imported_Rugbee

Has anyone here ever had an online message board/ community?
I wanted to make a message board like mj.com, well…. Not exactly like it but I would like to build an online message board that has class, one with quotes, smile’s, news updates, private massaging as well as allowing members to have their own email addresses that end with the name of the of the community.
I been wanting to build a community for some time now but lacked the experience to create one so and blew it off but now I’m serious and would like to start a small community as mentioned above.
Can anybody advise me on how to go about making a small community as mentioned above.
Here are a few places that I visited.

http://www.phpbb.com/

http://www.vbulletin.com/
I don’t want to download any of them to find out you have to be an IT professional to start a simple community lol any advice would be appreciated.

PsYcHoLoGiCaL

Get a host that allows php and mysql and setup phpbb, you will probably want a domain name too. Or you could go the easy way and just use a off the shelf free solution like proboards.com, this might be a good place to start, you could always expand later.

__________________
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." -- Thomas A. Edison

imported_Rugbee

LOL
Yeah, web space dealers make it sound like crating an online community is so simple. Then they will say O well… You need to find a host that supports Php Dub sql acb defg and its like WTF is that lol One must know what PHP as well as other languages are before attempting to find a host to host the place. Knowing my luck I would register domain go through all the trouble of having to install the dang things just to find out that you need a degree in computer science just to have a simple online message board lol

cs88

If you find a web host all you have to look for is a thing called 'php' and a thing called 'MySql'. Depending on your host it might require a litte work on your mysql database, useally they will give you a username password and database name, if they dont setting that up is a little tricky. Aside from that implimetion is easy, you bascailly drag a folder into your stoage area on your webhost, visit a webpage, insert some things like what your webadress is and the acess information for your mysql database. Then after that you don't have to worry about doing anything hard anymore. Giving out email adreses could be tricky, if you were willing to enter in a usename and password for every person that wanted an email adress it would be easy, but for it to be automated with registration to your forums, things would actally get hard, and possibly exreamly hard depeding on your webhost.

If you ever do get a host I can lend a hand setting up your fourms.

imported_Rugbee

Thank you
I was chatting with a person that owned a forum similar to mj.com. This forum has a chat room, E store, multiple message boards with smiles, quotes, editing, email for registered users, pools, and the whole nine yards. I asked the owner of the web company how much it would cost for me to own a board with all them gizmos and he said $230 a month and I was like WTF. Lol I would love to somehow start a message board and eventually work my way up, even if it takes years to do. Psylogical hooked me up with a website that stores my pictures, and so on so that would help out a lot. O yeah and they wanted me to give them my CC# incase I out used the bandwidth, they said something like I’m only allowed so much bandwidth a month and if more people were to visit the site and out due the bandwidth they would add the amount to my CC and I was like.. Not thanks I am not that good yet lol.
In addition, the advertising. They said web companies would pay me to have their banner adds on my site. One site charged $200 a month to allow a web company to put one little banner on their site say about this long …………………………………………………………




………………………………………………………… And I was like daymn that is expensive and they said that it was actually cheap because their website had over 20 thousand visitors in so long of a time and that they had so and so many clicks per month…. That is when it finely hit me. These webmaster are making bank from the advertisements that they have on their website/ message board. It is sort of like here at mj.com Look at all the herbal alternatives that they sell and all the advertisement they have on the boards. What better place to place a banner add about alternate marijuana then an active website that is about marijuana…(example) Marijuana dot org: advertises with us we have an active message board as well as thousands of members and get so and so many visitors per day plus so and so many clicks per day. That alone would make web companies want to place a banner add on marijuana. org/message board. Such as here because of the active members and numerous clicks per day that the website gets. I bet this place makes bank off all the advertisements.
I know that I’m not the sharpest pencil in the box but some web companies seem to make things so easy as, like, well… all you need to do is download a fpt then transfer a 32 file then make sure that your sql is disables or your visitor will be able to view your personal PC and Bla Bla Bla. O yeah then you have to register a domain it never ends. Lol I never knew making a message board would be so complicated Lol

PsYcHoLoGiCaL

Rugbee, go setup a proboards.com account those boards are pretty nice, they are free, and even a drunk monkey could set it up .