I'm building my site... questions about forums!

[TheWorkAtHomeGirl]

Hi everyone! : )
I am still building my website... have been working on it for almost a month. I hope to be done and launching it shortly, but am now thinking about attaching a forum to the site.
Can anyone tell me how this is done? Would it be two separate websites that just link to each other?
And how do I know if my webhost hosts forums?
Where can I find templates for forums?
I think having a forum attached to my site would make a big difference in the amount of business I draw in!
Thanks so much!
LoraLee

[Joakim Andreassen]

Originally Posted by TheWorkAtHomeGirl

Hi everyone! : )
I am still building my website... have been working on it for almost a month. I hope to be done and launching it shortly, but am now thinking about attaching a forum to the site.
Can anyone tell me how this is done? Would it be two separate websites that just link to each other?
And how do I know if my webhost hosts forums?
Where can I find templates for forums?
I think having a forum attached to my site would make a big difference in the amount of business I draw in!
Thanks so much!
LoraLee

You can just install it on your domain in a folder like for example:

www.yourdomain.com/forums

There are several different types of forums. For paid I suggest vbulletin (Which is what OMB is), and for free I suggest either phpbb or smf.

[hastyhost]

Originally Posted by TheWorkAtHomeGirl

And how do I know if my webhost hosts forums?

Yes, we allow you to host forums .

Depending on the type of forum you go with will determine what types of templates you can use and what you need to search for.

There are PHPBB2/3, IPB, vBulletin, SMF, and many many more.

Out of those people will probably say "vBulletin" is the best, but it does cost. SMF/PHPBB2/3 are free, and I'm not sure about IPB.

[TheWorkAtHomeGirl]

Just want to say thanks so much to both of you: HastyHost and Joakim!
I had no idea where to even start, and apparently it's much less complicated than I thought, lol!
So... because you're my host, HastyHost, I'll direct this additional question to you:
Joakim said that I could just add the forum to my site.... will I be doing that or will I be having you host a whole different site that I just link to from my original site?
I hope I don't sound as lost as I really am, lololol.
I'm learning slowly!
Thanks!
LL

[hastyhost]

Originally Posted by TheWorkAtHomeGirl

Just want to say thanks so much to both of you: HastyHost and Joakim!
I had no idea where to even start, and apparently it's much less complicated than I thought, lol!
So... because you're my host, HastyHost, I'll direct this additional question to you:
Joakim said that I could just add the forum to my site.... will I be doing that or will I be having you host a whole different site that I just link to from my original site?
I hope I don't sound as lost as I really am, lololol.
I'm learning slowly!
Thanks!
LL

No feel free to ask anything, that's what we're here for .

Anyway, you can do both ideas. However, if the forum is for your main domain, and you are just wishing to add another service on your existing website, then yes, what Joakim recommended is the best method to go, and you can host that on your existing account.

From your first post I take it that you are just wanting to add a forum to your website, and not create a standalone forum like Joakims here (complete different website that has nothing to do with any other website).

In that case, you have two chooses on how to install it. You can either use Fantasitco which supports both phpbb/smf which are free, and you can install them in less than 2 minutes.

Or

You can pay for vbulletin and have to install that manually. But don't be scared by that, installing scripts are pretty simply once you get the hang of it.

What I would recommend for you is since you are new to this is, start with the free path and see how it goes and learn before you actually invest in a forum script like vbulletin.

In Fantastico, it is going to ask you what directory to install the script in (phpbb/smf). This is what Joakim is talking about. In that blank, you simply enter the folder you wish for the forum to be placed. Fantastico will create whatever folder you want and install it there.

I would recommend you name it "forum". So when you go to your website, it will be like this: http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/forum/

I would also recommend you make a sub-domain so you can use this as well: http://forum.YOURDOMAIN.com

That method is very common when having a forums add-on to your website.

Hope that helps. Most of this is straight forward once you get in there and mess around with things, so just have fun with it .