how to start a forum

[oo7]

Hi everyone

I have few ABC questions {basic question}.
All questions are childish.
But for me these questions are very useful.
I want to start Forum. So please answer my questions.

Following questions

1. How can I open, an open-forum.
2. Which software is good to control the forum.
3. How much I have to invest.
4. How forum works.
5. How we get advertises.
6. How we earn.



Please reply, for u these are only few questions but for me this is new world to thing.

You can also referrer me some – books and websites links for these questions.

[meetdilip]

Please go through

http://www.indiabroadband.net/web-ho...ion-sites.html

You can either create a free forum or get a paid software like vbulletin.

[oo7]

Please go through

http://www.indiabroadband.net/web-ho...ion-sites.html

You can either create a free forum or get a paid software like vbulletin.

meetdilip can you explain

difference between paid and free forum.

what is vbulletin ?

[meetdilip]

This forum runs on V bulletin software. You need to pay to get a V Bulletin licence. There are software like phpBB and SMF which are free.

To start a forum, you need,

1. Domain - Either paid or free

2. Hosting - Paid or Free

3. Software - Paid or Free

According to your budget, you can decide whether free or paid suites your need.

The link in previous post will give you links to a no. of free forum creating sites.

If you use V bulletin software, you get a forum like this. You can use a different theme which satisfies your appeal.

[Admin]

1. How can I open, an open-forum.

You need to buy a domain name, hosting and a forum script either free of paid.


2. Which software is good to control the forum.
In my opinion vbulletin is the best one and costs $150 for an owned liscence.

3. How much I have to invest.
Domain name: $10 (per year) hosting about $10 per month forum script $150 and then $30 something per year for upgrades.



4. How forum works.
Forum works as in?


5. How we get advertises.
You can sign up with Google adsense or other networks as well.


6. How we earn.
Mostly advertising and if you have a premium service you could charge a membership fee as well. It really depends what niche it is.
Forums are not that great revenue generators from advertising as a huge percentage of the visitors is repeat visitors who are ads blind.

[oo7]

How much V Bulletin licence cost.

what is the full cost to establish this type of forum.

somebody told me that u also own a forum.

@admin thanks for brilliant reply.


@meetdiplil thanks ur reply is also brilliant.

long way to go for me

[Admin]

All your questions are already answered... please read my reply again.

[oo7]

what is Domain name?

where i buy V Bulletin licence?

[mickey]

domain name is xyzabc.com you have to purchase this name which masks your website's ip and gives it a rememberable name..

where to get domain??i use Indialinks.. they are one of the best in India,
i lost one domain on 13th and my email users are barking on me.



vbulletin license is available at their site.. (i dont know about it )

3. How much I have to invest.
Domain name: $10 (per year) hosting about $10 per month forum script $150 and then $30 something per year for upgrades.


.

i will cut down on the ISD calls and International messages i make to that Russian.

[oo7]

thanks mickey .

where the Forum data store?

[just4kix]

The forum, its software, members' registration info, threads/posts, etc. everything is the data. It is stored on the hosting site provider. For example, the hosting provider for this forum is hostgator.com.

When you sign up for hosting, they will give you a server with disk space for you and give you a telnet and ftp access. This server is like a virtual server (tip: seek more info on vitualization and VMWare). It is as if you own a server now.

With this server you can now do anything you like.

In case of forum software, the best are vBulletin (paid) and phpBB (free). When you download the forum software, you get the forum installation script. You need to ftp this script to the host and run this script there and the forum is now up and running.

[oo7]

The forum, its software, members' registration info, threads/posts, etc. everything is the data. It is stored on the hosting site provider. For example, the hosting provider for this forum is hostgator.com.

When you sign up for hosting, they will give you a server with disk space for you and give you a telnet and ftp access. This server is like a virtual server (tip: seek more info on vitualization and VMWare). It is as if you own a server now.

@ just4kix thanks for valuable input.

can you explain more hosting site provider.

how to sign up?

i have to pay for data store or not?

