How To Start A Forum (from scratch)

Started by KahneFan, December 26, 2008, 03:11:57 PM

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青山 素子

Given the steps were written almost two years ago, they are possibly changed. If you make a topic in one of the support boards with a good description of your problem and any error messages, you'll get help fixing things.
Motoko-chan
Director, Simple Machines

Note: Unless otherwise stated, my posts are not representative of any official position or opinion of Simple Machines.


KahneFan

Quote from: punisher12 on September 17, 2010, 07:24:10 PM
I followed these steps and I purchased my domain and hosting from godaddy.com (for now). I went through all the steps and it have been saying that it is installing for the past couple hours now and nothing is working. Just wondering what I did wrong considering the steps says it should take 10mins or so for the site to be up and its been a few hours for me so far and nothing.

If you were able to get to the installing step and received no errors, you should be good as far as the account you purchased. If it's hanging up at the install stage, it sound like a glitch on the host side. Possibly 1) Delete the original install 2a) Install again 2b) if 1 doesn't work, install in another subfolder; it's easy to re-rout your forum later (i.e. mysite.com/forum ---> mysite.com/smf) If you installed it in the main directory (i.e. mysite.com) and you can't get the install to stop, you may want to contact GD to ask them to cancel the install.
#eric_on_twit| (video) Creating Themes for SMF | Reset Your Forum
NOTE: No PM's for support please.

brewersrus

I want to start a christian discussion forum and I am on a very fixed income at the moment which my change but I am not able to purchase web hosting and I am wondering if there is a free web hosting site that is not bad????????  I may try go daddy if I can come up with the money to pay for it.....

xenovanis

Hi brewsersrus :)

Here you can find more information on hosting services (free and paid)

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=4.0
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

brewersrus

Thanks for your help.  I think I have decided to go ahead and use godaddy because I don't want to run into any trouble with my site..... 

xenovanis

See here for a review on GoDaddy

[REVIEW] GoDaddy Hosting

Honestly, we've seen quite a few issues here  :-\
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

KahneFan

Quote from: xenovanis on October 29, 2010, 07:35:20 PM
See here for a review on GoDaddy

[REVIEW] GoDaddy Hosting

Honestly, we've seen quite a few issues here  :-\

I'm not real sure why you have to add the last line in there. To be honest as well, I've used GD for 8+years with zero issues. And, I host 6 sites with my 1 $6.99/mo account.

I think some of the problems you might find with reviews of GD are that they are the titan of industry. Same issues people will have with Wal-Mart or any other major player of an industry. "I hate them because they are the big dog and I'm supposed to hate them." Go Daddy is very easy to use, and for an average user, they have everything you will need. As stated, I've used them for 8+ years and have never found them to not have a feature I needed in order to run a forum. I'm not trying to "sell' GD any more than any other host. I'm just wanting to throw it out there that I (personally) don't think they are a bad host.

With that said, if you (or anyone) is trying to run a simple forum, almost any host will be able to provide adequate service.
#eric_on_twit| (video) Creating Themes for SMF | Reset Your Forum
NOTE: No PM's for support please.

青山 素子

While your experience might be good, numerous people have had varying issues with them, a lot of times because they oversell something awful and make their money by packing their shared servers until they burst.

One interesting issue that seems to have gone away was a multi-month issue with users on a certain IP where reverse IP lookups would cause huge delays only on GoDaddy's shared hosting services.

If you're running a small forum, they should be okay, just don't expect to use anywhere near the resources they promise.
Motoko-chan
Director, Simple Machines

Note: Unless otherwise stated, my posts are not representative of any official position or opinion of Simple Machines.


brewersrus

So what host would you recommend.  I am very very new to this and dont know much about it and dont want to go with the wrong host.  I just want to get my forum up and running........ I would really like to use a free host but if I cant find one that is free that is good enough then I am willing to pay for one, I just want to spend my money on the right one not the wrong one......

Kindred

Quote from: xenovanis on October 29, 2010, 07:18:57 PM
Hi brewsersrus :)

Here you can find more information on hosting services (free and paid)

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=4.0

We do not recommend any specific hosts.  As team members, that could be a conflict of interest.
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

fastcorvetteusa.com

Bring an old thread back.....I am trying to set up my forum with smf, but i dont use gd.. how would i go about setting this up... ? ?   Thanks for the help in advance...


Quote from: KahneFan on December 26, 2008, 03:11:57 PM
I've seen many people come on here and ask "How do I build a forum", so I'm hoping this might help.

For this example I will be giving probably the easiest meathod. You could host it yourself, but that's a much longer/harder process that most (new) forum owners don't need to bother with. There's also free hosts, but most of those won't give you your data when you want to leave, so I'm going with a host you pay for.

