Advice on starting my own forum?

[Alana]

Hello, firstly I am unsure as to whether I am posting this in the right place and if not, my apologies and feel free to move it to the correct location! :red:

What I am looking for if at all possible is some general advice on the first steps (in Layman's terms!!! lol) to creating my own chat forum?

I have been a member of two or three for some time now (mixed themes) and would very much like to create my own, but have no clue as to where to start or even if I would be able to manage or afford such a task!?

I am PC literate but not really on the technical side of things, so would this be beyond me? What things would I need to consider beforehand, and what sort of outlay would I be looking at for a decent software and hosting?

I would also appreciate any step by step guides or links to reputable sites etc., so basically all and everything I would need to know, bearing in mind I am somewhat a novice!!!! lol

Any replies are absolutely appreciated and all opinions welcome?

Alana x

 

[slipondajimmy]

Well there are a few free forum scripts out there that work well. IF you are a complete begineer you can get hosting with fantastico. it has several pre installed scripts, or you could pay someone to install it. once you get the hang of it its not that hard to run.

 

[mikepg]

Hello, firstly I am unsure as to whether I am posting this in the right place and if not, my apologies and feel free to move it to the correct location! :red:

What I am looking for if at all possible is some general advice on the first steps (in Layman's terms!!! lol) to creating my own chat forum?

Alana x

I am looking for the same thing. I tried setting up Apache, MySQL on a linux box and found it to be a little over my head at the time. I then switched to a yahoo hosting plan where I paid $35/month and it was plenty of storage and monthly transfer.

I used Vbulletin and liked it a lot! There are a lot of add-ons out there, but they can make your board vulnerable to hacking. I think that 1 year for Vbulletin is $135 or so..

 

[redhippo]

using vbulletin would be the best solution at $160 and another $100 for a years hosting