How do I create a bulletin board?

[Dis]

and more importantly how do I get it high on search engines

I asked a similar thread about porn in another forum. But I've decided not to do anything directly related to porn. The site will be indirectly related to naked women (but what site isn't ). My project is classified right now, I just need to know how feasible it is to get off the ground.

How much do things liek v-bulletin cost?

[ixnay]

vbulletin is $85 a year or $160 unlimited. To run vbulletin, you'll need webhosting that supports php and MySQL.

[Dis]

hmm. And what about server space for just a bulletin board? I don't expect to allow pictures or large files of any type. Just a bulletin board. I know a select group of people that want to discuss a certain subject. I was wondering if this would be the best way. How much does a domain/server space cost?

Because I've looked for a site for what I want to do- but I can't find one. There used to be one but it shut down. So I saw a large hole, and wanted to fill it.

[Shi Huangdi]

I think there are free bbs you can get too....

[Dis]

That's true.

I've tried many google searches. Maybe the subject I'm looking for is on those crappy bb's you can rent.

Anyone know how I can search those?

[ixnay]

Well, I'll just tell you what I use:

I'm hosted by www.l33t.ca and their pricing is nice for small-traffic sites: Unlimited space; bandwidth is $4 per gig. Since I use 100-200 megs of bandwidth per month, I paid $6 in September and haven't paid any more since then. Plus, you get email accounts and whatnot, and the server supports everything needed to run vBulletin.

God, I sound like a salesman for them.

[Ari Rahikkala]

More information than you will ever need (or even understand without at least a few months of studying): http://dmoz.org/Computers/Bulletin_B...tems/Software/ , http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/I...rs/Discussion/ . For "those crappy bb's you can rent", the only ones I know of are Ezboard, Network54 and Invision Power Board (Google for them). The only one of them I've ever actually heard anyone recommending to anyone is IPB.

[Dis]

Thanks for the info. If I find the local subject I'm looking for I will have no need to create a BB. It's just something I want to discuss with other locals.

I may find it on those EZ boards (and the others). They don't seem to show up on google searches. Probably why I'm not finding them.

[Dis]

lol

I found what I was looking for but it has 0 posts. Some of those forums are beyond dead.

[FrostyBoy]

ikonboard.com, best free one you can get, almost as good as ubb.

[Rasbelin]

Thanks Ari for the DMOZ links! I was abit too slow to post them.

Yes, well, I don't recommend Ikonboard, but instead you could look at Invision Board if you have a hosting service with PHP and MySQL. However if you only have PHP, then look for options that only require PHP as they use a text based database system (e.g. Powerboards). As for links if you concider that one, Diss. The easiest way is to start your own Ezboard as Ari hinted.

[FrostyBoy]

Why don't you like ikonboard??

[Rasbelin]

Requires CGI-BIN access in order to run, despite MySQL or not. Doesn't allow you to split threads and the profile management isn't as good as with Invision Board.

[Rasbelin]

Those who like open source, have PHP and MySQL, like mods and a large variety of themes should concider phpBB (http://www.phpbb.com), before making a decision. Works nice, but modding should be done carefully as any mods must be compatible, unless you want to screw it up, which is does very easily. Otherwise great stuff.

[Zopperoni]

The best forums are, IMO:

1) vBB
2) XMB
3) phpBB
4) YaBB SE

I use XMB forum myself, because I could install it with only one click via my host, and it was easy to set up a portal as well.