Starting a Forum

It can be a bit frustrating if you're starting your first forum ever from no starting point with no ideas about forums besides their purpose. If you've never even used a forum before, you are going to want to do so.

There are two things you should do: Shop around for the software you want to run your forum with and join a forum run on this software.

As far as choosing a software goes, you have several options, depending on your budget and how much time you're willing to spend on it.

If you are just starting a basic, free forum, I personally recommend ProBoards. ProBoards are ridiculously easy to register and set up and customize, and, well, did I mention free? Cons: You have to take a subdomain and there are forced ads (I think you can pay to be rid of these things) and you don't have 100% control over everything, since you don't have access to the files (though you can edit the headers and footers on any page) If you don't mind giving up a little, it's a great service.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is phpBB. The software itself is free; however, you have to pay for a domain and hosting that includes php. You have to download the software, unzip it, and re-upload it (which can take hours if your hosting doesn't support bulk uploads) and also set up a MySQL server. For a technical newbie, this all can be quite confusing. However, since you're hosting this, you have complete access to everything.

A third option is InvisionFree, which is free like ProBoards, but has a different set up. Honestly, I've never put much effort into an InvisionFree board (or any similar type) so I can't vouch for how good it is or how exactly it works, though I found it to be slightly more complicated than ProBoards.

There is, of course, other software available. Look around, try things out, and see what is best to suit your needs. Once you find a software you like, find a forum that runs on it and join, familiarize yourself with the software and layout, which will make things much easier in the long run.

A Brief Introduction

I know how exciting and frustrating and difficult it can be without guidance. I have been working as various staff on forums since January of 2008 and personally consider myself to be experienced in the ways of good ways to run forums and bad ways to run forums. I have witnessed the rise and fall of great forums, experienced the disappointment of forums that didn't work out, and tasted the joy of a successful forum.

But enough with the clichés and the vague description of my résume. If you are reading this blog, I am assuming that you either enjoy using or operating forums, are interested in running forums, want to learn more about forums, enjoy stalking me, or are completely lost. In these cases (excluding the lost one, which is about the complete opposite) you have come to the right place.

I plan on updating this fairly frequently, or whenever I think of an article that I should write, an article that I've wished was written at one point in time, or whenever someone requests advice. I hope I can be of some service!