This is one of my newer fancies... I want to begin my own forum... on a subject that's of particular interest (in India atleast). Let me tell you though that this would be a first for me. I have no experience of creating web sites whatsoever although I know a bit about MS Publisher that's about it... and I doubt if that'll be of any help.

So where and how do I begin? What's on the checklist? I know that I'll need to register a domain name for myself and get a web-host... that's about all that I can think off.

Looking forward to your helpful suggestions.

Netnut.

My 100th post yippey!

Hi Netnut,

Congrats on reaching 100 posts! Good work.

To start with, instead of creating your own website, try out the different free forum options avaiable.

There are many sites which offer free forum hosting.
But only the free forum packages such as phpBB, myBB, etc can be hosted for free.

If you want to try vBulletin or other non-free packages, you have to buy them.

For example, visit this site for a free forum hosting:
www.phpbbforfree.com
Creating a forum is just 5 minutes away, and you can play with the forum administration, and other things.

There are many many forum packages, which you can find in google.

If you want to create a new forum of your own, and want to experience on how to create or install a forum of your own, try the free web hosting option.
Some ( infact, MANY ) can host your website for free, provided you should add your name as a sub-domain to their website.
You can google them, or find them in the Forums here.

But it will be a little difficult to install a forum of your own. To start with, I'd suggest trying out the free forum hosting.
After that you can try the free web hosting, and install a forum there.

After you have done with it, buy a new domain name and a host.

Normally, a good hosting company will create you whatever you want when you buy.

Regards,
Paramesh.

__________________

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
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I will disagree with Paramesh here.

I think it's wiser for you to find some hosting for yourself -- free or paid. If paid, you'll probably need a domain name too.

More than half the fun running a forum site is in the setting up. You want to be able to figure it (the script) out and you can do that only if you have a free hand to experiment. If nothing else, it will give you a good excuse to post stuff to your forum, describing things you've learnt about setting up the site.

Hosting.

If your target audience is Indian, look for a local host. That way your members, at least the majority of your members, are not inconvenienced by slow connection problems. By local host I mean a web host with servers in India.

Domain Name.

You are free to get a domain name from anyone who is offering you a good deal, even from a registrar in the US. A short name is always preferred. Anything below $7.00 / year is considered a good deal.

Forum Script.

There are quite a few open source (forum) scripts available in different "languages". The ones written in PHP are the most common, especially phpBB2. Before using vbulletin, GIDForums™ was powered by phpBB. I liked it very much but I must admit that it was so long ago, I forget now why I liked it at all. In my days... hehehe... we actually had to visit the sites, download the files, make some changes and upload them to our server / hosting account. Nowadays, even this is automated. Most hosting control panels give you the option to install these scripts at the click of a button.

That is a brief overview of what to expect if you want to have full control over your forum. Which is what I would suggest.

If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Remember, it is not easy getting a forum started. So if you're not enjoying yourself tweaking the forum script and experimenting, you will become bored very fast.

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Thank you both of you for your replies

So basically is this my checklist:

1. A host
2. A forum script/package

As far as hosting goes, I'd prefer paid ones, so that my forum has an identity of its own in cyber space rather than being a sub domian of another web site. Thanks Paramesh... that web site was a good one. I'll definately try it out before I jump into the big league.

As I said... I do not have any experience in this field... so can you tell me what you think of this...(I take admin's suggestion of a local host; it just makes more sense to have your server close to you) and add to it Rs. 395.00 (USD 1 = INR 45 approx.) for domain registration (which is about $2.00 more than what you suggest... but atleast I'll stay clear of currency exchange and other technicalities). By the way is 250MB enough to host a forum? And are they providing me enough features required for a forum?

As regards the forum script/package... I like the look and feel here at GID, but the cost of vbulletin is way more than what I'd like to invest. So I guess I'll have to stick with phpBB... which should not be that bad. But I do not know what these actually are! Are they templates or something? And can I practice using the script on my computer offline?

I have asked one too many questions in this post... I guess I'll more for later! Expect to read from you soon.

Regards,
Netnut.

I can't comment on the package offered by indiatimes.com but looking over the features, you will have everything you need to install and setup a phpBB2 forum. It has PHP, MySQL and even the phpBB2 script itself!

You are right about having your own identity on the WWW. It will pay off in the long term. At least the ad networks will take you seriously if you become successful (even moderately successful) and look to them to offset some of your costs.

I think 250MB is enough for a fledgeling forum site. You have to watch your log files though. They can grow and eat up your storage space if it's set up that way.

Don't underestimate phpBB2. It is a good script and there are a lot of resources available on the WWW for it. It will help you figure out forum scripts in general and how they normally work.

Yes, you can download the phpBB2 script to your PC and run a test site. To do this, you will need the following installed on your PC.

• Apache Web Server
• PHP
• MySQL

When you are ready to install these programs, let me know and I will help you every step of the way...

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™

Jeez.... THANK YOU!
You know, actually I'm hankering to get my hands dirty!

In fact... I've downloaded PHP 2.0.20 and apache 2.0.55 (the win32 file with no ssl) and will wait for further instructions before downloading MySQL. Please point me to the right URL and the version that I should get. Because all those versions are driving me nuts!

Waiting for further instructions!

Regards,

Netnut.

Apache.

Since you will be more concerned about "hacking" your forum script (phpBB 2), and not trying to figure out Apache as well, you should download and install Apache 1+. It is stable and a lot less complicated to set up. Besides, your web host is using Microsoft's web server, so not installing Apache 2+ is a convenient choice. Look for something like apache_1.3.34-win32-x86-no_src.msi i.e. "no_src"...

PHP.

You should download the version that your web host is or will be offering you. You can ask them if you're not a customer yet. If they are offering PHP 4+, then this is what you should download and install on your PC. According to the web page of the web host, they say it's PHP 4.3.6. You can find the list of versions (to download) on this page. Grab the "Windows Installer".

MySQL.

Again, you should get the version that your web host is or will be offering you. On the web host's web page, they claim it's MySQL 4.0.20a-nt. Try this page. Maybe http://downloads.mysql.com/archives/mysql-4.0/mysql-4.0.20a-win.zip?

Where to store the files on your PC?

I always maintain the same directory structure as my remote host. For example, if the homepage for GIDForums™ is saved to this directory:

/home/jds/domains/gidforums.com/public_html/index.php

on my remote server (on a Linux server), then on my Windows XP PC, I create the same folders on C: i.e.

c:\home\jds\domains\gidforums.com\public_html\inde x.php

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™

I'll get back to you once I get the files. Maybe in a couple of days time.

Thanks.

Netnut.

Do one thing at a time. Focus your attention on getting Apache installed and see if you can easily turn it on, off... get it to serve you a test web page etc.

Then and only then should you focus getting PHP installed...

I will also leave this thread for a few days to concentrate on moving the sites on to the new server.

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™

I installed Apache.. the one you suggested. But dunno what to do with it. Please help me out once you are done with moving the site.

Netnut.