View Single Post - How do you create a FORUM? Like this one.

Blue|Fusion · Rated XXX

It's actually not that hard. It just may cost you a little time and money (more time than money).

The forum software that BB is using is open source ("free", in lay man's terms). You can download the phpBB forum software from www.phpbb.com.

The part that may cost you money is the webhosting. You obviously will need a server to put your forum on; and more than that - you need one with the software to support it. The base software that you need to look for in a webhost is PHP and MySQL. If you want to go with the current Beta version of phpBB (phpBB-3.0-beta1), it's advanced features require a little more underlying software, but most of which is optional.

Hosts with this kind of software are generally not free, and if they are, they're slow and will give you TONS of problems. Hosting for a forum can be pretty cheap as you need only minimal space (if you disable features such as file/avatar uploads). All of the text in these posts are not stored in files, but in a database (which may or may not be included in your account quota limit, depending on your host).

I do, offer hosting and have used phpBB for years. If you want to contact me about hosting or setting up the software (even elsewhere) feel free to contact me on AIM or any other form.

EDIT: I should also mention that there are many different options for forum software, too, not just phpBB. Invision Power Board (IPB) is a common one, however requires you to purchase a license. vBulletin, too, requires a license. There are more open source forums, too, but personally, phpBB is my favorite, even above the paid ones - it just works!