Setting up a message board

Posy

Hi, I want to set up a message board- something nice and professional, like boards for example but on a tiny scale! I've been posting on a message board but it's being ruined by spammers- people registering and posting links to porn, leaving advert links etc. So I want to start my own. Something where people would have to be properly authorised before being allowed post. (like those 'e-mail me why you want to join this forum and we'll consider your application' type things)

Only problem is I don't have a clue how to do this. I've looked through the stickies but it's all double dutch to me. I'm not remotely technological. I'm just looking for some way I could set this up, make it look nice and keep an eye on it. Kind of a geocities of message boards! I checked out vbulletin which is €149 (I think) but I don't understand what this is for or if it's a once off payment. I see things like digiweb but is that only for domain names?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Epic Tissue

For a forum.. software like boards.ie uses costs money but you don't have to use that especially if it's a small site. There a good few free alternatives. Check out www.phpbb.com, http://www.simplemachines.org. Basically, you download the files and then upload them to your server. Installing can be annoying if some options aren't right but if all the options are good then it'll work fine.

You'll have to make a database for the forum with a username/password. This can be done through a user panel provided by the hoster.

OR..

You could set up a free forum with free hosting at a site such as http://www.makeforum.org

forbairt

Assuming you have a few quid.


Step 1:

Get Domain Name (mysite.xyz)

Go to ( www.blacknight.com www.digiweb.com www.register365.com do a bit of research ... assuming its an Irish forum you'll want irish hosting )

Check their utilities for the domain name and sign up for their basic hosting package.

Step 2:

Decide on which forum software to use. vBulletin is commercial
phpBB is Free .. vanilla ... simple machines forums and so on are all alternatives.

vBulletin will have support though so and its a nice piece of software.

Step 3:

Set it all up

Step 2 might actually be simpler if the hosting company has a 1 click install for the forum you may find a lot do.

Step 4:

Configure your board.

Step 5:

Try to bring in users / visitors .. have you actually given any thought to who will actually use your board before you do anything. A forum with just you posting is great ... but you may be better off just setting yourself up a blog and letting people comment.

Eoin

Another vote for phpBB - it's not bad to use at all. You can set registration to be approved by the site administrator.

mneylon

What forbairt said

If you're not very confident with the concepts involved then I'd recommend you opt for something like vbulletin that has a HUGE userbase + optional commercial support