Hosted forum - ideas anyone

[nashenden]

We have been approached to set up a forum for a small special interest group. Usual facilities needed, just like this forum I guess, commercially just a few banner ads and maybe captchas or similar to keep the spam at bay.

Volume wise I cant see it ever growing to more than 100-200 members (this is a real niche area) but those users maye generate a fair few posts.

Is there a 'gmail of the forum world' i have missed - i dont really want to install software on a shared / vps / dedi box myself, i'd rather just pay £x a month but know its secure and recommended.

thanks in advance, as ever!!

[othelloRob]

Is there a 'gmail of the forum world' i have missed - i dont really want to install software on a shared / vps / dedi box myself, i'd rather just pay £x a month but know its secure and recommended

There are hundreds of "forum hosting" services - but they're all (largely) the same as you installing it your self on a shared hosting package ...

What's your budget and system administration level ? As each board software app has it's issues and costs ...

Rob Golding Othello Technology Systems Ltd AS29527 Company#03894981 VAT#GB-782561410 Tel:0871 277 6875
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[domtaylor]

If you plan on using a free forum such as phpBB or SMF, virtually all hosting will have auto-installers, or if you'd like to use a paid option such as vBulletin, they'll install it for ~£90

Dominic Taylor - Director, Thermal Degree Limited
http://www.vidahost.com - UK hosting from £17/year +VAT
Call us on 0800 047 0417
Company No. 5079572; VAT No. GB 891 5484 85

[SoftsysHosting]

I will also recommend you to consider SMF as it works pretty well and there are good themes available for it as well.

- Rick

www.SoftsysHosting.com Windows 2008 ASP, ASP.NET 2.0/3.5, MS SQL 2008, PHP, MySQL Hosting
99.9% uptime | Daily Backups | 24x7 Expert Technical Support | Moneyback Guarantee

[LeaUK]

VBulletin always gets my vote. Easy install, and lots of support if you need it. Cost is negligible.