Setting up a forum

glowgirl_2

I am very involved in a niche subject and would like to set up a forum for this, problem is I'm not techie and don't know the best place to start, I already run a couple of blogs (not on the same subject) and have an adsense account that brings in a bit of cash, I also have a few affiliate links that bring in a bit too, I've done a lot of research, I know my subject really really well and I believe my new forum would prove popular, I'm sure it would have decent traffic to start with that I could build on and I have an advertising plan, its just the techie stuff, I don't mind spending a bit but obviously want to keep costs down as much as possible - any suggestions?:)

jasonwatkins

there are a number of sites that will provide you with an all-in-one solution to set up a forum. This one, for example ..

http://www.smfforfree.com/

You sign up for an account and they give you a ready-made forum. You'll have to have a small amount of technical skill though because you'll need to sign in to the account to customise the forum to suit your needs.

There is a company called dream hosting ..

http://www.dream-hosting.co.uk/

.. who offer web hosting solutions. The cheapest package is £10 for one whole year, but obviously you'd need to have some decent technical knowledge to set up a forum in that respect. I use them myself for my forum and they've been pretty good so far.

With a free hosting solution, you're more likely to get advertising from the people offering the hosting. with your own webspace you can obviously add your own adverts.

if it's a niche subject and you're confident you can get a good influx of people early on then that should be good. there are some pitfalls of starting forums and getting a good user base, but if you know where to advertise it then I think you should be ok.

glowgirl_2

Thanks Jason:) do you know anything about vbulletin? they keep comming up when I'm searching, my forum will have a lot of info on it that will need to be updated many times (by me) throughout the day as well as a section to chat, the chat part could come later if necessary the main point of the forum would be the updated info, any thoughts on that?

WelshPaul

I design and maintain a forum for a big UK Company as well as other web design work, Go for one of the free forums like phpBB no need to pay for vbulletin and the like.

All forums have updates from time to time, you don't have to apply them but i would strongly recommend it for security reasons.

oh when using phpBB for example you can get hundreds of free Mods like live chat as well as free styles and themes and images.

Get a domain name for a couple of pounds from someone like 123-reg.co.uk, hosting well don't go overboard as a forum takes years to build.

glowgirl_2

Thanks WelshPaul:) When I said updating I meant me adding new info throughout the day, the nature of the forum would be that as new info comes up or changes it would go straight on the forum for members to use, so I would need to be able to add new posts very regularly, members wouldnt need to post info just use what I put up for them, how does that sound? I wouldnt of thought it would be complicated to do that but then what do I know;) thanks again:)

jasonwatkins

A licence for vBulletin software, plus support, would cost around £174 quid. And that's without the hosting costs on top.

SMF Forums are quite good for add-ons as well - you can get all sorts of tweaks and upgrades. Live chats, extra profile settings - loads of stuff.

There's even an add-on that will let people start their own blogs as well.

Have you considered a content management system ?. The most popular one is called PhP Nuke and will allow you to integrate a fully functional forum inside that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP-Nuke

jasonwatkins

Once you've got the forum up and running, it'll be very easy to add new information as and when you need it.

WelshPaul

jasonwatkins wrote: »

Once you've got the forum up and running, it'll be very easy to add new information as and when you need it.

As Jason states, adding info is as easy as logging on and posting like you do here the only difference is a few extra clicks of the mouse.

glowgirl_2

Thats brilliant:T - thank you both:D

Bigbase

When you get your forum, make sure you install some antispam plug-ins. You will get alot of bots trying to post!

jasonwatkins

Agreed - had a huge problem with my forum until I installed a captcha code at registration, as well as a simple maths question, and it eliminated the problem overnight