Complete Guide On How To Start A Forum Web Site

There are three elements that you need to understand before you start a forum site: domain name, forum software, and webhosting company.

1. Domain Name: A domain name is your digital property in the world wide web. You can actually choose whatever domain name you want to give for your forum site. I suggest that you keep it short and simple (KISS) so that your forum members and guests can easily remember your domain identity.

2. Forum Software: A forum site cannot run without a forum software, or they call it forum script. If you are an expert PHP and MySQL programmer, you can write the code of your forum script in the way you want your forum site to behave.

If you have like-minded friends, you can organize among yourselves and work together on coding a forum script. SMF (the logo you see on this lens) is an example of a forum software coded by a team of PHP and MySQL genius.

3. Webhosting Provider: Your forum will be powered by a server. All the files (text and images) of your forum site will reside in a webhost's server. Many webhosts provide free domain name and free installation of a forum software such as SMF or phpBB.

There are commercial forum softwares and there are free forum softwares created by the open-source community.

1. The two most popular paid softwares are VBulletin and IPB. You will pay for the license of using these softwares either annually or on a one-time payment scheme(higher amount).

2. The two most popular free forum scripts are SMF (Simple Machines Forum) and phpBB. Debates on which among the two is better than the other could go no end.

It really all depends on what you want to have in your forum site.

Personally, I prefer SMF because it is fast, secure, and has a strong support community.

PHPBB, on the other hand, is favored by many webmasters because it is more optimized for search engine campaign, has a wider array of free design templates, lots of plugins, and it is easier to master by both forum admins and forum members.

Choosing an honest, reliable webhost for your forum site is a highly critical decision to consider. Make no mistake. A bad webhost can ruin your forum and waste your efforts.

Is a free forum host a bad idea? I haven't tried hosting my forum sites in a free webhost. In the countless forum sites that I've visited, I've read horrible experiences of forum owners (in their early days of running forums) whose forum sites suddenly vanished without trace. Imagine having more than 100,000 posts that you've built for months or years and they're all gone in a second without notice.

The issue here is accountability. You cannot demand for the return of your lost databases and files if you don't pay for them in the first place. You cannot demand for world-class, quality technical support from a free webhost.

Most free forum webhosts will run their own ads in your site. This is necessary for them to finance for cost and maintenance of their server.

Some free forum hosts operate in the so-called "fly-by-night" entourage. Here today. Gone tomorrow. There are just too many of them to mention.

Building a forum site is a lifetime pursuit. You want your posts and articles to stay with you for years and even decades. You want your online community to stay alive and kicking year-end, year-out.

To host your forum site in a reputable webhosting provider does not cost that much today. The monthly fee could go from $7 to $10 a month, inclusive of lots of storage space and bandwidth.

Most webhosting companies provide a click-and-install tool for you to start your forum site in minutes or even seconds.

But before you install your forum software, there are three choices of location that you should consider:

1. Main Domain: You can install your forum site in the main domain itself. For instance, forumname.com is the main domain.

2. Subdomain: Your webhosting company will provide you an easy control panel. Most webhosting companies give free cPanel. Just create a subdomain in your cPanel before you install a forum software. The subdomain will look like this: forum.nameofdomain.com

3. Subfolder: If your forum host has cPanel, it must come with it a Fantastico tool. If you set up your forum site using Fantastico and you want your forum to reside in a subfolder, then you don't need to create a subfolder during the setup. Just point to the main domain and type the name of subfolder you want. Fantastico will automatically create the subfolder for you. Here's how it would look like: domainname.com/forum. Forum is the subfolder of domainname.com.

So far I've introduced you something about choosing a domain name, free forum software, cPanel (website controller), and Fantastico.

Review of what we've learned so far:

1. Domain Name - Your digital property in the Internet. You can use your name as a domain name such as yourname.com.

2. Free Domain Name - There are webhosting companies that provide a free domain name.

3. Free Forum Softwares - SMF and phpBB are the world's most trusted free forum scripts, including free help on how you can set up SMF or phpBB. There are video tutorials that you can watch and you may remember the things I've told you here in Squidoo.

4. cPanel - It works like an air traffic controller. Most webhosting companies give free cPanel, where you add domain name, create subdomain name, download back-up files, check website traffic stats, and many, many more.

5. Fantastico - Most cPanel has Fantastico tool with it. SMF and phpBB are included in Fantastico. There are more than 40 free website forum softwares under Fantastico Installer. Wordpress, a free blog script, can be installed using Fantastico.

When you set up your forum site, you should use Fantastico because this tool will automatically create a MySQL Database for your forum, a database that is compatible with PHP. Remember that SMF and phpBB are best suited for PHP and MYSQL.

Where can I get all these stuff, plus a free demo of cPanel and Fantastico.

There is one webhosting provider named Hostican that gives free domain name, free cPanel, free Fantastico, and free website support.

If you are in the demo mode of Hostican, you will see Fantastico, your friend in setting up SMF or phpBB script, which is your forum engine.

To try a cPanel Demo of Hostican, just CLICK HERE.

Putting ads in your forum site will definitely cover the cost of your webhosting fee. Google Adsense, for instance, has been a big financial help to thousands of forum administrators. I heard that Digital Point Forum is earning more or less $20,000 a month from Google Adsense alone. But that forum site has millions of visitors in a month.

Getting a discount from webhosting plans can be made through a coupon code. Using the coupon codes below will give you instant rebates upon checkout. Here are 4 confirmed coupons that I can think of:

1. Hostican - coupon code is: webhostingreality30-12 (It means you save $30 upon order) >>Use the code here...

2. Hostgator - coupon code is: freemonth ($9 discount or your first month is free) >> Learn more here...

3. Lunarpages - coupon code is: SPRING (valid until July 2008). The code is applicable for a 2-year package. >>Learn more here...

4. Thinkhost - discount promo code is: THINKHOST20 (S20 OFF upon checkout) >>Learn more here...

By using the above coupon codes, you may be able to buy one more liter of fuel from the savings.

I can name hundreds of reasons why you may start a forum web site. Let me just name a few advantages.

1. Unique Friendship - The bonding that you will experience in a forum site is very much different from what you would experience from giant social networking sites.

Since the online community in a forum site is not that big, the interaction can be more personalized and customized.

2. Special Help - If you have a forum site dedicated for all home-based mothers, your forum can help set up a strong community of home-based mothers who will help each other in various aspects in life. Mothers can post questions or share problems and other mothers can make a reply and discuss a particular concern.

3. Save Time and Money - There is an option in SMF, for instance, in which you can send out newsletters or email alerts to all your forum members. If your forum site is dedicated solely for all your relatives living near your area or abroad, your forum can be used as a powerful communication tool to get in touch with them fast, easy, cost-saving, and non-intrusive.

4. Therapeutic - Some people find it therapeutic when they are able to express their thoughts and feelings openly in a forum site. When forum members reply to an article, they will be able to interact openly to the person who started the article or post. Such online interaction can help one clarify his/her thoughts and emotions.

I've been running forum sites for over a year now and I'm really grateful for the experience that I was able to know and meet some of the most beautiful souls in the world who are now my best friends.