Free Forum Advice

IronCladonkey · Post #1 (**permalink**) 02-07-2005, 11:51 AM

I'm thinking about starting a freeForum host. The problem is deciding on which forum to use and also if it's worth it.

I first thought , maybe phpbb bcos of the amount of scripts that you can buy that sets the forums up very fast and efficient. But there's a big amount of bandwidth involved with phpbb. From my experience. So I thought maybe vBulletin. The problem then is the amount of freedom it gives you in the area of mods and basic "user changes".

All I really want to get out of this is marketing for some of my own sites, or selling some of the adspace to clients.

Should I give it a try or rather go for easier/cheaper alternatives?

Thanks For Your Time

sirjonathan · Post #2 (**permalink**) 02-07-2005, 05:01 PM

By free forum host I assume you mean.. provide free hosting for forums?

Do you know if there's a market? Do you know people who need free hosting for their forums? Perhaps people who would be willing to make the move?

Do you already have hosting costs covered or would you expect to just eat costs for a few months and hope some of your freely hosted forums took off?

As a value added service or a way to get your name out it could be a powerful tool.. It doesn't sound like a good way to get 'started' though. The key would be getting high profile forums to take you up.. then of course, bandwidth becomes an issue.

One thing I've learned about forums, though.. and especially to keep in mind if you host them.. make SURE you provide a daily backup service. That could be a small additional fee perhaps.. offer free weekly and daily backups for a fee (or perhaps twice daily?)... That's a huge deal for forums

.

Keep up the good work!

-Jonathan

MaxHost · Post #3 (**permalink**) 02-08-2005, 02:56 AM

The biggest issue is getting traffic to your site. You could have the best phpbb host, but how are people going to know about it? What separates you from everyone else?

IronCladonkey · Post #4 (**permalink**) 02-08-2005, 11:18 AM

yea what I'm trying to do is setup a free forum hosting service. for example www.forum4free.com . the owner is a friend of mine and he bought a application that sets the forums up . he started with something like 1gig space and 10band. which really is nothing. and now he's running on 3 of his own servers and making all his money from googleads.

I'm part of a university community that wants a free forum service so finding clients aint the problem. I'm just trying to find out which forum would be the most reliable and cost efficient for a free service.

James · Post #5 (**permalink**) 02-23-2005, 01:39 AM

Why not go really hardcore like the guy at proboards.com did and coded his own forums and now is quite possibly the largest free forum hosting provider on the internet?

Equinox · Post #6 (**permalink**) 02-23-2005, 08:16 AM

I am busy working on a FreeForum board and you can take a look at it once its gone live. It isn't mine, but I'm coding it and looks like it might be a winner...anyway, I'll leave you in suspense and let you all know when its up and going. Artashes, you're gonna be waaay proud!
Regards,
~Equinox

IronCladonkey · Post #7 (**permalink**) 02-23-2005, 12:15 PM

Sounds interesting. When it's online, maybe you can tell me the resource usage. Thanks

sirjonathan · Post #8 (**permalink**) 03-08-2005, 06:23 PM

Any updates Equinox?

.. I was very curious about this one.

Artashes · Post #9 (**permalink**) 03-08-2005, 06:47 PM

Yes, Equinox (Ben), is a terrific programmer and we're working on a similar project together.