Starting a Forum

I am interested in setting up a forum, but I am not sure what the startup cost. Does anyone know a round about estimate?

 

$200 i would say to start it up.

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$85 leased license

$20 .com .net .co.uk domains

$95 paid forum posts to give a boost

 

Well it really depends on the size of the forum. I don't have hard figures (sorry) but the larger the forum the more maitenance (i.e. dedicated serving, larger web hosting packages etc.)

If you are just thinking of setting up a forum using VBulletin's software (like this one) it will cost you on a yearly basis (just over $100). There are other free forum platforms available.

Skinny

 

Well, you have to pay for hosting. That's about $7/month for a decent hosting plan.
For forum software, you can download phpbb which is free.
So there is very little cost. The problem is advertising to bring people to your forum.

 

is it better to buy the lease license or go ahead any buy the license?

 

If you've got the cash for a full license and are committed to making the forum work, why not go ahead and get the full deal.

 

I would recommend full license and also i would recommend hostgator for hosting i have had no problems hosting forum with them.

For your mods vbulletin.org i would not recommend any other forum script you want vbulletin it is more appealing to a member for features it offer.

Also post a request here in the services forum for forum posting services you will get good pricing.

 

Thanks to everyone for the info.

 

I will suggest you start with phpBB, its free. If your forum goes well, buy VB, there is and easy to use tool for importing phpBB to VB. This will reduce your start up cost. If the forum does not grow, you can abandon it and you will not have lost much money. That is how I started UK webmaster forums

 

The thing that will cost is the domain name and hosting. You can get a forum software for free. phpBB or SMF.

 

You can start a forum for free by using invisionfree, proboards, or ezboards. I'm sure you can use a search engine to find more free forum hosting.

 

vBulletin is not too expensive to start... You should really consider getting it... Especially the mods are better than phpBB...

 

I've heard that it is really difficult nowadays with making new forums. The problem is to find users.

 

its all about exposure, and hiring someone to post on your form, creating many topics, threads, usernames, responses etc, if someone comes to a forum full of info/conversation they will join.

 

better ask a coder who you know personally..

 

If you have faith in the forum and believe it will be a success, then obviously you should invest more.

For my new forum I paid $300 for the design, $200 for the coding, $150 for the vB license, and I plan on getting vBSEO - which totals $800. A lot, but I confident that I'll get a ROI.

 

If you really want to start a forum and want to run it (The hard part) then my suggestion would be

Go for a vbulletin license (either leased or if you have budget owned one)
Get a custom skin (Would cost around 200-300$)
Install some good mods
advertise it alost
Hire some paid posters (to get it a boost)

And you will be on your way soon.

Regards

 

what's the better board? vB or Invision Power Board?

 

I'd say vB.

 

vBulletin software is good but I've also heard good things about Expression Engine's software. It's also a little cheaper to own than paying vBulletin a license cost annually. php is also good for what it does.