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  1. #1

    web host for phpbb forum

    Hello,

    I am looking to start a professional phpbb forum here pretty soon. I am not really sure what a good host would be for this task, as I have never actually run a real website.

    Any suggestions would be great.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Make sure they offer plenty of bandwith... A forum can be a bandwith hog... Make sure they even allow you to have a forum also...

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    What sort of budget are you looking for? and any requirements you need apart from hosting a PHPBB forum?

    Also location as well, UK, US etc?

  4. #4
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    Pretty much any host will be suitable to run phpBB, especially when you're starting out and the traffic will be rather low.

    If you don't have a lot of experience setting up phpBB and it sounds like you don't, then you should look for a host who offers a one click installer, something like Fantastico or Softaculous or Installatron. A one click installer does as the name implies, installs software with one (or two!) simple clicks of the mouse. All one click installers out there can install phpBB so you don't have to worry.
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  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Ask provider how many concurrent MySQL connections allowed

    You need to check with any web hosting provider you are considering and ask them how many Concurrent MySQL Connections they permit.

    The connections are for a very short period of time, but, if you exceed that limit, your account will probably be suspended by the provider. GL

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Yes. Any host would be able to host your site. Depending on how many users you estimate to be visiting and contributing to your site, you may want to invest in a large hard drive and great band width. I would suggest that you start off small with a plan which is easily scaleable to adjust to your site as it grows. And remember to back up your site and its database frequently and religiously.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Might find getting a VPS server will do the trick.

    They are easily upgradable and manageable.

    You can use a free panel like Kloxo to manage your site.

    It will install everything for you MySQL,PHP etc etc..

    VPS servers start at about £4.99 in the UK and $4.95 in US.

    Jack,

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChaoticRambo View Post
    Hello,

    I am looking to start a professional phpbb forum here pretty soon. I am not really sure what a good host would be for this task, as I have never actually run a real website.

    Any suggestions would be great.

    Thanks!
    Well I always like to recommend staying away from the oversellers (Ex: companies who claim to offer unlimited diskspace/bandwidth)

    Other than that, just make sure the web host you are looking to go with is established and not some fly by night web hosting company (there are a lot of those on the net). Always contact the web host before signing up and ask as many questions as you want. If they are prompt, courteous, then that is a good start.

    Best of luck!
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  9. First You Have to consider if The Host Is Fully compirtable with PhpBB.

    Most of the Hosts with cPanel offer Fantastico, by which you can Install your PhpBB pretty Easily.so, It'll be good to choose one who provide cPanel with Fantastico.

    Read out essential docs from phpbb website.
    how to make forums, how to insert icons into forums, how to install templetes etc.

    Search in google for free phpbb templetes(often called themes). choose one looks good,download and install it to your site manually.

    Join The phpBB forum, keep yourself updated and keep adding essential modifications (Mods) to your forum.

    In todays market, many hosts offers unlimited bandwidth for cheap.My Suggesion Here would be just be sure they are proffesional that way, and pick one up.

    Wishing a Happy journey with your first Website

    <<Setup signature in Member Control Panel>>
    Last edited by Mike V; 05-28-2011 at 04:41 PM.

  10. #10
    Any decent shared hosting account will handle a phpBB forum. I would stay away from hosts that claim unlimited space and bandwidth simply because it isn't true and the servers are probably overloaded. Unless you just want a vps, it isn't needed to operate a phpBB forum.
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  11. #11
    any reliable and good hosting would work...like hostgator,bluehost or fatcow.
    Thanks

  12. #12
    If you are new to this and unfamiliar with setting up a forum, I would suggest going the easy route and simply going with any host that has cPanel/Plesk and Softaculous or Fantastico.

