How much does it cost to start a forum

[MOHAWK17]

Hi everyone,

I am very much a newbie to the domaining world, but I am looking to start a niche forum. I am not really concerned if the site makes money, but would like to cover my cost of start up. My question is, how much would it cost for a person like me, an unexperience, non-technical person who would have to hire a developer and other experts, to get a forum up and going. I have several forums I am members of that I like the look and flow of and would like to copy the look of my site after, but have ideas for content I would like to include as well. The subject matter for my forum I am passionate about, and I am really just seeking a place where myself and other can share ideas and help each other's businesses. When I say I am a newbie, I mean a real NEWBIE. I know nothing about this stuff and only recently bought a few domain names to apply to my forum idea. That being said, I would have to farm out everything like design, hosting, and anything else associated with getting a concept like this up and running. Can anyone give me some ideas, advice, or words of caution, and even better an idea as to what all of this might cost?
Thanks in advance

 

[champ_rock]

there is a nice free forum software calld "phpbb"

it is completely free. and if u do not know how to install it then any hosting company provider using Cpanel generally has an option known as "Fanatasio" where u can install this by just few clicks.

 

[-MGS-]

there is a nice free forum software calld "phpbb"

it is completely free. and if u do not know how to install it then any hosting company provider using Cpanel generally has an option known as "Fanatasio" where u can install this by just few clicks.

PHPbb, SMF, MyBB all free. all it will cost is the domain name and hosting. It is very easy to star a forum up! could be done within a few days!

Get a good niche and your sorted!

-Dan

 

[Porte]

The Internet is crowded with forums, I strongly emphasize -MGS- point.. phpBB is fine, and is free.. you can customize the look and everything. If you do not have any design experience, you'll need to hire someone to do it for you.

Setup costs will involve a domain name registration (about 7-8usd for .com) and a web hosting plan (5-10usd /month. If you pay monthly).. If you want to know about best registrars/ web hosting providers here is my own experience.

GoDaddy > domain registration
HostDime.com > web hosting

Any more questions, just ask! :wave:

 

[ScottHughes]

You can start a forum for free, but you can also pay a lot to start it.

It's easier to do it cheaply or freely if you have programming and web design skills and promotion resources. Otherwise you are going to need to pay for marketing as well as web design and development.

 

[BLJEnt]

A great free forum script is simplemachines or just go to google and type in SMF.
I'm a total script newb and was even able to figure it out and put adsense on the forum. If you have a host that runs script.....SMF will pretty much do the job for you.

Brian

 

[Noner]

I'd say if you 20$USD, you can buy some cheap hosting account and domain. After that you can read articles about promoting forums. You can spread the word for your friends and to get people join in your forums. Having forum doesn't cost much, if you are active and you don't give up.

It is very hard to get an active forum, but I wish you the best with your following forum, if you wish to start one!

 

[tru1]

There are free forums out there, phpbb being a good solution, but if you wanted your forum to be top notch, investing into vb or ipb is a smart thing to do.

Then you'd have to get a custom theme designed, seo, etc.

software alone will cost you 100+

No set number since all options are up to you.

 

[InternetMoney]

If you're still interested in a forum I might be able to get you one set up and hosted for a small monthly fee. Depending what the forum is about.

 

[tritrain]

Of those free ones, which one is the easiest to manage and set up? I understand that some are not nearly as user friendly as vBulletin.

 

[notlikeyou]

SMF was easy, my host already had a built in link to install the forum. click click installed.

 

[BMFX]

By Far i think Mybb is the most like vb, and invision and safety, if you look at phpbb at least phpbb 2.xx its easily hacked and i havent really used 3 yet, due to lack of free templates out, and i am 2 lazy to design and code one my self.

They are easy to start but getting your forum actives where it gets hard.

 

[-GWS-]

My order of preference is vb (paid), phpbb (it is easily hacked unless your host or you are diligent on the updates. It also has alot of mods and hacks(the good kind) that are free too), and SMF.

For starting it out it is really good if you have some friends that are interested in helping keep it active. It is really hard to keep it active by yourself when first starting out.

As far as getting members try yahoo groups and others for the same niche you will be targeting.

Also just as a personal preference, don't load it up with ads. Nothing turns me off to a new forum than having to look at tons of adds.

I hope this helps a little. If you have any other questions that I might be able to help with PM or email and I'll get back to you.

 

[Resurrection]

Basically, Please take a look at this to know which are the various Options for Starting the Forum in terms of Software....

To basically Start with.. I would say, you go with MyBB. (a free one)..

You only have to purchase a Domain of your choice to begin with.

And I am sure there will be someone providing Hosting for Free / Very low pay...

Then, you can install that phpBB, put some Free theme and get the Forum started.

Then, in order to make money, Use Adsense etc....
To bring life to your new Forum, Do Post Exchanges, Hire Forum Posters etc.

Once your forum is active and full of life like forums like Namepros, Digitalpoint etc.. You will make loads of cash.. No doubt

Hope it helped

Feel Free to PM me with any questions

 

[Pointer]

Better buy nice, .com domain,
get some cheap <10$ hosting
hire some posters,
and most money spend on adversiting.


Pointer

 

[werewolf]

Pointer pointed probably the most important point You can start a forum almost free (you must buy domain and hosting) but the most important is posters. You can have the most fantastic ideas but if you don't have posters you'll hardly succeed. Anyway, good luck with it.

 

[dezinerite]

What you want to be careful of is someone trying to sell you those free open source softwares and worse: trying to convince you that they'll give you a discount on the installation fees.

1 - So many great forum softwares are available for free: phpbb, smf, mybb, just to name a few.
2 - Installing the forum software is really easy, anyone can do it - and if your hosting provides fantastico, it's as easy as 123.

...and if you're having probs, you can always ask us here at the forum and I'm pretty sure many of us will be willing to help you out for free.

 

[bro]

People Dont take it seriously if you are using free forum softwares and dont bother registering unless you have tons of posts and active members IMO so if your looking for a serious business you should go for paid software like vbulletin.

cheers

 

[dezinerite]

Well of course it depends on what kind of forum you want to have, and the type of members you're trying to attract. In some cases a VBulletin forum is unnecessary IMHO. It's always better to test the free softwares first, and if you don't like them you can move to something that isn't free.

 

[uswebdev]

People Dont take it seriously if you are using free forum softwares...

Not true.
There are many very successful websites using free foum software, like phpbb, which make money. I'll give you one example: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/