Codicier Posted July 10, 2014 Hey guys I'm hoping there might be a couple people amongst the thumbs community who can throw me some advice about what the best way to host a set of forums for a small group of people (specifically the MMO guild i'm part of). I'm sure there's some people on here who must have run a small forum for their hobby, or for their clan etc & can offer some advice. Specifically I'm having real trouble finding a hosting solution that sit's in between the ad infested mess represented by most free solutions, and the massive overkill represented by most professional paid solutions. Frustratingly the solutions gear specifically towards guilds seem to all be built around cookie cutter templates without much room for customisation. I wouldn't expect the site to have more than 40-50 active members of which probability only half would post with any regularity, probably a little less than some of the different show sub forums on here get. I've tried to keep this brief, but can talk more if need be. Anyway if anyone has any advice or experience with small forums I'd be grateful to hear what worked for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BenLuke Posted July 10, 2014 The Eve corp I'm a member of uses phpBB, which seems fine from an end user perspective, although I don't have any experience with the behind the scenes stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Codicier Posted July 10, 2014 Thanks BenLuke. Which software to go for has been another one of those annoying little dilemmas, I know our original site ran on Vbulletin but i remember as a mod i often spent as much time playing whak-a-mole with spambots as i did actually getting to say anything so other options are welcome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thrik Posted July 10, 2014 I'd say phpBB is the best free option, IP.Board is the best paid option — vBulletin really isn't what it used to be. I use IP.Board for my forum (see signature) and so does Idle Thumbs. I previously used phpBB, and while it was great as forum software it was way too much work if you want to expand beyond that into articles, chat, and basically customisation in general. IP.Board has a seriously awesome web-based theme colour customisation thing too. As for hosting, in all honesty you should be able to find innumerable decent options if you have like $10 a month tops. WebHostingTalk can be a good place to find reputable hosts rather than the shit you'll likely find when using Google (where almost every review site is full of paid-for BS). Future Hosting is great if you have a bit more and want a managed virtual server (should you hit that point). Gandi Simple Hosting is great if you know what you're doing and don't need email hosting, etc — it's basically a pre-configured virtual server which is very fast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pan-Dimensional Space Mice Posted July 10, 2014 XenForo in my opinion is one of the best forum soft wares out their, $140 though You could just make a WP site and use the WP forum software as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Codicier Posted July 11, 2014 I'd say phpBB is the best free option, IP.Board is the best paid option — vBulletin really isn't what it used to be. I use IP.Board for my forum (see signature) and so does Idle Thumbs. I previously used phpBB, and while it was great as forum software it was way too much work if you want to expand beyond that into articles, chat, and basically customisation in general. IP.Board has a seriously awesome web-based theme colour customisation thing too. As for hosting, in all honesty you should be able to find innumerable decent options if you have like $10 a month tops. WebHostingTalk can be a good place to find reputable hosts rather than the shit you'll likely find when using Google (where almost every review site is full of paid-for BS). Future Hosting is great if you have a bit more and want a managed virtual server (should you hit that point). Gandi Simple Hosting is great if you know what you're doing and don't need email hosting, etc — it's basically a pre-configured virtual server which is very fast. ok a 2nd vote for phpBB & a ton of other useful info, tnx thrik. Particularly appreciate the hosting stuff because even though my google-fu isn't too bad, It often felt like i was clawing my way through a a tide of skeezy ads. XenForo in my opinion is one of the best forum soft wares out their, $140 though You could just make a WP site and use the WP forum software as well. I assume WP stands for word press? If so i honestly hadn't thought about them as a possible option, is it through a plugin or something? anyways will look into it tomorrow & tnx . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted July 11, 2014 Remember that, no matter what software you use, encouraging people who mostly socialise in-game to actually go to your forum and post on it and be active is a herculean task. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Codicier Posted July 15, 2014 Had a talk with a friend who's quite tech literate and we are going to give the whole WP thing a shot initially, kicking the whole can of worms that is decision on hosting costs and forum software firmly down the road for a while. It may not be a perfect choice long term but it gives me the opportunity to get something up & running again Remember that, no matter what software you use, encouraging people who mostly socialise in-game to actually go to your forum and post on it and be active is a herculean task. While we have already had successful forums once, I'll admit conditions have changed radically since that time(3 years is a long time on the internet), and the community has fragmented since we moved to a "guild site" that never really felt like our home (& due to the way it worked put barriers in the way of people who stopped playing remaining on the forums). Main aim with this is to give people the opportunity to keep in touch, and chat etc if they want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