[mickey]

The forum, its software, members' registration info, threads/posts, etc. everything is the data. It is stored on the hosting site provider. For example, the hosting provider for this forum is hostgator.com.

When you sign up for hosting, they will give you a server with disk space for you and give you a telnet and ftp access. This server is like a virtual server (tip: seek more info on vitualization and VMWare). It is as if you own a server now.

With this server you can now do anything you like.

In case of forum software, the best are vBulletin (paid) and phpBB (free). When you download the forum software, you get the forum installation script. You need to ftp this script to the host and run this script there and the forum is now up and running.

whats the need to tell so much info??

[just4kix]

You mean I shouldn't?

[oo7]

whats the need to tell so much info??

why .

[mickey]

You mean I shouldn't?

i dont think we need to hue-cry the server setups/domain provider/host etc to just anyone that way..
indeed whats heroic in discussing these things??

[oo7]

whats the need to tell so much info??

i dont think we need to hue-cry the server setups/domain provider/host etc to just anyone that way..
indeed whats heroic in discussing these things??

I can not get you man.
what is you are trying to say.


As i said in my post#1 This is totally new world to thing.

only you people guide me.

that is why i have so many questions

[mickey]

arrey it was not pointed towards you...

i was just telling him to refrain from posting website's private infos..just to anyone..

[oo7]

thanks for reply

[just4kix]

arrey it was not pointed towards you...

i was just telling him to refrain from posting website's private infos..just to anyone..

What private info have I posted here?

That this forum is hosted on hostgator? Anyone can find that out and besides that information was published by Admin himself once.

All public info about this site can be viewed at WhoIs.com, My IP address? Free IP Address tracer, IP address lookup, IP address finder, Alexa, etc.

So stop being paranoid

[mickey]

^^Shaant Bheem Shaant!!

[just4kix]

fftopic: LOL. You started the debate and also posted a sign. So who is ashaant?

[mickey]

^^Shaanti se hi bal milta hai Bheem

[just4kix]

@ just4kix thanks for valuable input.

can you explain more hosting site provider.

how to sign up?

i have to pay for data store or not?

A hosting provider is a company that has a server farm and can provide you the hardware and basic software that is required for hosting a website. Visit hostgator.com or search for hosting providers and you will get answers to all your Q's.

You pay for server cost only; nothing else to pay. There are various packages that may be available to suit your requirements. Basically the cost depends upon the number of CPUs, memory, diskspace, etc.

[deepmohan]

@money_ms

Web hosting service

instead of posting here if you google you queries you will get more info in detail.

[Admin]

Mickey there is nothing secret about running a website... just about anyone can do it. I know a few kids who run this own blogs and get loads of visitors every day.

Coming back to the point.. I dont know why are you guys so confused its fairly simple... will put it in simpler words again.


You want to start up a forum>
Buy a domain name from godaddy.com
Buy a shared hosting package from hostgator.com (linux with cpanel)
Buy your forum script from vbulletin.com or get it from phpbb

Now you have all three things...

Now you have the DNS from your hosting so just go to your control panel at godaddy and change dns for your domain to point it to your hosting... Your domain should start working in a few hours.

Setting up vbulletin or phpbb? well like everything else on the net they come with installation instructions step by step and even a 5 year old can follow them.


Now you have your forum up and running so you would need to set up the sub forums from the admin cp and you are good to go...

All the above should not take you more then 30 mins from the word go and if you a new to all this and you keep screwing everything y9ou lay your hands on then may be 24 hours at the most so in a day you have a complete set up.

Now all the above was easy... whats not so easy is getting visitors and there are a number of ways to bring people to your new forum that included paying per click to search engines in the begning and working on SEO to get traffic for free from search engines... you can advertise using banners on other websites.


Having said all the above you might think that its fairly easy to set up a forum... I would say yes and no and the reason I say this is that it is simple to create a forum but to get visitors on the forum is both expensive and difficult as well as time consuming.

[itsmemad]

I have a question too. One of my friends is running a forum based on the phpbb. It's fairly new. He wants to know that in future, can he migrate the forum to Vbulletin script?

P.S.- Hez very angry on me that I've posted only a single post in his forum in last 3-4 months.

