Want my own forum site

[Chappy]

Hi
I'm not sure if this is the right place for my question but here goes. I'm somewhat of a newbie to webhosting. I would like to run my own forum - quite like this one!, but nothing to do with domain names. I have a domain name all set up. Can anyone please give me some basic starting points for what I need to do? I'm guessing the first question is hosting - host myself or pay a hosting server. I can tell you that right now I have a DSL connection (DSLpro with SBC yahoo).

Thanks in advance

 

[maroulis]

no way to host yourself... I'd say get a basic hosting package for <$5 per month from GoDaddy as an example and buy either vBulletin (what this site runs) or phpBB (which is FREE but full of exploits). vB will set you back $160 for owned licence or $80 per year..

hope this helps... let me know if you need more info...

 

[Host47]

you'd be best off paying for hosting, that way if your serious and your idea is good, it will take off and you won't have connection issues.

Another question is what forum software to use, theres plenty of free ones and a few paid ones, again if your serious then paid is the way to go, although the likes of IPB and vBulletin have convertors so you can convert everything when you purchase your software.

Hope this helps, good luck with your venture.

 

[deu12000]

Get paid hosting. A regular shared hosting account should set you back under $10 per month and this is for good reliable hosting. You can find hosting here http://namepros.com/forumdisplay.php?f=44

Use PHPBB everyone says it's full of wholes and exploits I've been using it for a couple of years now and I've never had any problems all you have to do is update it when patches or upgrades are available. Once your forum gets big switch to VBulletin if you want to, but it's not necessary if you're comfortable with it, there are PHPBB boards out there with over 1,000,000 posts. You can download it at http://phpbb.com for free.

 

[weblord]

once you have webhosting account and a license of vbulletin, i can help you with the installation, just pm me about it. good luck

 

[Chappy]

Awesome, thanks guys. I'll first look for decent hosting. Anything I should look for in my hosting decision?...or just head for the cheapest with a reputable company (godaddy).

The two forum progs I was looking at were vBulleting and Invision Power. I'm a little weary of the free ones if they are susceptible to hackers - if thats what you mean by exploits.

Matt

 

[weblord]

The two forum progs I was looking at were vBulleting and Invision Power. I'm a little weary of the free ones if they are susceptible to hackers - if thats what you mean by exploits.

:imho: if you have a choice, then go for vbulletin
i just pm you.

 

[GTAce]

Dont go with GoDaddy's hosting. I haven't heard anything good come out of their hosting. I would go take a look at www.webhostingtalk.com Read reviews around there and pick a host from the best reviews. Finding a good host is important...because it's not always easy to pack your bags and move to a new one whenever you want.

As far as the forums themselves, good to see you're looking to purchase the software upfront. vB and IPB are both great pieces of software. Most people will pick one over the other, but I'll say that both are essentially equal. IPB tends to have a stronger admin side, whereas vB tends to have a better user side. Both have their advantages and disadvantages beyond that, but are small differences for the most part. I'd think about the key features you would like to see and then find out which software has it and which does not.

Also...hate to plug my own forums, but you'll find a lot of info to help you along the way in my forums. They're all about building and managing forums.

 

[weblord]

Dont go with GoDaddy's hosting. I haven't heard anything good come out of their hosting. I would go take a look at www.webhostingtalk.com Read reviews around there and pick a host from the best reviews. Finding a good host is important...because it's not always easy to pack your bags and move to a new one whenever you want.

As far as the forums themselves, good to see you're looking to purchase the software upfront. vB and IPB are both great pieces of software. Most people will pick one over the other, but I'll say that both are essentially equal. IPB tends to have a stronger admin side, whereas vB tends to have a better user side. Both have their advantages and disadvantages beyond that, but are small differences for the most part. I'd think about the key features you would like to see and then find out which software has it and which does not.

Also...hate to plug my own forums, but you'll find a lot of info to help you along the way in my forums. They're all about building and managing forums.

my registrar is godaddy - they're good at it :imho:
but i don't host my domains with them, technical support doesn't understand the word i ask from them.

 

[GTAce]

We're not talking about registering domains with GoDaddy, we're talking about purchasing hosting - there's a huge difference. The origional poster said that he already has a domain.

I register my names with GoDaddy too, but would never even think about using them as a host.

