Creating Your Own Forum??

Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hi,

You guys always seem to be helpfull, so hopefully someone can help me out here.

I am looking to create my own forum (not motorbike related)..

Since i am new to it, can anyone help me out as how to get started and get a basic forums on the net.

Your help would be VERY MUCH appreciated.

Regards,

Zeph

Tenthghost · Trackday Trickster Joined: 18 May 2003 Karma :

best bey would be to try and use ezboards
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hi,

I was looking for something more like the layout of these forums..

Regards,

Zeph

one1895 · Posted: 02:05 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

Go to www.phpbb.com this is the forum that's run on that. You need to set up web hosting, and a web domain name - 'name.com', 'name.co.uk', etc. Make sure your web hosting has MySQL enabled or you won't be able to install a forum (like this) properly.

Hope this helps,
Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hi,

What's the cheapest you can get decent web hosting and a domain name for?..

Or is there any decent free ones?

Regards.

Zeph

one1895 · Posted: 03:04 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

If you're planning on getting a free one, then expect to have ugly banners/advertisements on your website that you don't want, and silly popups that pop up on every page you browse.

You could always use something like geocities, tripod, angelfire etc, but these come with some of the above. Confused

Shop around by searching in search engines. If you're looking to make a good site, then you'll most likely need to purchase one. Domain names shouldn't cost too much, web hosting will be a bit more.

I'm with www.dreams4real.co.uk, and my sites at https://www.hullbikers.co.uk - although I haven't started building it yet. Razz

They do a great service, take a look on their web hosting page about packages and how much you may want to pay.

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hey,

Cheers M8y..£5 per month with free domain name. Not bad eh..

Well, the home one is £2.50, but it says no for my SQLdatabases, which i assume i will need to create a forum..

If i were to get this £5 per month webhosting and the free domain name. How would i go about making my site a forum only like this one is?

Regards,

Zeph

one1895 · Posted: 03:16 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

To make a site(forum) like this one, pop along to www.phpbb.com and take a look at the FAQ. That should answer all of your questions.

Normally you download the package from the site above, then upload it to your site via an FTP program and run the installation file in internet explorer - e.g. 'www.mysite.co.uk/phpbb2/'.

And hey presto an online forum. Wink

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hi,

Thanks m8y..much appreciated.

So i assume this possible with the pro package (£5p/m) with that dreams4real site?

Regards,

Zeph

one1895 · Posted: 03:22 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

Yes. I at the moment have the Pro package. Less than half a month ago you didnt even have one My SQL database included in the Pro package, so building a forum like this was impossible.

Luckily I didn't upgrade to Bronze and I can now build my website earlier than expected. Smile

Oh yeah - I'd pay yearly if I were you, you get alot more for your money.

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

all you save is like £10 is it not ?

Regards,

zeph

one1895 · Posted: 03:26 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

Wouldn't you rather be +10 than -10? It seems a much better idea.

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hmm..I guess so..lol.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I will have to go reserve my domain name the now, and see about uploading a phpbb forum onto my webspace.

Hopefully it wont be too difficult and i can come to terms with it all soon..

Another question actually, when i have my domain name and paid for and have my webspace, what ftp program do you use to upload phpbb to ur webspace?..

Regards,

Zeph

one1895 · Posted: 03:36 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

I use WS_FTP95 LE. It's a simple yet effective program I haven't had any problems the months I've had it. Smile

You can download it from somewhere like www.download.com. And yes it's freeware. Wink

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hey,

Thanks again..sorry, but i keep thinking of other questions to ask.

When i have my domain name and webspace, and are running the ftp program on my computer, how do i actually upload the PHPBB files i have downloaded from the site?..Or is there a specific file amongst them you upload ?

Regards,

zeph

one1895 · Posted: 04:06 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

When you run your FTP program you should be met with a screen like the one attached below. You need to enter:

A profile name (can be anything)
The address you need to connect to (eg. www.yoursite.co.uk)
Leave the host type as 'automatic connect'
Your User ID (the name given to you by the web hosting company when you bought it)
Your Password (the password given to you by the web hosting company when you bought it)
Leave anything else as it is or blank.

After you connect to your site, you can select the phpbb directory you want to upload. (downloading the phpbb files from phpbb.com first would be a good idea). Razz

And there you go really that's how it's done. You'll meet another screen when you come to install the forum but leave that til later.

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Hi,

Wow, thanks for being so helpfull m8y.

Right so once the relevent files are uploaded, i have to install the forums?..How is this done?

Regards,

Zeph

P.S. I am just taking note of all relvent steps right now Smile

one1895 · Posted: 04:11 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

No problemo man. Mr. Green

Just point your web browser to the location you uploaded the phpbb directory to (www.yoursite.co.uk/phpbb/), and a screen should come up asking you about installation details. Simple.

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

brilliant, thanks very much cam Smile

Regards,

Zeph

Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

I have another question, whats this board using?..phpbb, ikon, invision>?

As i like this type of layout and it has been customized..

Regards,

Zeph

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

I have a phpBB message board, not bike related ( https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/?go_to=disc ).

You need a fair amount of space, along with php support and mysql (think it supports some other databases though).

When you upload it make sure you set your ftp package to keep the cases of the file names Rolling Eyes

.

You will need a fair amount of band width. Our old hosting package around around £5~£10 a month but had a 1Gb limit on bandwidth, which I am now going over. I think Korn said this site uses about 25~30Gb bandwidth per month. The package we now have is about £220 a year including 40Gb a month bandwidth.

This site is phpBB based, but Korn has done a lot of customization to it.

Ezboard is horrible in comparison. If you want a basic free discussion list look at someone like https://disc.server.com/ , although you have to put up with loads of pop up adds.

Only thing I need is to learn php so that I can play around in a bit more detail. We did some programming in Perl on my site a while back which was a bit of a nightmare.

All the best

Keith
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one1895 · Posted: 13:37 - 25 Jul 2003 Post subject:

Cam.
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Zepf · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Karma :

Cheers Guys, much appreciated..

You say to: set your ftp package to keep the cases of the file names

How and why do you do this ??

Regards,

Zepf

Syfoon · TRUCK!!! Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Karma :

I found the easiest way to set up my forum/board, was by Telnet-ing into syfoon.com, by using telnet.exe or PuttY.exe. Although I'm using Invision Board, I think.

Most forum software needs telnet modifying to be really effective, as editing the files offline can be a right royal pain in the arse.
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Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

We use Terrapin FTP which has on option to change the case on all the files you upload (for example, change them all to lower case). I forgot about this and when I uploaded phpbb it changed the case of the file names which prevented it from working

All the best

Keith
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