Results 1 to 21 of 21
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22

    Newbie Web (Forum) Hosting Advice Please

    Hello All

    I'm reasonably computer literate (build PC's, setup systems etc) but have never set up a website for a subject that I can't find a forum of, so that other similarly interested peoples like me can chat.

    WHAT I'd LIKE TO DO
    1) General use website with links to other websites, forum, few pictures etc.
    2) Would be nice to have a donate type Paypal button to support site or links to sellers to get few $'s to pay for monthly fees.
    3) Room to grow if successful

    QUESTIONS
    1) Where would you recommend?
    2) Should I register domain name with same company or separate?
    3) If host company turns out to not fulfill my needs can I move my website or if I'm using their system then am I stuck?
    4) How do I get my website found other people via search engines (google live yahoo) or is it automatic via their web robotes?
    5) Assume I just want shared hosting to start, what is difference to Dedicated beside cost?

    Thanks in advance . . . John.

  2. #2
    Hey John,

    What I like to do is start off small. With most companies you can upgrade to a higher amount of resources.

    1) Go onto webhosting reviews and check recent news on different providers. There are a lot of good companies out there.
    2) I'd register it seperate so you have full control over the domain, Godaddy.com is a reliable place.
    3) You can always back up your files onto your harddrive at home and if switching the new company may help you out with the move to their servers.
    4) Advertising or create affiliates with other well known places for free advertising.
    5) Dedicated is your own server. No one else will be on that server except you. You can use it to sell hosting to others or keep it if you are going to have a large website.

    In my opinion I would stick with shared hosting for now, then possibly move to a VPS if your website becomes larger.

    Hope this helps,
    Craig.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Craig

    Much appreciate advice my problem has been that I can't find any good webhosting reviews, thus my post here, any advice on where to look.

    So far thinking of godaddy, 1&1, yahoo, liquid, when I looked at live they didn't seem to have forum . . . any advice please

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Just found webhostinggeeks.com, best I've found so far, John

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Afterburst Server Racks
    Posts
    1,472
    Warning, don't think about godaddy and 1&1 hosting, I've seen bazillions of bad reviews about them.

    I'm assuming you know the difference between dedicated and shared? Dedicated is only needed for large sites, with resource intensive scripts.

    Also, don't trust sites like webhostinggeeks.com, hosts pay to be in the top 10.

    What I would recommend would be to check out the shared hosting offers forum.
    Afterburst - the best unmetered VPS - read why here!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    In canada
    Posts
    3,374
    First step, decide your requirements look for hosting companies which meet your plans, than look for reviews on that company, you never start the otherway around that is look for reviews first when you do not know your own requirements.
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Thx SuperBytes, good advice.

    That's my worry with many sites, biased/bpught etc.

    Just mooched around bluehost.com and looks more hardcore for people to build own script and upload, I found their wepage builder app too painful, I'm looking for something reaonably simple but can grow. I'll check out the shared hosting offers.

    Any advice on something that would do forums and reasonably simple?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Thx E Bunny

    Reaonably, put my requirements in OP, anything else I should think of?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    3,690
    What you will need to do if you are checking out various websites for reviews is to "follow-up" if they have actual testimonials. Contact some of the clients to see if they are still with said host and satisfied.
    www.hostsearch.com has been around a long time and they do have a "reviews" section.

    ALSO, you can check the host website and follow up that way and be SURE to send some pre-sales emails to any potential host you are thinking about. Too many people just dont follow through with research. They see reviews without proper followup and they end up being NOT satisfied.

    Since you are just starting out you are really only going to need "shared" hosting and probably 100MB space will be ample room.

    Some hosts offer a one click install of forums and then you will find other hosts that will assist with a manual forum install (there are free ones available)and it takes no longer than 10 minutes to install. These would be excellent questions to send off to them.
    Its overwhelming now when trying to search but dont be fooled into thinking you need a dedicated server -OR- 5GB webspace. Unfortunately in this industry its become a who offers the most space for less than 5 bucks so most of those co. HAVE TO continually offer more for less to even try to keep up.

    Be realistic and most likely you'll be abit happier in the long run!
    HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    In canada
    Posts
    3,374
    Quote Originally Posted by jlsrpierce View Post
    Thx E Bunny

    Reaonably, put my requirements in OP, anything else I should think of?
    Yaa a nice juicy cheese burger ,

    Oh you can edit your original post to add new stuff to it instead of double posting.


