12 replies to this topic

[taita cakes]

Well i have downloaded this forum many weeks ago and my freakishly nerdy friend said if i was to ftp the files onto my host i wuld still have to configure the files in php and set it all up, how did you do this?? is theree a tutorial to teach me this???


NB: forum can be downloaded at http://www.invisionboard.com

[Groove]

Heh heh...good luck. If Cx were here, he'd try and educate you. I wouldn't touch that stuff, but maybe that's just me.

[taita cakes]

Shit shit shit...
i gather this is gonna be hard....
i just want a php forum that doesnt need much [hard] setting up...
just something that isnt a gay html forum like dreamtools.com ......


suggest any better ones you mite no-of

[Grinch]

Is this going to be a Nerf forum? Anyways, try phpBB.

By the way, (I've always wondered this), on NH, why do the buttons next to the topics say "IBF" instead of "IPB" like I've seen on other Invision Power Boards?

[Alexthebeast]

invision board forums?

[Sandman]

Get YABB if it's going to be your first try at this. It's pretty good for a free forum.

[cxwq]

There's plenty of installation help at forums.invisionboard.com.

You do need a web host that supports MySQL and PHP.

Non-trivial but not exactly rocket science.

[taita cakes]

Well i no about php and mySQL hosting in fact my current host supports php and u have to pay $5 per mySQL database so its pretty shitty, but they offer unlimited webspace and bandwith so im not complaining....

i only really chose this because i had seen it action [before nerfhaven] and it was easily skinned and edited and it was a free PHP BASED forum not some shitty cheap ass html forum like the ones provided by www.dream-tools.com and ww.bravenet.com .... they just plain suck

if you could rocide links for anything you think might measure up to that... do it

[Spark Plug]

Well i no about php and mySQL hosting in fact my current host supports php and u have to pay $5 per mySQL database so its pretty shitty, but they offer unlimited webspace and bandwith so im not complaining....

What is your host?

[taita cakes]

Lol i thought this would gather some attention..
i might tell you if you could code me a forum...
but its not like you would no how so i think i will tell you anyway...

basic features:
- unlimited webspace
- unlimited bandwith
- 24/7 ftp
- www.domain.com/~you
- php, asp and i think there more
- in my opinion site never down

drawbacks:
- 1MB size limit on files
- mySQL databse is $5
- no mp3, mpg, avi or wateva format
- need content apart from pics
- need 10 hits per week

[Spark Plug]

Lol i thought this would gather some attention..
i might tell you if you could code me a forum...
but its not like you would no how so i think i will tell you anyway...

basic features:
- unlimited webspace
- unlimited bandwith
- 24/7 ftp
- www.domain.com/~you
- php, asp and i think there more
- in my opinion site never down

drawbacks:
- 1MB size limit on files
- mySQL databse is $5
- no mp3, mpg, avi or wateva format
- need content apart from pics
- need 10 hits per week

I don't know if this is considered an old topic or not so i will post. Actually I have forums with 80 people. It sounds like you are using host ultra for a host.

[taita cakes]

well i dont no exactl;y wat u mean by that but yeah its hosting me as a site its just i need it to host my mp3s and my forum... but yeah as outlined the mySQL costs so i need a free host that provides mySQL........ no any???

[OutBurst]

well i dont no exactl;y wat u mean by that but yeah its hosting me as a site its just i need it to host my mp3s and my forum... but yeah as outlined the mySQL costs so i need a free host that provides mySQL........ no any???

I wholeheartedly suggest that you don't bother setting up a board if you aren't going to pay for your host. Only paid hosts give you the features you'd need and support for when you're trying to accomplish your web presence. There is nothing but frustration ahead of you if you plan on going the "I have decided for whatever reason that I will not pay for a web host" route and attempt to do the things supported ONLY by serious webhosts. Even though some places might give you free MySQL (few and far between), it's going to be a pain and the restrictions will wreak havoc on your life and your dog. Strangely, felines are immune. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

Another bit about web hosts and their "unlimited" features:

Actually, our hosting (Bald Rocket) is really quite inexpensive for what you're getting. We're a small production in scale, but not in scope... we focus on the same things that the major hosts (Earthlink, Interland, etc) focus on, and are priced to compete competitively with them... and you'll notice that our prices are half of theirs. Notably, you can compare bandwidth charges and the disk space you get all you want... for the most part, all the hosts buy from the same backbone providers, so they generally cover the costs of other services they offer in the bandwidth costs. You have to look at a few things when hosting, and I'm telling you this not to sell you on our services, but just so you know in general. Hosts will offer you "10 gigs a month" or "20 gigs a month" on the assumption that most people will NEVER use that much. They'll oversell 10x more bandwidth than they buy for this reason, and this is how they make money. However, also note what their overlimit charges are. Our overlimit charges are $2.50 per gig, which sounds steep, but really, it's just slightly over what we pay wholesale for the bandwidth. We have to buy bandwidth in chunks, or we'll pay overlimit fees just like you will to us. It's basically the equation that keeps the hosts in the black. However, look at overlimit costs... if your site gets hit by FARK or Slashdot, or even gets in a high search engine ranking, and you get more traffic than you expect, how much are you paying? Earthlink, for instance, charges 10 cents per meg overlimit. That doesn't sound like too much, right? I mean, if a jpeg is 10k, and you have four of them on a page, that's about 40k per visitor, right? Yeah, that adds up... also, do the math in comparison. That's $100 PER GIGABYTE transfer. Interland is exactly the same. Both offer relatively standard pricing for what you get... 10 GB of transfer and 200 MB storage for about $20 a month plus tax. Also keep in mind what you will and what you won't get... A professional host will offer redundancies... full battery backup, diesel generators, multiple independent backbone connections, and generally high speed to begin with. You want to be able to handle a lot of visitors at once (lookup: "burstable bandwidth") without each one slowing the others down (lookup: "the slashdot effect"). What they run on is equally important... a good host will be running on Linux or Unix, but some of the cheaper ones will use Windows servers. (WHY?!?) Other important things you'll want to look for (that the cheaper ones will not offer) are the ability to run programs on your server... like PHP/Perl/CGI, etc. To offer greater flexibility in what you can do on your webspace, make sure that they allow you to set permissions on files and folders and allow you to set your .htaccess settings. You might not know what this means, but down the road, when you want to install a bulletin board or a simple search engine, or a random image rotation script, you'll need these things. Cheaper hosts will restrict access to these because when you have hundreds of users and two people hired as support staff, you're opening yourself up to major security issues when you don't know who is on your box. Quality over quantity, my friend, and remember the age-old adage, "you get what you pay for", and you really do. Don't cut corners when it comes to your website. Zach and I created the hosting because we run some REALLY big sites, Electronic Mayhem, xForums, we're hosting Sexy Losers now (which has one million visitors a month and churns through 300 GB monthly... notice nothing is any slower than it was last month) and we had to buy bandwidth in 700 GB/month blocks. However, there is still a lot left over, and we can resell that to other people. We believe in the freedom of the internet, and don't say what you can and can't have on your site on our box. On the same token, we know who is on our box, and if you have any problems or questions, if you call the office you will get an answer to your question. Okay, that was the sales part of the pitch. But keep in mind customer service... that's a big one.

...Still think those other hosts are cheap?

It's a bit much to read, but hey, I love the guy (and his service).