Need Help on How to Make a Forum

Technoman

New Member
Hey Guys I really need help in making a forum. I want to have it be like a .com instead of a .something.com even if I have to get the domain. I have been searching everywhere, and I was even starting basic HTML Coding before I realized every other aspect I had to do. I would eventually like to get this done so If you could help that would be great!!!
 

TankerHC

New Member
Hey Guys I really need help in making a forum. I want to have it be like a .com instead of a .something.com even if I have to get the domain. I have been searching everywhere, and I was even starting basic HTML Coding before I realized every other aspect I had to do. I would eventually like to get this done so If you could help that would be great!!!

Ill take a shot at answering this.

First, sure, go ahead and study and learn HTML but dont stress it. You dont need to know any type of markup language to work within your hosts panel or build a forum. But it does come in handy.

First you will need a host. I have to disagree with Godaddy. Popular doesnt mean "good". Do your research. You will find plenty of top tens and if Godaddy is even in them it will usually be somewhere down at the bottom. One that I use which is always in the top three and usually right on top is iPage (www.ipage.com). They dont offer a cPanel but they have their own designed panel which offers pretty much everything you find in cPanel and at the least everything you will need. Plus thier up time is 99.9% average and they have high speed servers. One drawback is that if you want to pay month to month they only offer year to year at $54 a year. But if you plan on staying up then $54 should not be an issue.

Most hosts offer at least one free domain name. So that shouldnt be a problem. Just think carefully about what you want your domain name to be before ordering as if you get it then decide you dont like it or want to change it you might be buying the second one.

Once you have decided on a host, selected your domain name, and signed up you will now have your presence on the web. The first thing your going to want to do is familiarize yourself with your hosts control panel. Go into the panel. Check out there SQL Database, myphp, file manager, etc. At least scan through the documentation to get some general idea of whats going on.

So you have decided you want to host a forum. Well you have your presence, but you do not need to build a website to build your forum. But, you can build a site if you want to from within your control panel, most hosts offer basic and advanced website builders. No HTML knowledge required. Although I have worked with various markup languages for some time, I use Xara Web Designer Pro for my site. Well, now you will need forum software. I use two. MyBB http://www.mybb.com/ and phpbb http://www.phpbb.com/

Both of these are good Forum software programs, of the two I would say the best is phpbb. The good thing about these programs are that they are so popular that there are tons of youtube video's on how to set them up and use them. Once you download and unpack this software, all you really have to make sure you do is set the path to install in your public_html folder under your root directory. On either one you can set your username and password. Once they are installed, the path is simple. www.yourdomain.com/forum_name

Hit enter and your forum will pop up. Log in as Admin and start building your forum. Many people will tell you how hard it is, but believe me when I say "There is nothing to it". Everything in the forum interface settings is pretty much self explanatory. You will have some issues, like in both of those Forum software that I mentioned sometimes when you set your file permissions to chmod 777 it wont take, if you have good host support, 24/7 you can simply pop up a chat and get their help because its usually a problem with the host.

A few tips.

You do not want to have to keep going back and changing your forum's format. So I recommend looking at some established forums, like this one for example, and using them as a basis for your template.

Set your permissions, but dont over admin or moderate your forum. You want your members to have a good experience and keep coming back and adding more members.

I am not going to tell you to violate copyright rules. But, dont spend a lot of time typing in rules and reg's and this and that. Find something that will suit your needs on those sections of other forums "ASK THE ADMIN OR MODS IF IT IS OK", copy and paste and just change the wording to suit your forum.

If you need any help setting up, just let me know and Ill help you.
 

Technoman

New Member
Thanks A Lot! You Helped me Greatly! I kept looking and hearing how hard it is, but I'm pretty savy with host's and stuff so this shouldnt be hard! Thanks!!!
 

