it really all depends on how big the forum is or is going to be.... a small forum could go off free hosting. But anything decent would require a paid service. Simply put some sort of advertising on the pages, and you will find that the forum will pretty much pay for itself in the long run.
The better is go for forum with your own hostin. Nobody can give you totally free forum with hosting without any revneue sharing..
you can try http://www.profusehost.net and when you are ready, you can move to paid packages to remove the ads. Its not worth it to pay for hosting when you are just starting a forum. Profuse host offer 1 Gb and 100 Gb of bandwidth but free accounts come with ads. I recommend atleast buying your own domain instead of using a subdomain.
I use http://excoboard.com/ It's free, you don't need hosting and there is a mininimal of ads. In fact, there is only one google adsense ad in the same place, just under your forum banner and you can blend it to the color of your forum or chosse any color you want for it. You can have multiple accounts and they have support and advertising forums for your board. The smilies that come with each board oddly all have Jay Leno's chin but you can add you own smilies whenever you want. mike p.s. i just checked my forum. the google ad isn't even on ever page. it's only on the main page and when you are in a thread. is doesn't appear when you are in a particular forum outside of any of its threads.
my recomendation is find a free hosting here : _ww.0hosts.com that allows ads. then upload your forum there. i'd say SMF. then use _freedns.afraid.org to use a domain like 'yourdomain.us.to' (its free). its a easy way to have a free forum(with revenue) with at least a better domain name.
i prefer my way that i posted above your post. we can customize our forums. if we use free services sometimes we are limiited when editing template files, etc
I have made "free" forums using phpBB and now SMF. SMF Rocks! The deal on hosting: it ain't free, but it IS WORTH paying for. If you forum is going to have ANY traffic at all, then you do NOT want to give up control to a "free" hosting service. My opinion--INVEST in decent hosting. It's only a few buck a month and will server you well. Eric
thanks..all can one give me steps to creat forum from what u suggest?? freedns.afraid.org not work for me can u give me steps to creat forum from what u suggest??
If you talk to me at msn, I will do this for you as promised. I even told you I will loan you one of my domains untill you get your own? Why didnt you accept this offer ? Strange.
plz ..more details or steps?? what exacrly to download from SMF??there are many download there?? how can i upload forum that i will get to free host??
Sorry man, I can't help you anymore. I have offerd you free hosting, a domain, a forum but still you don't take the offer. I will withdraw my offer now, Sorry