    Your requirements i see as what i would have posted 2 years ago when i had no idea, but with time around you will become seasoned player like me ... First steps first, do u know what forum script you will be using ? If you got money go for vbulletin, if not go for SMF.
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Thx Martie, I'm in Katy, West side of Houston, love SA, just did the opening night of Xmas Parade on Riverwalk at Thansgiving with family.

    Good advice, no rush to signup today then, do homework, I'll have to live with whoever choose for a long time. Will read lots more.

    E-Bunny, we had angus burgers Thursday night as had 10 in our house, 6 guests from Tulsa ice storm.

    Yep I'm at the beginning. No idea on Forum script, saw some hosting companies supply PHPbb and SMF, presumably for free in price of monthly package.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Afterburst Server Racks
    Posts
    1,472
    phpbb, smf are free forum scripts. They require php(5 I think) and mysql, but all good hosts will come with these. No point wasting money on VB if it's only a small forum, especially considering the free alternatives are just as good. Also check out vanilla forum (not a traditional system, but awesome) and punbb.

    For hosting, look for anything with around 100-500mb space (maybe more if it's lots of photos & etc), and also 1-5gb of bandwidth. I'm quite sure this can be found for under $1 even with a quality host. Look for 99.9% uptime and 24/7 support, then talk with sales a bit too
    Afterburst - the best unmetered VPS - read why here!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    37
    smf is really good i would go with smf superbytes is right at that

    php5 most hosts have it

    and he is right with the fact of talking to the sales that helps a lot you know , knowing how committed they are but dont go for a 1$ that wouldnt be reliable.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Team & posts from smextech & Superbytes

    Thanks for all your advice and thoughts, I just bought:
    1) My website name from godaddy.com
    2) 1 year of Hatchling Linux Shared Hosting package from hostgator.com
    This package includes forums by phpbb, Invision, and Yabbse, so guess I'll go with phpBB . . .

    Wish me luck . . . thanks again, John.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    In canada
    Posts
    3,374
    I doubt they offer invision for free in that package, where did you get that information from ? If they do why would you go with phpbb ? Invision is way better, avoid phpbb it requires more technical skillsets to run it, its not as easy as running smf.
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Hi E-Bunny

    Thanks, I have no idea of the difference between the different forum apps. Will use Invision over phpBB as I think it is included. Would have chosen SMF as you recommended but not available I think.

    If you go to www.hostgator.com, then click on Shared - Learn More button, you get a list of all the different package components. Scroll down to "Control Panel Features" then beside "Instant Forums", click on the question mark. The pop up says: "You are welcome to install any forum you want with us. You will even be able to install phpbb, Invision, and Yabbse instantly using our control panel."

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    In canada
    Posts
    3,374
    Well since you are now their customer, maybe you can provide me with screenshot of where inside their control panel you have ability to install invision ? Cause first time i heard about this.

    Edit nvm, fantastico does have feature to install invision which happens to be really old version, not sure how secure that is..
    Last edited by Energizer Bunny; 12-16-2007 at 09:13 PM.
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Jackson. Ms
    Posts
    150
    If you want to use smf why not just download the FREE package from smf and install it via there web installer. It is a really simple process.
    Tiny Portal Hosting

    Premiere hosting for smf/tp software

  19. #19
    My recommendation is asmallorange.com as the webhost they have excellent support
    and as for the forum script i recommend mybboard.net
    It's lightweight and fast and is similar to vbulletin

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Katy, Houston, Texas, USA
    Posts
    22
    Hi E-Bunny

    Looks like you are right, when I go to Fantasico De Luxe it just shows phBB2 & SMF. No mention of Invision and Yabbse it talks about on homepage. Cheers.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    In canada
    Posts
    3,374
    Quote Originally Posted by jlsrpierce View Post
    Hi E-Bunny

    Looks like you are right, when I go to Fantasico De Luxe it just shows phBB2 & SMF. No mention of Invision and Yabbse it talks about on homepage. Cheers.
    Hmm, i thought hostgator would not advertise what they do not provide oh well good luck mate. Starting should not cause any issues.
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •