how to start a forum?

[S13S14S15]

I am looking into starting an online forum. However, I am not sure how to do it.

Do most forum owners get their forums hosted by some company or do they usually get their own server to host it? what about this forum?

I have been searching around and found some web hosts. But their subscribion plans usually have a limit on how much bandwidth you can use. I was wondering what would be a good amount of bandwidth for a beginning forum? and a big forum?

any help would be appreicated.

[soulDistortion]

Webspace and money are what you need.

Depending on the package plans for the hosts you're looking at, go for something middle-ground that's in your budget. If you have any questions as to what you'd need, feel free to send an email to the hosts you're looking at: this will also help you get a feel for how their customer service is on the odd chance something were to go wrong, plus it makes it easier for you to set up the forum if you have established a friendly rapport with your provider.

Also, prepare to shell out some cash for decent forum package (like vBulletin, which is what this board is running on). All the free forums suck major ass because they are laden with banners and a generally clunky, low-customizable interface. You might think they're the perfect solution, but if you plan on having a long term type of thing, you'll grow to hate the pop-ups and whatnot.

Don't worry about bandwidth if you're just starting off, just remember to do these two things: put a limit on the size and number of files that can be attached to a post, and disallow remote linking to images hosted on your site. Those two things alone can seriously kill bandwidth: on the site I admin at, before we fixed those problems, we would burn through several gigs of transfer a day because people were uploading images to our server, and then using them on other high-traffic boards.

[S13S14S15]

let's say i make a car forum or some sort, how do i get the name out so people knows it exists? advertising seems too expensive.

[soulDistortion]

Word of mouth.

If it's a good board, people will find it and stay, and tell their friends. Don't spam other boards saying to look however: that's just bad netiquette, and people will think you're a tool, and nobody will go to your board.

[S13S14S15]

is there a way to get forum softwares for free ( i guess illegal?)

or is it one of those things that are impossible to get for free

[Kreator]

there are some free boards u can dl, but you will have to have their advertisements for free.

In any case, running somebody elses forum is lame. write one yourself :)

[S13S14S15]

was this board's software written or bought?

[whateverjames]

I think this software was bought. You can go to http://totalchoiceshosting.com and get their cheapest webhosting plan which should be enough space and bandwidth. They also have forum software for free and you can customize it however you want.

[wherezmytofu]

u hae to kill me and drink my blood :eek:

[adey]

ikonboard. It's served me well so far!!
http://www.ikonboard.com/ All you need is webspace which will cost anywhere from $15/month up to hundreds a month, depending on how much traffic you're expecting. Ikonboard is free, just set aside a couple hours (first time it took me maybe 3 or 4 hours) to set it up if you're a non-computer nerd like me. :D Have fun and good luck!