1) Find a host
- 1a) When finding a host make sure they offer free programs/software such as... SMF :)
- 1b) More than likely if your host says they offer "cPanel", they (should) offer SMF plus much more.

2) Sign up for a domain name and hosting account.
2a) Please know that it may take up to 24 hours for your new domain and hosting account to actually work.

3) Go to your hosts cPanel or free program area and find SMF. More than likely there will be an "install" button... click it and follow the directions.
3b) If the installation asks "where would you like to install SMF" and gives you something like: yourdomain/______ and asks you to fill in the blank, leave it blank if you want your forum to be your home page. If you want to have a separate home page and then have people click "forum" to go to your forum, then type "forum" in the blank. Please understand the second option means you have to create a home page or front end of some sort (and that's a whole other story). Note: You can move your forum to a /forum folder later if you want to build a home page.

4) As long as everything was completed, you should now have a forum. Now you should be able to go to yourdomain.--- and start working on your forum.

I will be a little more specific now and give an example of the host I use. I use GoDaddy, which some people don't like, but to me they are extremely easy to use. Plus, if you ever want to move, it's pretty easy to move to a new host.

1) Go to http://www.godaddy.com
2) Click Hosting
3) Sign up for (minimum) Economy Plan. I suggest going to the Deluxe plan since it's not much more, but gives unlimited web sites if you want to build more than 1.
4) Add a domain (if you don't have one already)
5) Complete Registration
- again, be aware that you may need to wait a day before step 6
6) Go back to GD and sign in to your account.
7) Look for "My Products" --> click "Hosting"
8 ) Your account should appear --> click "manage account"
9) Click "Content"
10) Click "GoDaddy Hosting Connection"
11) Click "Message Boards/Forums"
12) Click "Simple Machines Forum"
13) Click "Install Now"
14) Select your domain and click "continue"
15) Fill in the blanks:
- Database Description: (you can leave as is)
- database password: (something you'll remember)
- confirm db password: just retype above
16) "Install it into a folder:" {erase what is there to make your forum your main site} or {erase what is there and type "forum"}
-  Note: You can move your forum to a /forum folder later if you want to build a home page.
17) Fill In The Blanks:
- Admin Name: (this will be YOUR username on your forum)
- Admin Password: (this will be your password on your forum)
- Verify Admin Password: (retype above)
- Email: (your regular email address)
- Forum Name: (this will appear on the top left of your forum)
18) Click "Finish"
19) GoDaddy will automatically set up your forum and it should be live in about 10 minutes or so. They will usually send an email to the address you listed to let you know when your site is complete.
20) Go to your new site!

21) Leave your forum as is and start getting new members, or
- 21b) Come back here and ask bunches of questions on how to customize your forum  ;)


I used to use a host that had cPanel, but I no longer do, so if any has cPanel and would like to list steps to installing SMF through cPanel, feel free.

If you have any questions after reading this, please feel free to post them and we'll be happy to help.

KahneFan

Steps 1-3 are non-GD specific. When selecting a host just be sure they offer free software with your account... specifically that they offer SMF. If your host offers cPanel it's (almost) guaranteed that they offer SMF. Otherwise you will need to either search their site or ask their support staff if they offer SMF with their hosting.
#eric_on_twit| (video) Creating Themes for SMF | Reset Your Forum
NOTE: No PM's for support please.

Kindred

??? huh

SMF can be downloaded and installed on any host which supports php and mySQL.   
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

HouseEros

Based on that username, I'd guess spammer...but that is just me.

KahneFan

Quote from: Kindred on June 11, 2011, 07:13:55 PM
??? huh

SMF can be downloaded and installed on any host which supports php and mySQL.   

You are correct. However, for someone who has zero web experience, but they want to start a forum, finding a host with 1-click install is best.
#eric_on_twit| (video) Creating Themes for SMF | Reset Your Forum
NOTE: No PM's for support please.

Illori

there have been some users that have issues with installs provided by some of those one click installers as well.

KahneFan

Quote from: Illori on June 20, 2011, 04:38:36 PM
there have been some users that have issues with installs provided by some of those one click installers as well.

I've been using 1-click install forums for about 8 years now with no issues. This particular thread is not designed as an end all cure all be all; this is made for those who are very novice to building a forum and want to know where to start. Once they have their board started, they can then try to modify from there. We all started somewhere, I've simply tried to provide a guide for those who are starting from the very beginning.
#eric_on_twit| (video) Creating Themes for SMF | Reset Your Forum
NOTE: No PM's for support please.

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