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how do i start a community website?

bigblackdog Posts: 1,076 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 8:00AM in Techie Stuff

Any pointers?
something similar to moneysavingexpert.com , did martin lewis build this from scratch or what ?
i wonder . am i even allowed to ask .......

my favourite food is spare ribs

Comments

peteb23 Posts: 192 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 8:37AM

This forum is Vbulletin which you can purchase from https://www.vbulletin.com/order/ you can also include a blog for the rest of the site.

A good forum alternative is http://xenforo.com/

Another possible set up that requires no techie knowledge is Ning.com

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bigblackdog Posts: 1,076 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 8:51AM edited 6 October 2011 at 9:04AM

could this site use 'cloud' ? or is that only for gaming and storage of photos and of no use , (gadget show were on about it)

my favourite food is spare ribs
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HoofeHearted Posts: 2,652 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 9:04AM

bigblackdog wrote: »

relating to this , what is a server ?

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Server_%28computing%29

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bigblackdog Posts: 1,076 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 9:08AM edited 6 October 2011 at 9:14AM

HoofeHearted wrote: »

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Server_%28computing%29

thanks , i realised after posting i should just google that question , doh

wow 5% of the U.S power supply is used by servers and there coling fans

my favourite food is spare ribs
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peteb23 Posts: 192 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 10:10AM edited 6 October 2011 at 10:38AM

bigblackdog wrote: »

could this site use 'cloud' ? or is that only for gaming and storage of photos and of no use , (gadget show were on about it)

Cloud computing is really just marketing speak. All it means is that your data will be stored on a server somewhere to allow access from anywhere in the world. Wow, just like a website!

I guess "To the Cloud" sounds better than "Upload it our server and we'll look after it for you, honest, Guv".

To launch your own website you will need to rent space on a server to host it. If you go for something like Ning then they host it for you. Otherwise you'll need to get a host that supports the software you decide to run.

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chunter Posts: 2,026 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 10:16AM

Lot of work in a forum. Started one a month or two ago and I had to set it so the moderator approves the posts because there was just so much rubbish being posted. I have 581 members and about 6 useful posts.

I'm using phpbb which came as a free add-on with the hosting package. It's very good but permissions are far more complicated than they should be.

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UncleZen Posts: 878 Forumite

6 October 2011 at 10:35AM

I dont think what technology you use is the issue, its how do you get your audience to participate - thats the hardest part.
Echo what chunter said, moderation is the problem. I once run a forum for a dog club, 2000+ forum members, but lots of bad info posted, not to mention spam attempts, its was closed down in the end.

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VSC Posts: 90 Forumite

13 October 2011 at 9:26AM

Are you certain that you have the community from which to build your forum?

As has been said, building forums is probably the hardest venture to consider.

But ... you will need to get a strong core of members asap to set the ball rolling, and promote it actively by posting in related forums yourself to get interest/traffic.

Get a solid keyword rich domain name, reliable hosting, and be prepared to moderate every post.

Use any SEO plugins to help your forum get indexed.

The key will be good informative and helpful posts, new posts every day, long threads, active active active.

If necessary, create multiple identities for yourself and create threads/respond yourself, pay for forum posters - in the early stages. (Very common practice!).

Good luck.

"Out of excitement comes invention" Charlie Chaplin
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