Quote:
Originally Posted by encoder
What should be the plans for making a forum.
Here are my specifications for the forum that I would like to create. I hope you guys could help me with this.
1.) Free but Reliable Server (As much as possible for I have no budget for a dedicated server yet.)
2.) Simple and Fast Setup (Math is already a boring subject to my students, I don't want them to get bored again by waiting in my forum)
3.) Easy-To-Use Forum Code (I could read all the books and instructions on how to make a good forum but my real problem is that time is very fast on my side. What could you advise on what kind of forum program I should use.)
4.) Additional Settings (What are the do's and dont's in making a forum?)
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Your first mistake is the free server space. Sure its out there but half of them are fly by night places that will be there today when you set your site up and gone tomorrow. If you do manage to find one that you can count on to be there, there's no telling what stipulations surround the "free" server space your after. I'd say put yourself into the mindset of buying some reliable hosting. No one says you need a dedicated server, if your goal is just a place for your students to hang out and discuss school and math then a shared server should be fine for you. You can find cheap hosting, but for every place you find there will be someone who hates the place you've chosen. All I can say is look over the options the hosts provide you and then compare, compare, compare. I've had hosts that I consider horrible while others like them and the host I have now I've no real complaints about but some on my site think they are the worst out there.
As for the forum software goes, there are quite a few out there all with pros and cons. If you are leaning to the free side of things then I'd say phpbb would be your best bet. Its easy to learn and is very well built. If you're going to pay for a forum then I hands down recommend Vbulletin. Its all I use when I'm out to launch a professional site. Hope that helped alittle, there is so much more we can all add but we'd be here hours writing lol.