Looking to buy XenForo

[ghostface]

I am looking into buying XenForo.

I am going to buy the XenForo licence. I am going to buy the installation.
What do I need to do?
buy a domain name? what about hosting?

 

[M@rc]

A domain name and hosting, yea.

You don't need to buy the install service. You can install it yourself.

Or you can just buy XF Cloud and a domain name (if you don't want to use one of xenForo's sub domain names)

 

[ghostface]

You don't need to buy the install service. You can install it yourself.

I am disabled. mental disabilities. would not know how to install.

 

[Dragonfruit]

You could just go with the Cloud solution where it's all set up and maintained for you.

 

[ES Dev Team]

If you don't know how to install it, and can't learn, you won't know how to maintain it long term, and you will have a lot of problems as a result of that.

 

[Alvin63]

I am disabled. mental disabilities. would not know how to install.

If it helps paying for the install service, then I would do that. The Cloud version is much more expensive I believe. Once you have it installed and you are the administrator, there is an admin control panel with various settings and you'd need to explore that a bit first and work things out. Mostly though it can pretty much be used out of the box if you keep it simple. But there are things like "permissions" to set for users.

If you find a server you want to use they can also help with installing it, but they won't know how to use the Xenforo software. You can get the domain name bought via the server usually. I would start with the server and domain name.

 

[Suzanne O]

You're better off going with the xf cloud option
Why?
Because the staff here can install it for you and update it for you when there are new updates.

 

[Alvin63]

Well yes but the cloud option is very expensive! $60 a month ($720 a year) for the starter option compared with $169 for a licence and then annual renewal fees of about $75 a year (if you upgrade).

Or does the cloud hosting mean you don't need a server as well and save on server fees?

 

[AjayJunkies]

Well yes but the cloud option is very expensive! $60 a month ($720 a year) for the starter option compared with $169 for a licence and then annual renewal fees of about $75 a year (if you upgrade).

Or does the cloud hosting mean you don't need a server as well and save on server fees?

You save on server fees, installation, upgrade, and licensing renewals.

It's an all-inclusive option for those who want to focus only on running their communities, without worrying about the technical configuration of servers.

 

[Alvin63]

Well that sounds more positive then - for me though, it would still cost a lot more than my current server fees plus annual licence renewal.

However, as a cloud service, would you be able to whitelist Cloudflare IP's (ie only allow Cloudflare IP's?).

It sounds much more convenient, but somehow I have this thing about not having all my eggs in one basket .......... although maybe that's irrelevant.

 

[Alvin63]

Once it's installed it's up to user/owner preference how they then set up a forum - that would still need doing. Upgrades when they happen aren't difficult (usually) and very intuitive - you just wait for them to appear and click to install. So a one off paying for install would be cheaper.

However there is quite a bit of admin setting up to actually create a forum. But this forum is here to help. There are also style options you can buy and a service to design or set it up how you want. But - it still needs some admin input.

 

[Faust]

Well yes but the cloud option is very expensive! $60 a month ($720 a year) for the starter option compared with $169 for a licence and then annual renewal fees of about $75 a year (if you upgrade).

Or does the cloud hosting mean you don't need a server as well and save on server fees?

Cloud means Xenforo handles everything. You need just a domain name. To be honest, installing XenForo on a shared hosting it’s pretty straightforward.