[Admin]

Yes your friend can convert his forum to vbulletin using a script called impex but I would say sooner the better as all the url's would change and the whole forum would be indexed again by search engines and your friends forum will loose rankings for some time.

[itsmemad]

Yes, that would have been my second question about the time-frame for migration.

One more thing, VBulletin has released 3.8.4 version. I guess IBF is still running on 3.8.2 (it was recently upgraded). Is it really necessary to upgrade the script for security and other features? Does SEO improves with new versions if you don't have the services of VBSEO?

Now, VBulletin guys are charging $180.

Thanks.

[Admin]

Yes upgrading the script from time to time is a good diea as most of them include security patches.

Vbulletin script in my opinion is not bad but vbseo enhances its ranking prospects. With newer versions vb is trying to cover some aspects of seo but no vbulletin's main concern is not seo its the functioning of the forum and usability that is their main aim. Vbseo script is pretty good and doesn't really cost too much either..

Vbulletin price has gone up to $180 ever since it got a new owner... Vbulletin was bought by another UK company recently.

If you want to save up on some money then pay in British pounds and you will end up saving some money

[mickey]

@maddy, and admin
vbulletin is the best forum management..
i am part of a smf forum, and it suckz..

[Luke Skywalker]

NextBBS had more feature now I think check it out also. I too was planning for opening a forum for lug but I don't have much time. As for hosting search google. I think lunarpages is also good.

[mickey]

hostgator is the best..

[Luke Skywalker]

Hostgator even don't support MS SQL( as data base) ASP.NET & JAVA. So it is best huh?

[oo7]

Ok to start a forum i have to invest more than 10 thousand Rs.

what is outcome i get in first month.

when it is establish than what is the outcome.

[mickey]

Ok to start a forum i have to invest more than 10 thousand Rs.

what is outcome i get in first month.

when it is establish than what is the outcome.

no outcome

you have to wait atleast 3-4 months, with consistent traffic and feeds..



you need to establish your major presence on net.
this means you will have compitition with IBF and even if you hire me for spamming there, that wont work,..

[Rameshjeee]

Ok to start a forum i have to invest more than 10 thousand Rs.

what is outcome i get in first month.

when it is establish than what is the outcome.

It all depends on the traffic you get.

[oo7]

what is the outcome of establish forum.

with 10 thousand member or more

[mickey]

again i will say , it depends..

[oo7]

just4kix can u answer the post #35

[mickey]

^^@money_ms

better ask admin,, cause j4k is not admin , but moderator...

[Admin]

Ok to start a forum i have to invest more than 10 thousand Rs.

what is outcome i get in first month.

when it is establish than what is the outcome.

No one can answer this question...

It all depends on how much traffic you get.

Why dont you open up a blogspot blog and get adsense on there and see what kind of money you can make from ads?

To be honest if you are going to start a forum just because you want to make money then I can assure you that your chances of making it a success go down by 90% or more... Most forums that you see which are flourishing these days were started as a hobby and was something those webmasters enjoyed doing and the money thing comes in after a long long long time.

[mickey]

started as a hobby and was something those webmasters enjoyed doing and the money thing comes in after a long long long time.

I bet a big bar of chocolate

our admin himself started this website as fun..

normally when we start a website, its for communicating with like minded guys..
atleast for me,, for ex. i have made many pages on the internet just discussing edge internet..
i know its slower (and i also have BB access) but i still love it and want guys like me..

[oo7]

Thanks for reply admin.

[mickey]

Thanks for reply admin.

hey where is my thanks??? :32:

[oo7]

Big Thanks for your support mickey

[mickey]

^^Thanks...


so are you starting your new forum??

[oo7]

May be if i start forum i start as hobby first.

Long way to go.

[mickey]

May be if i start forum i start as hobby first.

Long way to go.

start with something like SMF/Mybb first...
including vbulletin for a hobby site, is just like browsing and chatting on a High speed optical fibre dedicated line..

[oo7]

ya buddy i need a month to understand SMF/Mypbp/vbulletin how these software works.

i m bit new for this so first i have collect knowledge .

