XF 2.2 Need advise creating a new forum

[T Money]

Greetings,

I have limited, beginner level of technical knowledge, considering XF and would appreciate your advise.

I actually have purchased and tried XF1.5 about 7 years ago, liked it (although I struggled with customizations), but ultimately dropped XF altogether when I decided to go another direction for my Ecommerce business.

Now I am looking to create a new forum website, unrelated to business above. I have tried bbPress which was fairly easy to create, but after much tinkering I realized it lacks many features. So I am back here once again, it looks like XF has made many improvements, and so far looks fantastic.

My questions:

1. I read that updates are available up to a year after purchase. So if I want to upgrade to the current version, does that mean it would cost $160?

2. I see XF now offers cloud hosting option, which sounds perfect, but I have read that XF branding removal is not possible, which is really too bad. So I am force to go with self-hosting option.

As someone with limited technical skills (barely any coding, but with help of google and plugins, have launched and maintained a fairly complex WP website), how would you recommend I do this? Is there someone you can recommend for hire that can help me with XF hosting and customization?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Max Taxable]

I see XF now offers cloud hosting option, which sounds perfect, but I have read that XF branding removal is not possible, which is really too bad. So I am force to go with self-hosting option

Branding removal for self hosted is something like 300 bucks. On top of the price for the license.

 

[T Money]

I would pay it, that's how much I hate the branding.

 

[Mr Lucky]

does that mean it would cost $160?

Not if you already own a licence as you say. It would just be a renewal extension which I think is $55