A free forum is forum software that has to be
registered according to its fandom. You just
sign up for their service much like you would
if you were signing up for an email account.
If you plan to go this route here is a list
of sites that you can set a forum up on.
- Invision Free Forums
- Proboards
- iforumer
- Conforums
- phpbb
After you complete their sign up procedure you
can then link the outside forum to your site.
These free forums are very easy to use and
customize, however they are limited. If you
plan on keeping it simple and not looking to
do much outside of casual posting then
one of these is a great way to go, especially
if you're new to the world of message boards.
If however you want something more challenging
or you are a customizing guru that likes endless
boundaries (like me) read on...
Paid Forum Service
Paid forums allow a greater range of bandwidth and
customization. Like the free boards the company still
hosts the board but has no say in what you do on it.
This means that it's yours. You don't have to abide
by a company's rules, or deal with pop-up and sidebar
banner ads. You have more bandwidth to host more members
that join in on conversation and better organization.
Here is a list of some blogging software sites
where you can buy great service.
- Invision Power Boards
- vBulletin
- PHP Outburst
- MyBulletinBoard
I personally like Invision Power Boards and have been
using their service for about 3 years now. They are always
up to date and very easy to work with and understand.
Customization is easy once you get the hang of the Admin
Control Panel (ACP) where the owner of the board (you)
does the maintenence.
To read more continue on or return to the intro
page and check out Weblogs...