how to program and host an online forum??

other ed · 11th June 2008, 7:04 AM

Hi,
Due to a recent problem with the government in my area, it has been suggested that the local community have an online rallying point. I thought I'd try to build and host the forum as my way of helping out.

I dont know where to start. Can I host this sort of thing from home?? I have a static ip with my isp and some bandwidth to spare. Can I just setup a box and plug it into my home lan??

We would be looking at free / donated software - I currently run ubuntu at home, so is there any packages that can run on it to hold the forum? Or free(ish) software for windows??

I did have a google aroung a long time ago with the thought of doing a similar thing, but for a different reason. And I found it very heavy trying to understand all about php and sql and stuff.

So I guess I'm looking for something that kind of works 'out of the box'. I understand that some tweeking would be required.

I hope that someone here can shed some light to help me understand my options and how to move forward.

Thanks,
Ed.

devteam · 11th June 2008, 8:39 AM

You could try this one http://www.simplemachines.org/ should do what you need.

Ashpool · 11th June 2008, 10:52 AM

OPTION 1
Get a domain and a hosting account. There cheap and plentyful.
If you host from home it will be slow and painful for your users and will not be a plesant experience so they will tend to visit the site less and less.

Domain
$10-$30 for two years.
Hosting (Needs to support PHP and MYSQL)
$30-$100 a year.

My reccomendation would be http://www.jumba.com.au

Once you have that sorted you should be able to setup some sort of forums/cms with a little work. phpbb, phpnuke, mambo/joomla.

I would recomend phpbb. With some hosting providers you can setup some pre installed forums such as phpbb via the plesk or control panel desk, fantasico. If you cant install it this way then you can just download phpbb from http://www.phpbb.com/ and follow the instructions on how to setup mysql on your hosting account. Mysql will allready be installed so you will probably just have to install phpbb and supply phpbb with a su/root user/pass for the mysql instance.

OPTION 2
The other option is to buy some forum space from somewhere like ezboard(looks like they are now yuku)
http://www.yuku.com/home/learnmore/
, they have free accounts as well as paid ones, if you choose this option you wont have to worry about hosting/domain crap etc.

other ed · 11th June 2008, 3:37 PM

Thanks for the replies,

I can feel a learning curve coming on.

D J · 11th June 2008, 4:12 PM

http://www.freeforums.org/

Very highly recommended. No advertising or popups, no catches, 100% free. you get 100Mb of webspace, which is plenty if you don't enable attachments (you can always link them from another site). You also get access to a support forum if you have any problems. All software is included, and i think there's the option of having a blog as well.

only downside is you have to have freeforums in the domain name i.e. yourforum.freeforums.org, although i think for a $20 fee you can change it to a domain name if you have one registered, not 100% sure on that tho.

here's one i set up a while ago:
http://ost.freeforums.org/

and this one as well with the default skin:
http://wmc.freeforums.org/

both of those have been up for a couple years now with pretty limited downtime, although i haven't been on there for the last 6 months.

11th June 2008, 7:04 AM	#1
other ed Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Sydney, South West. Posts: 548	how to program and host an online forum?? Hi, Due to a recent problem with the government in my area, it has been suggested that the local community have an online rallying point. I thought I'd try to build and host the forum as my way of helping out. I dont know where to start. Can I host this sort of thing from home?? I have a static ip with my isp and some bandwidth to spare. Can I just setup a box and plug it into my home lan?? We would be looking at free / donated software - I currently run ubuntu at home, so is there any packages that can run on it to hold the forum? Or free(ish) software for windows?? I did have a google aroung a long time ago with the thought of doing a similar thing, but for a different reason. And I found it very heavy trying to understand all about php and sql and stuff. So I guess I'm looking for something that kind of works 'out of the box'. I understand that some tweeking would be required. I hope that someone here can shed some light to help me understand my options and how to move forward. Thanks, Ed. __________________ trades: kaspa_lee, bluedreamer, ccwd, Roscoe, silver6, dillusional, s3kemo, sheikhabe, Active Snail, AzNBoi, bYrd, Andres, vinnY, MiniDisc, vazzy, mr_nguyen, Squeezer, Fwoor, Jon187 Last edited by other ed; 11th June 2008 at 8:06 AM.

11th June 2008, 10:52 AM	#3
Ashpool Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ye Olde Melbourne Town Posts: 3,245	OPTION 1 Get a domain and a hosting account. There cheap and plentyful. If you host from home it will be slow and painful for your users and will not be a plesant experience so they will tend to visit the site less and less. Domain $10-$30 for two years. Hosting (Needs to support PHP and MYSQL) $30-$100 a year. My reccomendation would be http://www.jumba.com.au Once you have that sorted you should be able to setup some sort of forums/cms with a little work. phpbb, phpnuke, mambo/joomla. I would recomend phpbb. With some hosting providers you can setup some pre installed forums such as phpbb via the plesk or control panel desk, fantasico. If you cant install it this way then you can just download phpbb from http://www.phpbb.com/ and follow the instructions on how to setup mysql on your hosting account. Mysql will allready be installed so you will probably just have to install phpbb and supply phpbb with a su/root user/pass for the mysql instance. OPTION 2 The other option is to buy some forum space from somewhere like ezboard(looks like they are now yuku) http://www.yuku.com/home/learnmore/ , they have free accounts as well as paid ones, if you choose this option you wont have to worry about hosting/domain crap etc. Last edited by Ashpool; 11th June 2008 at 10:55 AM.

11th June 2008, 3:37 PM	#4
other ed Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Sydney, South West. Posts: 548	Thanks for the replies, I can feel a learning curve coming on. __________________ trades: kaspa_lee, bluedreamer, ccwd, Roscoe, silver6, dillusional, s3kemo, sheikhabe, Active Snail, AzNBoi, bYrd, Andres, vinnY, MiniDisc, vazzy, mr_nguyen, Squeezer, Fwoor, Jon187

11th June 2008, 8:39 AM	#2
devteam Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: 3931 Posts: 393	You could try this one http://www.simplemachines.org/ should do what you need.

11th June 2008, 4:12 PM	#5
D J Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Perth WA Posts: 87	http://www.freeforums.org/ Very highly recommended. No advertising or popups, no catches, 100% free. you get 100Mb of webspace, which is plenty if you don't enable attachments (you can always link them from another site). You also get access to a support forum if you have any problems. All software is included, and i think there's the option of having a blog as well. only downside is you have to have freeforums in the domain name i.e. yourforum.freeforums.org, although i think for a $20 fee you can change it to a domain name if you have one registered, not 100% sure on that tho. here's one i set up a while ago: http://ost.freeforums.org/ and this one as well with the default skin: http://wmc.freeforums.org/ both of those have been up for a couple years now with pretty limited downtime, although i haven't been on there for the last 6 months.