Member Avatar for DoggyPaw

Ok, I'm sorry if this sounds dumb. I'm a newbie. :o

I have a couple questions. First, I am just about to start a online community. I am very money-tied though, so I can't do to much. I'm going to have to go with the free boards. I was thinking about buying a domain, getting hosting from a company, and installing a free PhpBB board. My friend said he thinks that EZBoards hosts it for you. (If you have a domain) If you get their "Gold Community" package or whatever. Do they host it for you, or are you paying simply for the forum?


Also, for PhpBB, is there anyway I may advertise on that? Or maybe have like a "donation" button? :sad:


PLEASE HELP!! :cry:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Atomica

Dani AI

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A compact, practical checklist to start a low‑budget forum while keeping options open for growth and security. This builds on suggestions from , , and and fills the common gaps around installation, backups, anti‑spam and early monetization.

Recommended steps include:

  • Pick hosting that offers PHP/MySQL, FTP/SFTP and the ability to export the database and files. Confirm PHP version compatibility with the forum software and that HTTPS (SSL) is available or easily added.

  • Prepare the domain and DNS so migration is simple (set a low TTL while testing and moving).

  • Install the forum (one‑click or manual). Create a dedicated database user with limited privileges and run the installer from a secure location.

  • Lock down the install: remove or rename installer scripts, and make the config file read‑only after setup. Example:

    chmod 444 config.php

  • Automate backups (database + files) and keep at least one copy off‑site. Example commands (replace placeholders):

    mysqldump -u DB_USER -p'PASSWORD' DB_NAME > /home/backups/forum-$(date +%F).sql
tar czf /home/backups/files-$(date +%F).tar.gz /path/to/forum

  • Put basic anti‑spam measures in place from day one: email verification, CAPTCHA, and simple post filters. Recruit at least one trusted moderator early to handle abuse and to seed activity.

Monetization and growth notes: donations are rarely reliable for brand‑new communities. Focus first on useful, searchable content and steady moderation. Later, consider lightweight monetization — contextual ads, relevant affiliate links, small paid perks (badges/private areas) or sponsored threads — keeping user experience central.

Quick troubleshooting tips: blank pages usually mean PHP errors (check server error logs), DB connection failures are credential/host issues, and 500 errors often come from incorrect file permissions or incompatible .htaccess rules. Always test a full restore from backup before relying on any host.

Recommended Answers

All 10 Replies

Member Avatar for Sphyenx

well for one, not many people will donate. You need to make a friend with web space!, i might be able to help you please PM me with firther details on what this is all about.

Member Avatar for Dani

Once you have a successful community, you can put up a donate button with something along the lines of: "If you enjoyed your stay here, please help us out with a donation." However, no one is going to donate to a new site that doesn't (yet) have much to offer, unfortunately. People like to feel like they are getting something for their money. If it is a successful site, they are getting the peace of mind and the satisfaction of helping out an informative, helpful, enjoyable site. But whatever it is, they feel like they are getting something for their money. It doesn't necessarily have to be something tangible, but it has to be something.

Member Avatar for ArunK

While searching Freewebspace.net, I found a few sites that will host your board for free.

http://www.phpbbplanet.com/

There are a few others, you can do a quick Google search. You might be able to find a free host there too. Good luck!

Member Avatar for Scribbller

Dont go for any of that, a domain will just cost you 9 dollars and you can easily get quality hosting for as low as 3 dollars a month that would have say 200+ mb disk space with around 5-10 gb bandwidth that should be more than enough for you to kick start your community. Get a free forum software package like phpbb or if you want to venture further XMB and simplemachines.org are also very good, infact I am starting to rate them higher than phpbb.

Member Avatar for baker011

Like most people have said so far, I would recommend getting a proper hosting deal as you never know how successful your forum may become and you dont want to be trapped in a free package that doesnt allow your forum to grow. I would recommend going for a host that offers Cpanel, and fantastico as it will install phpBB or a couple other boards for you, takes away all the pain of installing it yourself.

With phpBB it is possible to add adverts, all I will say is dont expect people to click them really. Also to add the adverts you will need to get to grips with the code so that you know where to add it, its fairly simple with phpBB though to just insert the code or change the layout of the page to fit an advert in a good place.

You dont really give many details about your forum though so its hard to advise you, I will say if you expect the forum to become a big hit then its best to plan for that now. Take a look at vBulletin, yes it costs money but its such a complete package. But if phpBB will suffice for now be prepared to spend hours adding modifications because the standard package will not be enough, its a well supported community though so plenty of hacks out there.

Good luck with your forum.

Member Avatar for ArunK

I suggested those sites because I read that he was on a tight budget, I forgot that DoggyPaw mentioned he was thinking of buying his own domain name. As Scribbllermentioned before you can easily get a domain name for a fairly low price with more than enough space and bandwidth you would need right now starting at around $3.00/month.

Member Avatar for Danny

I realize you might be on a tight budget, but in reality, starting a website isn't as expensive as it seems.

Try and produce $60.

  • 4$/mo - 48$ a year
  • 8.88 - Domain name, 1 year
  • 3.88 is left in your account

Primitive? Very. Will it get the job done and allow you to grow? Most definitely. $60 a year is not a bad price for your own website and domain name, sell some advertising and you'll quickly break even.

Member Avatar for doglover

hello i'm new here and from the UK.
i'm looking for a FREE forum hosting site (prefer it to be phpbb) and also a FREE domain name. any sites?

Member Avatar for ArunK

I posted some links (a few posts above) to sites which offer free forum hosting, but as far as I know, none of them offer free domains along with their service. I haven't seen any that offer both.

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