Just a few questions about this site.

1. How much work/knowledge of computers and the internet does it take to create a message board like this?
Out of all the ones I've ran across, this seems to be the most user friendly, with nice options, such as being able to tell who is signed on and who last posted

2. How much per month/year would it take to run a similar message board?

I have absolutely no clue about anything like this, but don't worry, it's not for another car site.

thanks, and I appreciate all help

 

It doesn't take too much at all.. But theres a few factors that will determine your cost to run a board.. Bandwidth and traffic, software cost, what host you choose..

Vbulletin costs $160 for a owned license and you can run it as long as you want (only on 1 server, 1 installation), and you have access to download the newer versions for one year. After that it's $30/yr if you want more upgrades..

I prefer to use Invision Power Board beacuse it's free to use however long you want, the support (free and paid) is excellent, and if you choose you can register it for 59.95 a year I think it is you get the support and discounts on other stuff I beleive.. And is better than everything else out there with more features. There is also phpBB which is free, but I don't care for it much.. Everyone has their own opinion, one will swear by the one they use and bash the other products for reasons they don't like about it etc. not much you can do about that, its strictly the persons opinion.

I wouldn't say too much knowledge is needed to actually run the board, you just need to get familiar with the software, the boards come with pretty clear instructions on how to install it. When I started I didn't know anything at all. I've never used anything else besides IPB, the only tough part of IPB when your new is editing the skin and setting the colors etc., but in 1.2 they made it a little easier.

As for hosting, that all depends on what you want to do, if you need a dedicated server for a huge site, its gonna get pretty expensive.. If you just get hosting from a company the range whatever you want it to be basically.. There's hosts out there that will sell something for 19.99 a month where as someone else might sell it for 8.99 a month.. You get what you pay for in most cases.. Take a peek at www.webhostingtalk.com for hosts, theres tons and tons on there, but be careful some are crappy. The higher the traffic, the more bandwidth you'd need.. If you wanted to run your own server like I think they do here (correct me if I'm wrong), then I wouldn't be too much help.. You'd have to take care of all the installation and configuration for Apache server, PHP, MySQL and whatever else is needed to make it secure.

Good luck!

 

thanks for the info.

it will be a bit for I try and venture into it.

 

i want to be a moderator on your new board when you get it going

 

To run a site like this, costs ALOT.

 

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oh I'm sure, but what about just the message board costs of software/hardware.

I wouldn't need tons of bandwidth/storage as there wouldn't be much need to post pics and stuff.

 

I would have installed a "feedback" message board on my site"similar to IROCzones" But memory issuse stoped me from doing that, and bandwidth.

 

me too.

what kind of board you planning, mark?

 

Yeah I think over 20k members will strain the bandwidth and space a little bit :sillylol: Defintely need a dedicated server to run something this big, or at least I wouldn't run it on anything else

If it's just going to be a Forum with lite any pics and just text replies, then you would prob just want to get hosting from somewhere therefore all you have to worry about is your site and not things like PHP and mysql etc. and no hardware is needed (I have no idea how you even get a connection for your own server hardware? not my area )

One thing I did forget to mention however, if you find a host with Cpanel, they usually often have a one click installation for invision board or phpBB.. Simple as that.. set the directory click install, login to the adminCP and setup your board.. Costs are minimal for a small board.. You could find quality hosting for under 50 a month for a board with say a few hundered members.. For instance hostrocket.com is a popular quality host, and they offer 550 megs of space and 30gb bandwidth a month for 29.95

 

thanks guys. I found a free host, it's nothing great but serves its purpose.

Robert- I just started it so my clients for personal training can ask questions when they're not with me