Do I need a full-fledged server to run XenForo? (PC user)`

[TheAdorableAuroran]

I plan to create a forum like Se7enSins... a high quality forum. However, I am starting to believe that I need an actual server rather than a computer before even thinking about using the product. I only have a high-end pc, and I don't think that's enough. I've heard godaddy, hostgator, ect. can provide online servers, at a cost. Is this true? If so, tell me, how much money do you think I'll be spending for the following features:

1. Unlimited Image Upload (.png, .gif, .jpeg, .bmp, ect)
2. Unlimited Video Upload (.mpeg, .avi, .mp4, ect)
3. Unlimited Music Upload (.mp3, .m4a, .wav, .ogg, ect)
4. Unlimited Document Upload (.doc, .txt, .rtf, ect)
5. Unlimited Website Size
6. Unlimited Client Handling (How powerful the server can be)
7. Unlimited Members
8. Chatroom Feature
9. Shoutbox Feature
10. Administration Board
11. Moderation Board
12. UserCP
13. Members and Membergroups
14. Website-Defined and User-Defined Themes and Styles
15. Permissions
16. Articles and Journals
17. Unlimited Forum Size, Catagories, Topics, and Threads
18. Gold, Diamonds, Items, and other purchasable stuff
19. Premium Memberships
20. Badges, Ribbons, Awards, Ranks, ect.
21. Features and Options
22. Unlimited Add-Ons
23. By the Minute Upgrades and Updates
24. Quick Admin Control Panel
25. Quick Mod Control Panel
26. [OWNER], [ADMIN], [GM], [MOD], [STAFF], [MAINTAINANCE] (special membergroups)
27. Tokens (Post-Based points that allow you to purchase premiums)
28. Rich Text Edit Box
29. Language Packs
30. Re-occuring Yearly Subscription for Webhosting
31. Special Domain Name for website/Forums
32. About Us, Contact Us, Home, ect. Navigation Tabs and Webpages
33. Private Forums
34. Calendar
35. Automated Messages
36. Maintainance Mode
37. Error Code Pages (maliformed address, page does not exist, invalid response, restricted area, ect.)
38. Redirects
39. Advertisements (Control which ads appear and do not appear, as well as allow users to pay to place their ads)
40. Censoring Words
41. Ticket Generator (for support questions)
42. Username Restrictions (Usernames that cannot be used or are reserved)
43. Custom Validation Meathods.
44. Connect to FB, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Google, Yahoo, ect.
45. Warning, Muting, and Banning System
46. VIP, MVP, Retired Staff, and Alumni Staff
47. News Feed for Twitter
48. Search Engine
49. Paypal integration for subscription payments
50. Featured Members, Who's Online, extra forum stuff.

There are a couple of other things that I would like, however, I am only going to list 50 of them.

 

[Paul B]

I responded to your ticket a while ago.
XenForo is not a hosted solution so you will need a domain (URL) and host in order to install and use the software.

I recommend trialling the demo to see what features and functionality there are: Admin Demo

 

[feldon30]

I do not work for XenForo and my comments below may not represent everything about the software. Apologies for any mistakes/misunderstanding...

1-7: There is no such thing as "unlimited". Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or works in Marketing. Even Google, Amazon, and Apple, who each have TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars worth of hosting equipment occasionally hit capacity when their sites get busy.

8, 9: There are a few shoutbox/chatroom plugins.
10. Built in (just have to create the forum and set permissions).
11. Built in (just have to create the forum and set permissions).
12. Built in.
13. Built in.
14. User-defined themes and styles? Allowing users to upload/modify HTML/CSS/Javascript is a security concern.
15. Built in.
16. You'll have to find an addon.
17. See 1-7.
18. You'll have to find an Auctions/eBay/Shopping Cart addon.
19. Easy to add.
20. Built in.
21. What?
22. See 1-7.
23. What?
24. Built in.
25. Built in.
26. Built in.
27. You'll have to find an addon.
28. Built in.
29. Built in. You'll have to find the languages you want, or translate yourself if the language does not exist.
30. Pretty sure that's up to you to pay the hosting bill.
31. What?
32. Add Nodes/Pages easily.
33. Built in.
34. Addons will handle this.
35. You can code this.
36. What?
37. You can write these.
38. SEO urls are already built in.
39. You can write template conditionals for this. Why would you allow users to place ads on your site?
40. Built in.
41. You'll need to find an addon for this.
42. Built in.
43. What?
44. You can connect to Facebook. Nobody uses MySpace. People can add their FB, Twitter, Youtube, etc. accounts. Youtube videos can be embedded in posts.
45. Built in.
46. Custom usergroups/ranks are built in.
47. Easy to add.
48. Built in.
49. Addons available.
50. Built in.


It sounds almost like you want to have a hosted forum solution to allow people to run their own paid subforums. I'm not sure the XenForo license allows this. Anyway, things can get unmanageable with lots of administrators, global moderators, and thousands of subforums all potentially overwriting each other's actions. XenForo is designed to run ONE forum on ONE domain. You can get a separate XenForo license for each subdomain.

 

[TheAdorableAuroran]

Thank you for the response. Here's an elaboration of the ones you were confused on:

21. What?

21. Features and Options
It's something that is part of a Create-A-Forums. I think it's a tab, so it's really not a normal feature of a forum.

23. What?

23. By the Minute Upgrades and Updates
I mean any updates on the software that I purchased will be automatically downloaded to my system.

31. What?

31. Special Domain Name for website/Forums
A Domain name like "www.domainname.com" I'm guessing I'll get that from a webhosting solution.

36. What?

36. Maintenance Mode
A feature that turns off the forums for a while so you can run scheduled repair and maintenance tasks for the forum.

43. What?

43. Custom Validation Methods.
A feature that can use captchas, questions, and verification to verify that the person signing up for the forum is not a bot, to help prevent spam.

 

[feldon30]

Thank you for the response. Here's an elaboration of the ones you were confused on:

21. Features and Options
It's something that is part of a Create-A-Forums. I think it's a tab, so it's really not a normal feature of a forum.

Ah ok.

23. By the Minute Upgrades and Updates
I mean any updates on the software that I purchased will be automatically downloaded to my system.

I don't advise automatic upgrades. What if an upgrade breaks compatibility? What if your server is missing some software required by an update of a plugin? Also, every major XenForo release has added functionality that previously required third-party plugins. Upgrading web server software is something you want to be present for, trust me.

31. Special Domain Name for website/Forums
A Domain name like "www.domainname.com" I'm guessing I'll get that from a webhosting solution.

Namecheap.com

36. Maintenance Mode
A feature that turns off the forums for a while so you can run scheduled repair and maintenance tasks for the forum.

This is not built in. You'd need to do your own redirect. I've got a "we're down for maintenance" page that I redirect to if the site will be down longer than 5 minutes.

43. Custom Validation Methods.
A feature that can use captchas, questions, and verification to verify that the person signing up for the forum is not a bot, to help prevent spam.

There are several Captchas built in and I think you can use your own.

 

[Jeremy]

This is not built in. You'd need to do your own redirect. I've got a "we're down for maintenance" page that I redirect to if the site will be down longer than 5 minutes.

You can turn the forums off in the settings.

 

[feldon30]

Ah yes I forgot about that. If I have a more drastic situation where the forum software isn't there, or MySQL is down, then I put up a graphic page that the forum is temporarily closed.