    Almost any host you'll find will have this sort of setup. Fantastico/Softaculous will allow you to login, and you simply select the forum (or any other app) you want to install from the list, and it does everything for you. It will present you with the url of your new forum (which you get to choose during install) and away you go!
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  13. #13
    Ok, trying to answer some of the questions

    Price: Less than $100 per year including domain name, preferably less though

    Location: US (with some traffic from Europe)

    I have experience using invisionfree boards, and zetaboards in terms of managing, styling, and customizing them. As I understand it, those derived from phpBB, so figuring the forum out shouldn't be to much of an issue. I do know HTML, and CSS to a decent degree.



    When you say a bandwidth hog, how much exactly is common for a small to medium size forum?

    How many concurrent MYSQL connections should I look for from a web host?

    Is godaddy.com a decent web host? I only ask because one of my friends used them and seemed happy. They also seem like the offer a lot of features for a very reasonable price compared to other hosts.

  14. #14
    Your price is very reasonable and you should have no problems getting what you need.

    If you haven't run your own forum or website before, you probably have no idea how much bandwidth it may use.

    Do you have an estimate of how many users your site will have? If you will have 100 users, then it's really no big deal, but if you are expecting 10,000 users, then things are different.

    This is all speculation on everyone's part, so I would suggest simply going out and getting a starter plan, you can always chose to upgrade the plan you are on if you're getting close to reaching your bandwidth limits.
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  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by ChaoticRambo View Post
    Ok, trying to answer some of the questions

    Price: Less than $100 per year including domain name, preferably less though

    Location: US (with some traffic from Europe)

    I have experience using invisionfree boards, and zetaboards in terms of managing, styling, and customizing them. As I understand it, those derived from phpBB, so figuring the forum out shouldn't be to much of an issue. I do know HTML, and CSS to a decent degree.



    When you say a bandwidth hog, how much exactly is common for a small to medium size forum?

    How many concurrent MYSQL connections should I look for from a web host?

    Is godaddy.com a decent web host? I only ask because one of my friends used them and seemed happy. They also seem like the offer a lot of features for a very reasonable price compared to other hosts.
    Goddady is definitely not where you want to go. They have a horrible reputation and are not good for anything other than small static sites (maybe not even that).

    I would suggest you take a look at MDDHosting. They are not an unlimited host (which is good), they have fast servers, good support, one-click installers, and bunches of other good stuff. Another plus is that a lot of forum owners use them, so they are tried and trusted with forums. I hope this helps .
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  16. #16
    Again, I have no frame of reference when it comes to forums in terms of the hardware required to run them. I have only ever dealt with the software side of things.

    So I guess to help me get a grasp on this, what would be:

    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 1,000 member
    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 5,000 member
    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 10,000 member

    If I knew that much, then it would help me better gauge whats going to be a good host or not, it would be silly to pick something more than I need, or less for that matter.

    MDDHosting seems a tad on the expensive side, do you really get what you pay for? What other hosts are known for reliable forum hosting?

    Thanks so much for all your help already guys!

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by ChaoticRambo View Post
    MDDHosting seems a tad on the expensive side, do you really get what you pay for? What other hosts are known for reliable forum hosting?
    In short: Yes. There are other hosts that are cheaper, but $7-8 a month hosting is generally better than $5 a month hosting. SpeedySparrow is also good. Basically the same pricing ratio as MDDhosting, but Speedys smallest plan is smaller.
    My personal blog -- rubiverse.net

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by ChaoticRambo View Post
    Again, I have no frame of reference when it comes to forums in terms of the hardware required to run them. I have only ever dealt with the software side of things.

    So I guess to help me get a grasp on this, what would be:

    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 1,000 member
    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 5,000 member
    The bandwidth & disk space required to run a forum with 10,000 member

    If I knew that much, then it would help me better gauge whats going to be a good host or not, it would be silly to pick something more than I need, or less for that matter.

    MDDHosting seems a tad on the expensive side, do you really get what you pay for? What other hosts are known for reliable forum hosting?

    Thanks so much for all your help already guys!
    I have a forum with over 20.000 posts and 5.000 members and a blog full of images.
    I never needed beyond 1GB storage and 15GB bandwidth for those. You might not need that much of storage if you dont allow attachments in your forum.

