Online Forums - How/Where to Get Them? Developers Please Assist

[Deactivated] on 22/07/2021 - 14:38

Serious answers online please.

I have an idea and I think I should make/get a forum where people can signup and share their thoughts and experiences with like minded people.

I have hosting/domain already but not entirely sure and don't have much financial means to hire an IT/Web developer to built me a forum.

Please direct me into right direction.

Internet

Comments

  • Mokr on 22/07/2021 - 14:40

    reddit

  • mini2 on 22/07/2021 - 14:44
    +1

    vbulletin? xenForo? Then find someone to come up with a theme to suit whatever your forum is used for.

    • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2021 - 17:42

      Great. Thanks :)

  • scrimshaw on 22/07/2021 - 14:45
    +2

    https://www.reddit.com/subreddits/create

    also https://www.phpbb.com/ which is open source

  • MS Paint on 22/07/2021 - 15:09
    +1

    This one is good

    I've used them in the past.

  • holoz0r on 22/07/2021 - 15:12

    Start by doing some research.

  • scotty on 22/07/2021 - 16:01
    +1

    Reddit would be the easiest to start a new community.

    Since you've already got a domain & hosting, assuming it's cPanel based, just go into the Softaculous app installers and install a forum app onto your hosting space. phpBB & Simple Machine Forum are popular choices. Once the forum is online, log in as an admin to configure it. Don't worry about finding someone to build it for you. Build the community first, and then get help to build the customisation only if it starts gaining popularity.

    • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2021 - 16:05

      Thanks Scotty but if I choose reddit would it affect the seo side of things?

      • Blue Cat on 22/07/2021 - 16:15

        Affect, as in, won't make it better or worse in the long run, yeah.

      • scotty on 22/07/2021 - 16:20
        +1

        What's your plan long term? You only want to consider SEO if you wish other people to find your posts via Google. If you just want to quickly build a like-minded community then reddit or Facebook group would be fine. However,

        • Very limited in how you can customise & extend it.
        • Limited in what you can do to build a brand around it.
        • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2021 - 17:44

          I personally do not like the limitations of FB groups and not every uses Fb. I checked phpBB today and it looks alright but I might get something like Vbulletin

  • photonbuddy on 22/07/2021 - 16:23

    If your hosting uses cPanel, there's usually a free forum package included.

    My cPanel offers phpBB and SMF via the 'softaculous apps installer' option. It's much easier to install from here than trying to install scripts and the like from other sources.

    I have used SMF some years ago, and it was quite easy to set up.

  • bargainHunterOz on 22/07/2021 - 16:50

    You can also look into using sites like wix/godaddy. You will find almost all kinds of optimised templates which mostly have drag and drop options - no coding for ordinary requirements. With some creativity, a responsive site of any type can be created in a moment. Good support and tutorials on youtube or other sites.

  • idonotknowwhy on 22/07/2021 - 16:53

    Reddit, for the same reason as Discord for chat and Github for code. Your potential members are likely to already have an account there already.

    Signing up for a dodgy php forum which is likely to end up on haveibeenpwned.com soon would be a huge barrier for entry.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join