 

[weblord]

We're not talking about registering domains with GoDaddy, we're talking about purchasing hosting - there's a huge difference. The origional poster said that he already has a domain.

:imho: Godaddy is both registrar and hosting provider, so you get to touch their other services as well, if it's offending to you, then sorry. im just making a point comparing their 2 services.

 

[maroulis]

I host at least 3 different sites on GoDaddy - one being DNElite.com they are fine and remember he's a newbie..!

 

[GTAce]

Remember he's a newbie? Are you saying that because he is a newbie, he doesn't need quality hosting?

I've been through quite a few hosts and have read a lot about hosts and hosting reviews...and GoDaddy is by far some of the worst I have read. That's all I'm trying to say. As a matter of fact, I did a search for the for kicks over at WHT...here are the first three results that I looked at.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=455452&highlight=GoDaddy

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=415647&highlight=GoDaddy

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=477053&highlight=godaddy

If you want to host with GoDaddy, all the power to you, but I for one will not.

 

[maroulis]

newbie = doesn't know cPanel, Fantastico, etc.. let him experiment with $3.95 PHP hosting for a couple of months learn how to set-up vb then he can move to VDS/DS quality hosting

that's all I'm saying IF it makes sense to you

 

[Chappy]

Hey guys
Thanks for all the advice. It's good to have plenty of opinions. I have been happy with GoDaddy for my domains - but lets face it, I haven't really needed them for support in that respect. Hosting is obviously a little more complicated and the need for support may arise.

It sounds like GoDaddy is perhaps a simple/cheap option but would not necessarily provide the best features or support.

As there are a ton to choose from - can you let me know what are the main features I should be looking for?..space, transfer, email accounts?

Cheers

 

[weblord]

As there are a ton to choose from - can you let me know what are the main features I should be looking for?..space, transfer, email accounts?

Cheers

:imho:
since you wanna host forum on it, look for a big webspace so messages will not be pruned but archived for seo purposes, a lot of bandwidth will help also for online members posting on the forum so that it will not be slow. and support of course for phpbb with zend optimizer enabled and mysql.

 

[maroulis]

all these things you're proposing = GoDaddy $3.95/month 500GB bandwidth 1GB Storage or something...check their Linux Economy (PHP) package

 

[Chappy]

It checking GoDaddy site , for $3.95 you get 5gb space, 250gb transfer.

What would be considered a reasonable amount of storage and bandwidth for my idea (ie. hosting a forum site, like namepros)?


PS - what is mysql?
....so much to learn...so little time...

 

[Masahiro]

Firstly, I do not reccomend running a site from your house - get some hosting on a dedicated server.

Secondly, a forum with about 100 members and 1,700 posts takes up no more than about 30 megabytes - but always get a host that allows you to upgrade as your forum grows. Paying for 3GB of space and 100GB of bandwidth is a waste of money if your forum only has about 10 members.

Thirdly, your choice of software is important. If you have the cash to spare, I reccomend vBulletin - it is the "holy grail" of forum software - but if you can't afford it, there are some several free ones that will do a good job. I reccomend myBB - it's fairly new, but it has nearly all the features of vBulletin. phpBB is what a lot of forums use, but you need to make a lot of code edits if you want more than just a basic forum - phpBB is known for it's many secuity holes, and I don't even register at phpBB forums without a good reason.

If you need any advice, please PM Me - I've been running forums for 3-4 years [even though in the past they have all failed.]

 

[cyberoptik]

Hi,

I agree with Masahiro-- as far as hosting I would start off with a small (but upgradeable) hosting package, then as the forum grows you can upgrade as needed (do not host your site from your home). If you ask for web hosting offers here on NP, us hosts can send you some of our own offers for web hosting.

Mysql is bascially just the type database that scripts such as vbulletion/phpbb/invision board store their data in, so that would be a required feature. If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact me personally if you would like.

Good luck.

Regards,
Ron Johnson

 

[deu12000]

GoDaddy's pricing is actually great if not unbeatable. The problem is that godaddy is a domain registrar and they do not give proper hosting support. Go with a host that will be able to support you and fix your problems if needed.

 

[cocaine]

you can use phpbb forums and pay for removing the banners and ads

 

[1it]

Hi

i am new to this but i found 5gigs.com okay

you can install phpbb from the console

check out My Wigan Athletic FC forum


i set this up about 3 weeks ago

all FREE!!!!!