How much does a forum cost?

I struggle along using a firearms forum in Connecticut, but it really sucks and am thinking of starting another that suits me.

I am wondering what the costs are for forums. I particularly like this one because it is reliable and not cluttered up with all sorts of advertising crap.

Surprisingly little, mate.

1. You need a domain and hosting. Easily had for US$10/month, though you might have to pay the first year up front, so figure US$125-ish.

2. You need forum software. PhbBB is free, as is Simple Machines (aka: SMF). Both offer themes and plugins for additional functionality. VBulletin is pretty much the standard these days, but it will set you back something like US$300 for it and that only entitles you to updates for a fixed period of time. They've got a monthly-hosted plan, though, which might be worth considering. Not sure what software is used here, but I've seen it around.

That's pretty much the nuts and bolts of it, but then you need to figure out your index - main forums, sub-forums - then figure out how you want to handle user groups - newbies, moderators, admins, etc - and so on.

Personally, I prefer SMF. Hope this helps.

---

Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest

I recommend StableHost.com for shared hosting. I pay 7.95/month and have been hosting multiple sites with them for years...Never any issues, and the only downtime I've experienced was some basic scheduled maintenance.

VBulletin is pretty much the standard for forum software, but SMF and phpBB are ok as well. Just keep them up to date so you don't have issues with exploits/spammers/etc.