how to set up a forum?

[bot]

i was just looking for some leads to where you can get forum software, and how to set it up... anyone?

i would love to get a format like this site: forums.audiworld.com/tt but, that software was written specifically for that site. however, i could see myself using a format like this forum's. it's my second favorite.

any leads would be great!

thanks

[Statica]

There are tons of forum scripts that follow the format as you show. Heck even this forum can be viewed in that format (go to any thread and click on Display modes > Threaded mode).
It depends on what language you want to run a forum in, usually determined by whats allowed by your webhost, and whether you want to spend any money on the forum software.

[bot]

Originally Posted by Statica There are tons of forum scripts that follow the format as you show. Heck even this forum can be viewed in that format (go to any thread and click on Display modes > Threaded mode). It depends on what language you want to run a forum in, usually determined by whats allowed by your webhost, and whether you want to spend any money on the forum software.

i know about this forum's other formats... trust me, it doesn't compare. when first looking at it, it seems the same... but it isn't at all.

language: i'd like to do it the easiest way, most likely. i think my web host would allow anything... however i'm not sure how to tell... do you know how? i'm signed up through 1and1.com.

as for forum software... can you please give me some links?

thanks dude!

[Statica]

Here's an example of a good resource list with various scripts: http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Script...rds/index.html
Mind you thats just for PHP, there are tons others.

I dont know what package you are with 1&1 - I really dont think they provide enough control panel tools to do an installation of a good discussion board. Nor do I think they will be able to handle a lot of traffic - I could be wrong though.

[bot]

tuh. i really don't know anything about my package either. a year ago i signed up for their "free 500mb for 3 years" plan... know anything about it?

thanks man

[Statica]

Yeah I do, its downright annoying - mind-numbingly slow, heck it seems to take them 15 minutes to allow you to use a SQL database while they "configure it" (I have no idea what takes them so long) - same thing to delete it or create a new one. Last I checked, they didnt even have a grafical front end to admin the SQL (like phpmyadmin) which means that you have to install it yourself - no biggie but what genius came up with that half-baked control panel (Mind you there is no SSH either)
On the bright side, they do provide 500MB for 3 yrs (yeah I have the same plan) and its nothing more than an offsite holding area for some files of mine. I realistically cant do anything of too much value with it.
The flaky performance is another thing - it just bogs down on you, sometimes cuts off FTP access. The logs are ridiculously simplistic, and even that involves too much time to get a hold of.

If you are going to start a forum and have some serious target audience who are going to frequent it, you would benefit from a more reliable web host. As I said, the price is great, but any site that takes 15-30 minutes to get a database running is really on the cutting edge of nothingness.

[bot]

first off let me thank you for taking your time to help me out with this.

let me tell you what i'll be using this forum for... i'm setting it up as a kind of "project" where everyone from my school can come on and chat... a lot of people are interested in it, but 400 people max go to my school. so, to be safe... we'll say 500 people will be on it, between teachers, random people, and kids who have graduated.

where would you buy a web host? (one that is good for what i'm doing, and user friendly)

i don't want to pay A LOT, but i'm not on a very tight budget. i saw one on the site you sent me for $15 a month.. that's very doable.

i cannot thank you enough man!

[Statica]

You're very welcome.

For 500 people, you are looking at a database that is going to start getting rather huge in a short period of time. So choose something that is tried and tested and robust, or you will spend more time on bug fixing than on actually enjoying the forums. phpbb.com is a good forum script as well. Keep in mind though, that forum scripts are one of the highly targetted pieces of codes by exploiters, so you must be up on your game in keeping updated with security patches. So make sure that your script is going to be well supported. Personally, I would stay away from the really small / unpopular scripts because documentation and real world results of running a with a db of 500 users might not be available.

Then about the host, there are going to be as many opinions of hosts as there are for choices on forum software - Personally, I use www.hostmatters.com for my webhosting needs. Do a search on these forums for web hosts and you should come with a variety of answers.

Again, for a db of that usage, I would really stay away from 1&1 - especially on their free package.

[bot]

thanks... i'll try their $11 plan, will that be enough? i'm probably gonna go for that phpbb.com thing too.

can i pm you if i run into any problems?

edit: maybe you misunderstood me at first... what i meant by 500 people was, that's the absolute maximum that would register on to my site. i'd say only 15 people max would actually be on at once.

would you still say no to the 1and1?

[Redfallon]

Statica was talking about the number of posts that 500 users could theoretically generate in a short period of time, not how many could be online at one time. That's what he meant by the database size. Sounds like he's suggesting to steer clear of them either way, and based on his personal experience with them at that.

[bot]

ok... so i'm setting up the php one... and when i get to this page:

image

i'm lost. can anyone help me out with the "database" part? oh yeah, i'm putting it up on my 1and1 at first... once it gets going, i'll switch it over to a different webhost.

can anyone help me out with that database? thanks!

[Statica]

Did you create your database through the 1&1 admin panel? Once the database is created, you will have to use the databasename, username, password and server hostname (it isn't localhost either) from that page.
You should use your own admin email address, domain name, script path, admin username and password. to start installation.

[bot]

how do you create a database?

[Statica]

1) Login to your 1&1 control panel through: https://admin.1and1.com (you need your customer ID and password)
2) This takes you to the package overview screen click the ADMINISTRATION link
3) This should take yuo to the Package Administration screen click on APPLICATIONS
4) Now click on MySQL Administration .. follow the prompts to create a new MySQL database .. wait for 15-20 min. and then go to the screen for MySQL administration. You should see the database name/username/password/hostname once its ready.

I would strongly suggest installing something like http://www.phpmyadmin.net/ as well. You are going to need it eventually, ESPECIALLY if you want to export the tables out for use on another web host when you get one.

[Statica]

Addendum for you in case you are considering something like hostmatters.com - one of the greatest features to hostmatters is them providing you with a cpanel that will actually help you. One of the nice features is them including Fantastico with their control panel, which is a collection of scripts that you can install. One of the components that it comes with is phpbb2 which can be automatically installed in 2 mouse clicks. It's quite a nice feature.

[bot]

ahhhh. completely forget my customer id