[mickey]

SMF will confuse you...(cause you are working presently on this site)

try Mybb, i find it more interactive than vbulltetin..

[oo7]

as i said i m bit new for these things.

can you tell where to start.

can you referrer me anything to learn mypbp and smf.

[mickey]

mybb.com

getandshare.org

its a forum and you can just browse to see how things work there



(i am not promoting any of the cited sites, no offence taken, pls)

[oo7]

thanks for help.

[Admin]

ya buddy i need a month to understand SMF/Mypbp/vbulletin how these software works.

i m bit new for this so first i have collect knowledge .

It takes an hour or so to go through the features of every script you have mentioned there... besides that why dont you just browse a few forums based on vbulletin, mybb and smf to find out which one is the best from a visitors perspective after all its the members and visitors who make a forum not a webmaster alone or how easy it is to manage from the backend.

There is no better script then vbulletin apart from invision power board which is a different breed all together but even invision only makes a difference when your forum grows to become one of the largest boards on the net because the multiple server support and stuff is better in invision and its a little less resource intensive as compared to vbulletin especially when used along with vbseo.

Happy hunting

What sort of budget are you working on if you dont mind me asking and the niche of your forum?

[mickey]

There is no better script then vbulletin

you sound like a typical brand ambassador there..

i didnt meant Mybb is better than vbulletin in all specs, but some features i really liked...

[oo7]

It takes an hour or so to go through the features of every script you have mentioned there... besides that why dont you just browse a few forums based on vbulletin, mybb and smf to find out which one is the best from a visitors perspective after all its the members and visitors who make a forum not a webmaster alone or how easy it is to manage from the backend.

There is no better script then vbulletin apart from invision power board which is a different breed all together but even invision only makes a difference when your forum grows to become one of the largest boards on the net because the multiple server support and stuff is better in invision and its a little less resource intensive as compared to vbulletin especially when used along with vbseo.

Happy hunting

What sort of budget are you working on if you dont mind me asking and the niche of your forum?

buddy i easy invest more than 10k the thing is first i have to understand how things works.

[Admin]

Do let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

[oo7]

Do let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

buddy thanks for taking deep interest


I will tell you where i m facing problem when i start the forum work.


thank for help

[sb21pro]

mybb.com
 
getandshare.org

both sites are down, one is only sale and other had vb database error

lots of chit chats, here goes my words,

vbulitin is no doubt a very stable script, but is it really worth 180 $$ ?? think about the maximum you can achieve in one year and tell me is it worth it?? and yes it is only if you have a hell of a marketing strategy and lots of advertising planned, otherwise go with a free script, trust me its worth it.

on to free, options are phpbb/SMF1x/2x/MyBB

phpbb was the only actual free script available in old days so ot has a advantage of experience, has a stable script, and great
me: works very slow for me, plus took me a day to under stand a board structure

MyBB i love this tiny little script , very fast light and fully ajaxed
this script has a very bright future.

SMF , well frist of all i my self now am involved with smf development, i make mods(hacks/modules/plugins) for smf,so info is very much from smf team.

i had test installation of vb, have mybb,smf 1x/2x , believe me SMF lives upto the name Both the smf family are very different in features and coding so might want to take a look, 2.0 rc2 is about to be released , it will come out with a new core theme, which looks really good.

SEO, all the scripts does seo quite well, and Google actually prefers dynamic urls for scripts like these, meaning have names "name-of-topic.html" will not make a very huge difference in indexing in comparison to "?showthread?=200", but has more effect indeed

SMF and mybb has similar vbseo modules that you can use to rewrite urls, no idea about phpbb.

i still have test installation, i can provide admin access if you want for
SMF 1.x
SMF 2x
MyBB xx

about performance, all will perform similarly until you get really big nos, then you also have worry about your server hardware, not just forum script.

some demo sites
vbulitin - http://www.indiabroadband.net/
SMF 1x - S-Ace (portal used, nt standard)
SMF 2x - Simple Machines Community Forum - Index


Pm me, if you want the test accounts, for vb ask admin