ReMiXeDg

Member
I would suggest you not to get hosting from godaddy.com

You can get yourself offshore hosting or onshore hosting from a company like backhost.us I suggest them their a great company with great feedback from clients.
As for the forum you'll need forum software like phpbb3 or SMF there are a lot of free forum softwares out there and some that cost big money like vbulletin. Find your self a domain provider purchase a domain then purchase shared hosting update your name servers. Then start uploading your website files which would be your forum software and install it. If you want message me on skype over at bh_greg and I will be willing to help you with anything or answer any questions you have.
 

sshaggy

Member
Steps are simple:
1. Get a domain name.
2. Buy a hosting (Hostgator recommended, I'm personally using it to host more than 20 of my websites, without any problem). Or get a free hosting service for testing services until you are ready to get heavy traffic. I have used x10hosting.com free services for about a year, which was great, considering it was free.
3. Install a forum software into the server. This installing is a little different from regular software installation. Most webhost offer one click installation of forum scripts. But if you prefer to do it manually, steps are quite easy. You need to create a database, and upload the script files onto the server.
4. The installation process is launched automatically, when you navigate to the root directory in browser. You need to enter details of database, and few other things.
5. You are good to go. Now you need to create different forums and subforums, give permissions and other things.

For forum scripts, I have a few suggestions based on personal experience:
1. PHPBB3: It is a very popular, robust and free script. Its a little hard to understand at the begining, but you'll master it very soon, and you'll realized its true power. Best freee script you can get for a forum.

2. Joomla CMS + Ninjaboard Component: This component will give you an advantage, that you can create a full fledged website along with the forum. Use this if you are not thinking of having just a forum, but a little bit of a website too.

3. vBulletin or IP Board: Both of these are premium scripts, that cost quite a money. This computerforum is based on vBulletin. Go for these, if you believe that paid content is better than free content, otherwise, no reason for going for these two.
 

Feuerfrei.x

New Member
Steps are simple:
1. Get a domain name.
2. Buy a hosting (Hostgator recommended, I'm personally using it to host more than 20 of my websites, without any problem). Or get a free hosting service for testing services until you are ready to get heavy traffic. I have used x10hosting.com free services for about a year, which was great, considering it was free.
3. Install a forum software into the server. This installing is a little different from regular software installation. Most webhost offer one click installation of forum scripts. But if you prefer to do it manually, steps are quite easy. You need to create a database, and upload the script files onto the server.
4. The installation process is launched automatically, when you navigate to the root directory in browser. You need to enter details of database, and few other things.
5. You are good to go. Now you need to create different forums and subforums, give permissions and other things.

For forum scripts, I have a few suggestions based on personal experience:
1. PHPBB3: It is a very popular, robust and free script. Its a little hard to understand at the begining, but you'll master it very soon, and you'll realized its true power. Best freee script you can get for a forum.

2. Joomla CMS + Ninjaboard Component: This component will give you an advantage, that you can create a full fledged website along with the forum. Use this if you are not thinking of having just a forum, but a little bit of a website too.

3. vBulletin or IP Board: Both of these are premium scripts, that cost quite a money. This computerforum is based on vBulletin. Go for these, if you believe that paid content is better than free content, otherwise, no reason for going for these two.

Yes Joomla is a really good way to go, we are using it in A Level Computing, once you get the grip of it its gooooooooooood stuff ;)
 

sAiyAnstAr

New Member
Steps are simple:
2. Buy a hosting (Hostgator recommended, I'm personally using it to host more than 20 of my websites, without any problem). Or get a free hosting service for testing services until you are ready to get heavy traffic. I have used x10hosting.com free services for about a year, which was great, considering it was free.

I have to agree with you here. HostGator is the best host that I have ever used. I am happy to create an account for you to trial for a few weeks so you can see for yourself and make up your mind before purchasing one of their plans (even though they are pretty cheap for what they provide).

I haven't really used any free hosting that has cPanel, so I can't comment on that. But if it is paid hosting you are after, then HostGator is my recommendation. (I don't work for HostGator btw. I am just a very happy customer).
 
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