Forum Software

keyboardcook

Hi,

Perhaps his article has already been discussed, but as you can imagine, using the phrase 'forum software' as a search parameter returns too much info to trawl through.

I want to set up a forum an a website I am developing, and was wondering if anybody can steer me in the right direction.

FYI: I am using Digiweb to host my site. Same host as boards.ie.

I would preferably want something free or cheap to get started.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

kc

NeVeR

http://www.simplemachines.org/
This one is pretty good. I've used it before and it's Free,

Also http://www.phpbb.com/ is pretty good. This board is around alot longer with more add-ons for it.

if i was to pick one of the 2 i'd go with phpbb.com.

jhegarty

+1 one on either of those... if you look at big-boards.com you can see what software the bigger sites are using...

keyboardcook

That's great. I posted here because I got google brained trying to trawl through search results.

Will check those out,

Thanks Guys,

KC

AARRRGH

Not quite the question you asked but...

Don't put a forum on your website unless you know a lot of people will use it. IMO empty forums make their parent website like bad.

Eoin

AARRRGH wrote: »

Not quite the question you asked but...

Don't put a forum on your website unless you know a lot of people will use it. IMO empty forums make their parent website like bad.

I was about to say something similar. Generating a community on a new discussion forum is very hard. The more complicated a system, the less people will use it on a regular basis, let alone sign up.

Depending on what you want to do, maybe think about starting with a blog that allows for people to submit comments at the bottom of an article, and give it a while.

keyboardcook

I guess it is a balancing act- knowing when to launch the forum and getting it right etc.

What sort of blog/reply software is out there. Perhaps I could use it to test the waters. Are shout boxes any good, or a waste of time.

FYI: The site is about Digital Audio Workstations on the Vista Platform.

Eoin

It's not so much the type of content you have to worry about, but how the content will be generated.

Are you hoping to set it up and people will post away? That's not as likely to happen as you might hope.

Lots of blog software out there, it all depends on what your hosting company provides, or what you can install on your account. I'm sure their site (or support team) can offer more details.

keyboardcook

Thanks to you guys, eoin_s, I have the Digiweb account to get started, (first to reply Digiweb) so I don't have to worry about that for a while.

When and if the time comes to upgrade, I am aware that I will have to balance server costs against any possible revenue made via advertising. I have a strong background in business, so I hope I am ready for any punches I am going to get.

But you have hit the nail on the head. Failure to prepare is preparation to fail, and I want to be sure that the forum is there when it is needed, as it could play a pivotal role in the success of the site.

I will not disagree that other sites do exist in the same vein for different OS's, and survive without the need for a forum, but I really want to take the whole issue deeper than I have found anywhere.

In your opinion, if I were to put a poll on the homepage about whether the site should have a forum or not, would it produce an accurate result.

On reflection, I don't think the blog/post idea would work, as the details are very technical, and I wouldn't like to muddy the waters of an article with heresay or conjecture. From my experience in the business, this can cause more problems than solutions. The site content is about clarity.

Appreciate all your help,

kc

jhegarty

AARRRGH wrote: »

Not quite the question you asked but...

Don't put a forum on your website unless you know a lot of people will use it. IMO empty forums make their parent website like bad.

Very good point...

What would you suggest as a target on daily uniques before doing it ?



The other thing of course is to setup 50 fake accounts and spend the day talking to yourself :eek:

keyboardcook

jhegarty, I have to ask, are you really the only person replying to my thread:D

Nice point though. Hate to say it, but talking to myself is easy, listening to myself is the hard one.

Cheers,

kc

Rollo Tamasi

If you setup your forum please don't go crazy setting up loads of different forum categories. Four categories is enough for a board starting off. Something like General / Specific Topic 1 / News + Feedback is good starting point.

You can make a small car park look busy if it only have 20 spots but if you saw a car park with 20 spots taken out of 200 available then you might think something is wrong with the large car park. (yes, I should have used the analogy of a forum but....meh...:))

Check out BBPress for forum software too. It'd be right up your street in my opinion. I would fire up a blog too. No reason not to have one if you are in a niche.

none

For me, being able to understand and change the way the forum works is quite important so I had to steer clear off PHP offsprings. From ASP stuff I examined, MegaBBS (http://www.pd9soft.com/) was the winner. It's free and plain text so everything can be inspected/modified.

keyboardcook

Both points taken and appreciated.

My main fear is that it will be above my head too quick. Now don't get me wrong, given two days, adequate donuts and coffee, and any manual with thousands of pages, I will have no problem getting a very good insight.

What I thank you both for is bringing up the point, in a roundabout way, of time management.

I will spend a couple of weeks playing around with all the suggested apps and see which best suits me.

Also, Rollo Tamasi, you're analogy is well understood and appreciated.

kc