts available...etc

Also i dont want to spend too much money on this forum as the website has no income just yet, so its the cheapest & easiest method of getting a forum im looking for.

ALl advice would be very much appreciated, Thanks in advance.

mckennaronnie

 

[Hitch]

Hey,

Well, it really depends on what you want from a forum.
If you have the money, and want alot of control over your users, features, and big addons, and easy customization of your forum, deffinately go with vBulletin, it's abit pricy though.

For a free solution, i recommend PhpBB or MyBB.
PhpBB would possibly be better for customization, over MyBB, with a easily template system using .tpl files, and there is more modifications and skins available for PhpBB over MyBB.

Also, for other forums, check out the Web Development resource List.

While i'm here, i advise you not to use IPB, or SMF, there interface is just terrible. :lol:

 

[mckennaronnie]

Thanks,

I am going to look more into PHPBB i think.

I dont think i need too many advance features from my forum, the main things are that it is easy to set up and manage since i have little experience with forums.

I was also told by a friend with a music forum that certain forums arent very good for SEO reasons so obvioulsy that is a major consideration for me since it is a new website and SEO is very important so i can get the website to grow.

Thanks

mckennaronnie

 

[mckennaronnie]

hey,

Thanks for that link, it looks like that website may help me with any problems getting forum set up.

My friend who owns a very successful music forum had told me to use phpBB with the URL re-write patch as it isnt too hard to set up and the URL re-write is much better for SEO reasons.

I have downloaded phpBB and had a quick look at it but i must say it looks a bit tricky with so many pages/files. I will need to do a fair bit of reading so i have an idea of what is needed and what each page does.

Part of me is thinking it may be better value for me to pay somebody to set the forum up for me rather than spending days setting it up when i could be making money somewhere else. Though i will give it a try myself and see if im starting to understand things before hiring somebody else.


mckennaronnie

 

[Andreas Bard]

Hello,

I have worked with phpbb quite much and the problem with that software is that has alot of security issues. But apart from that it is a good platform and one big advantage is all the hack and modules that are available for it.
I have recently started to look in to MyBB, and I must say I like that software more but the downside is that there are not that much hacks and modules for it available yet.

Good luck with your forum!

//Andreas

 

[Hitch]

I have worked with phpbb quite much and the problem with that software is that has alot of security issues.

1. Nearly every piece of software has some security risks at some point.
2. When PhpBB find a bug, they patch it up, and sent out updates straight away.
3. Out of successful exploits, IPB seems more vulnerable.

Really, do your research when trying to put software down because of security.

 

[Andreas Bard]

I did not really mean to put phpbb down, as you see I write that I use it and that it has alot of advantages.
But it is a known fact that phpbb forums often are hacked, but of course that can happen to any software and website.

//Andreas

 

[seeker]

SMF is fantastic from many points of view.
It is really worth trying, and they are great with security issues.

 

[dongan]

SimpleMachines are fine enough to run a forum IMO.

 

[Aesthetic]

What's the most seo-friendly seo script?