    I'm currently with iPage and they suck! Dont go for any Cheap Unlimited Everything plan if you want a reliable hosting experience with good support. I'll be moving to MDDhosting within a day or two.

  19. #19
    Join Date
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    Ok, trying to answer some of the questions
    Sure, no worries.

    Price: Less than $100 per year including domain name, preferably less though
    Ultimately there are an insane amount of providers offering this even some of the major oversellers whom do at times tend to offer "FREE DOMAINS", even though I would not encourage to take up that type of specific offer you can usually get the cost well below $100.00 for a yearly/annual order.

    Location: US (with some traffic from Europe)
    Any specific location within the US or just through a datacenter that has a better connection rate via Europe, if that is the case then the East Coast of the US would preferably be your main or ideal choice.

    I have experience using invisionfree boards, and zetaboards in terms of managing, styling, and customizing them. As I understand it, those derived from phpBB, so figuring the forum out shouldn't be to much of an issue. I do know HTML, and CSS to a decent degree.
    Generally you should always take caution on editing bulletin boards, but if you know your away around them you should not have too much of an issue, I have never used Zetaboards myself so not sure if they are equivilently derived from phpBB.

    When you say a bandwidth hog, how much exactly is common for a small to medium size forum?
    For a small/meduim blog you'd be looking at around 10GB - 20GB give or take, generally 10GB of bandwidth might seem small but surely is a good starting point, growth is going to be inevitable sooner or later but once you start clocking up and beyond 50GB then your site is hitting a medium aspect.

    How many concurrent MYSQL connections should I look for from a web host?
    Really depends, you will find a lot of the larger "Oversold" providers will limit you in all ways possible, but it's really a give or take on te setup of the system, a small forum generally you'd not be looking at hitting a peak so anything from 25CC should be adequte.

    Is godaddy.com a decent web host? I only ask because one of my friends used them and seemed happy. They also seem like the offer a lot of features for a very reasonable price compared to other hosts.
    Stay away, this seems to be the general rule with GoDaddy. They have limits beyond limits and you will find yourself upgrading much faster and in a shorter time-frame if your blog/forum starts to exeed their controlled limits, you may want to invest elsewhere.
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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sparrow-Sean View Post
    Sure, no worries.

    Ultimately there are an insane amount of providers offering this even some of the major oversellers whom do at times tend to offer "FREE DOMAINS", even though I would not encourage to take up that type of specific offer you can usually get the cost well below $100.00 for a yearly/annual order.

    Any specific location within the US or just through a datacenter that has a better connection rate via Europe, if that is the case then the East Coast of the US would preferably be your main or ideal choice.


    Generally you should always take caution on editing bulletin boards, but if you know your away around them you should not have too much of an issue, I have never used Zetaboards myself so not sure if they are equivilently derived from phpBB.


    For a small/meduim blog you'd be looking at around 10GB - 20GB give or take, generally 10GB of bandwidth might seem small but surely is a good starting point, growth is going to be inevitable sooner or later but once you start clocking up and beyond 50GB then your site is hitting a medium aspect.


    Really depends, you will find a lot of the larger "Oversold" providers will limit you in all ways possible, but it's really a give or take on te setup of the system, a small forum generally you'd not be looking at hitting a peak so anything from 25CC should be adequte.


    Stay away, this seems to be the general rule with GoDaddy. They have limits beyond limits and you will find yourself upgrading much faster and in a shorter time-frame if your blog/forum starts to exeed their controlled limits, you may want to invest elsewhere.
    I have to second this. Also, read some reviews from the providers you choose to go with. The time spent will pay off in both time and money.
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  21. #21
    Thank you very much guys. This has really helped me get a better idea of what I need to look for, and what to avoid.

    I think I will go with MDDHOSTING as you guys have suggested. I am not sure when I will start working on this project, but it will be within the week.

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