Choice's (Forum Software)

[denchomsky]

Do the people in the know think it would be better to start of on a free forum then upgrade to VBulletin, or Start on VBulletin.

I Know that VBUlletin is meant to be the best but also the most expensive.

What are the problems associatated with transfering from a free forum to a V Bulletin Forum.

What are the running costs of a VBulletin Forum.

Thanks

D

[BFTUK]

Personally i love SMF forums, far better than PHPBB but with less mods available (which in my opinion is a plus anyway!), the mods it does have are installed via the admin panel (so no manual hacking of the code - and easy to upgrade the software)

I've seen some massive boards using SMF, this is one of the largest SMF forums i've seen (http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/) so don't listen to the bull that some people say that for a large forum you need VB.

Hope this helps.

[denchomsky]

Thanks BFTUK not only good advice but i am a Liverpool fan so i think i will join the forum as well........Bonus!

[FC Domains]

I run several boards using SMF. (and wrote a few tiny bits of the code.)

So I think it is the best forum software available. Mostly because if you want a custom feature, there is a load of freindly advice available.
It's also very fast, attack proof and light on CPU time.

[denchomsky]

Thanks FC.

Ok, Who would you suggest for hosting my Forum if i was to use SMF.With the recommended system requirements quoted on the SMF Site.

http://www.simplemachines.org/download/requirements.php

[BFTUK]

I've got a Hostgator (shared hosting) account that i run my forum on, but my sites only small at the moment.

Look out for the (hopefully) soon to be released SEO mod, SMFSEO.org.

[FC Domains]

The biggest forum I host has 2000 active members, about 300 posts a day and shifts about 500MB.
It has a database size of 36MB.

I host it on my own server running Blue Quartz 4.3. On that it makes hardly any impact. But I like to tinker with the root gubbins.

Most hosting packages will run SMF, butit's worth asking if their PHP has pspell compiled in.

FlashChat integrates nicely into SMF, as does Coppermine gallery.

[wwwdomain.name]

D

You asked about costs:

VB - licensed 3.6 version + 12 mths hosting - under £65 + £domain (s)...

tifosi's posts made me realise that it was best to 'start as you mean to go on'...

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/websit...nge-order.html

Excellent support from VB and plenty of VB hack sites/forums...

IMO - Well worth the investment esp. if looking long-term.
After that, sleep and coffee are your biggest expense... lol

[SecNam]

Originally Posted by wwwdomain.name

D

IMO - Well worth the investment esp. if looking long-term.
After that, sleep and coffee are your biggest expense... lol

Your not wrong there

[denchomsky]

Thanks for the replys guys, I think i will go with SMF to begin with and if the traffic get's to heavy pay someone else to implement VBulletin if it's to much hastle.

Cheers

D