Member Avatar for Mushy-pea

Hello again. You might remember I posted a question on this forum recently asking if anyone knew of good Perl based forum software. Well, I decided to write my own forum script for my website to find out how such a thing is done. While I was wading through hundreds of lines of Perl code today an idea came to me; what about launching a service specifically to host forums for people, with my new Perl code at the core of it? Sites (like Myspace) already exist that allow people to easily create mini websites for free, but this dosn't extend to having your own forum. So the idea is, register on "Community Web" for free, then setting up a forum is achived by stepping through some easy online forms and control panels. It would also be possible to set up other site features (like audio / video) players, as it is on Myspace. Then I could rake in the money from advertising revenue :p . Does anyone have an opinion on the chance of sucess of this idea? Thanks.

Steven.

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A short, practical take on this idea that builds on the replies from , , and .

There are many incumbents, but that does not automatically kill the opportunity. The key is treating this as a product: pick a clear customer (a narrow niche or use case), validate demand, then ship a small, focused MVP. Running a hosted service is operations-heavy (uptime, backups, moderation, abuse handling, payments). Licensing software is lower-op-exposure but needs stronger marketing and support. Both routes are viable — look at hosted-plus-open-source models and pure-hosted examples for how others balance it (for example Discourse and ProBoards).

Concrete things that move the needle first

  • Validate: one-page pitch + pre-signups or a small paid pilot with an existing community.
  • Differentiate: offer one distinctive feature or vertical integration (e.g., deep media handling for musicians, school-focused moderation tools, or turnkey private communities).
  • Keep the MVP tight: simple setup, mobile-ready UI, strong spam protection, easy moderation tools, easy export/backup, and a plugin/theme path so customers can extend the product. Prefer a stack with an active ecosystem to reduce long-term maintenance (see modern forum projects like NodeBB or Flarum).

Business and ops cautions
Ad revenue alone is rarely enough early on. Consider freemium + paid upgrades (custom domain, remove ads, extra storage), managed/enterprise hosting, and a marketplace for themes/plugins. Plan moderation workflows and legal compliance from day one (GDPR and privacy rules apply — see the ICO guide to the GDPR). If you want lower operational burden, package and sell the software with a clear upgrade/support plan as suggested.

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Member Avatar for Dani

I don't remember their names offhand, but there are a good number of forum hosting companies out there already, and sites that give you free forums on their domains. Most are PHP though (ie phpBB forums).

Member Avatar for Barnz

Hello again. You might remember I posted a question on this forum recently asking if anyone knew of good Perl based forum software. Well, I decided to write my own forum script for my website to find out how such a thing is done. While I was wading through hundreds of lines of Perl code today an idea came to me; what about launching a service specifically to host forums for people, with my new Perl code at the core of it? Sites (like Myspace) already exist that allow people to easily create mini websites for free, but this dosn't extend to having your own forum. So the idea is, register on "Community Web" for free, then setting up a forum is achived by stepping through some easy online forms and control panels. It would also be possible to set up other site features (like audio / video) players, as it is on Myspace. Then I could rake in the money from advertising revenue :p . Does anyone have an opinion on the chance of sucess of this idea? Thanks.

Steven.

LOL this idea was thought of long ago.

Member Avatar for harishankar

I personally think this field is very competitive and you won't get much reward out of free hosting either.

If anything, I suggest that if you make a great script with great features, why not just sell it for a price? It needn't be super expensive, but you might make a bit out of it if you market it properly and it might be more attractive if you offer "free" hosting along with the license. :)

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