Hello. I'm planning to start a forums-only website, and was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to which company I should pick.

Thanks. :)

What forum are you thinking of using? Most hosts that offer PHP and mySQL should be able to accomadate you.

I use invision board www.invisionboard.com myself, which Im happy with. (and its free :) ) There are a few hosts who would set up a forum for you with there hosting package(s). Ill try to dig some out for you.

or take a look @ phpbb2 = excellent board = you will need host that offer php+mysql (most of them do)

Thanks Dsnlinux! :D I searched all over, but could find nary a trace of forums-hosting. I suppose I was looking in the wrong place.

I'm going to use phpbb 2.01; sorry for not mentioning that before. :(

i love phpbb

phpBB is the fastest php/mySQL based bulletin board system available to consumers. Both you and your future webhost will appreciate the flexibilty and low-load times of this bbs :)

-Matt

phpbb is faster than Invisionboard? what about server load?

vBulletin... but if you must get one for free, Invision Board... PHPBB sucks hardcore.

<edited>

Once again, the member is looking for a host and not recommendations on a forum to use.

I should be a mod. :D

lol Nexdog, i think they just got carried way a little.. rofl.

we are specilized in hosting phpbb forum. I believe we post our link in phpBB forum as well. Check us out.

I see alot of Invisionboard popping up around the web. So, what's up with Invisionboard compare to phpbb now?

phpbb is the best, check out my forums vginsider.com/forums/

I love phpbb, it is so easy to use, the template system on it is great. I will never switch

Originally posted by NexDog
Once again, the member is looking for a host and not recommendations on a forum to use.

I should be a mod. :D

That is what I was actually what I was thinking.. heh

There really isn't much "optimizing" you can do for a phpbb board. It's very simple. Simply choose a host that you believe fits your requirements for support, speed, cost and features.

Make sure you talk to other customers (most good hosts will provide you a list of customers who are willing to talk with you) and generally be prepared.

Any business decision will be made or broken on your level of planning and preparedness :)

Thanks for all the replies. I believe I know which host I'll choose. :)

Originally posted by SpocksBrain
phpbb is faster than Invisionboard? what about server load?

Ahh, another trekkie. I loved that episode, Spock's Brain. :D

Originally posted by Derek
vBulletin... but if you must get one for free, Invision Board... PHPBB sucks hardcore.

What exacly do you know about this software to say that?

Bet u can not even code can you

P.S. For your infomation I have worked on 2 forum board systems (As a coder)

One look at phpBB code put me right off -> messy to say least

Invisonboard is the best free board out at the mo.

Also Invison do forum hosting in fact they maintain and update your board as well as you getting the latest version first

Originally posted by Steve-PWH


What exacly do you know about this software to say that?

Bet u can not even code can you

P.S. For your infomation I have worked on 2 forum board systems (As a coder)

Me too, and many much larger projects beside. PHPBB is a badly designed system which claims to have everything vB does but doesn't even scratch the surface.

I have yet to see a PHPBB site that rivals www.ringquest.com which is based on vBulletin, and until I do any claims that PHPBB is "the best" will fall on deaf ears. It is the best free board I've seen though, and that's an accomplishment :)

I'm not a coder, just a peon-user. So my two cents:

I'm running phpBB on my site right now and as a standalone, it's very fast (I've integrated mine with my nuke portal).

That said, invisionboard is the best free forum out there. Whenever you hear comparisons between invisionboard and phpbb, you'll never, ever hear from the pro-phpbb camp that their forum offers more functionality. Because it doesn't! All you have to do is go into the admin panel for both to see that invisionboard allows for a ton of cool configuation that rivals vBulletin. You could tweak your phpBB board to match invisionboard out of the box, but you'll just end up horribly slowing down the board.

Regarding speed...from what I've seen, invisionboard is just faster. Less queries. But then I'm not a coder, so what do I know...then again, since forums are supposed to be enjoyed by the majority of people who happen to be non-coders, unless those nifty little technical nuiances make a difference to us, how great can they be...?

pay the $$, get vbulletin, the amount of hacks for it alone make it worth while :)

Just to bring the thread back on topic ;) .....

The majority of hosts will offer the features to cater for the forums mentioned in the posts above and a great deal will probably install it for you.

As for which to choose, the same general guide applies, ask around, look at prices etc. Just make sure you email them first and ask if they'd install for you :)