I'm going to start a new SMF (SimpleMachines.org) forum. I have a .com domain name for it and just need to host the forum somewhere. Do you know any good free hosting for SMF forums? I also would like to point my domain (set the DNS nameservers) to my forum host. I've found some free forum hosting services, but these will provide you with their subdomain only and I'm not sure if I can set the DNS of my domain to my forum then. I know I can forward my domain name to the free forum host, but that's what I don't want to do. Also, I must be allowed to put my own Google ads on my forum and don't want any forced ads/banners/popups on my forum. Maybe I'm asking too much for free, but I'd like to try to set up my forum for free at first, as it will be my first forum ever. I may then later move to a paid host if my forum is successful. Thanks in advance for your help guys.
if you want to run a forum dont put it on a free host you will only experince problems and downtime. i would recommend maybe paying $20 per year or somthing for proper paid hosting with good uptime and great support. i would recommend www.hostingdepartment.net theyre cheap but offer great services and 99.9 uptime
hey i might be hepl u out.. i have got a dreamhost account which is lying idle and i dont use it at all.. i have prepaid for FULL one year on it.. so u can be guaranteed of the reliability i can hook ur forum on it for FREE i will just require u to put one google adsense ad on each page of ur forums.. ur own ads are also allowed.. what do u say?? (no illegal, porn etc etc...allowed )
Thank you guys for your offers, but I've found a reliable free host with 99.9% uptime and no any ads. Of course paid hosting is always better, but I'll start with a free host and then if I'm successful and my community grows, I'll move to a paid host.