Starting a New Forum Website

[TheFoxRocks]

Hey guys and gals,

I was hoping this community could help me. I have been reading on here a little to try and figure things out and understand that some things have recently changed with the XenForo platform if I understand correctly. I am nearly new to website design and the only way I can accomplish it is with software that helps you do so. I took some Dreamweaver and it is just not something I wanted to invest a lot of time learning. That brings me to my first question.

If it helps I would love my website to be similar to www.lawnsite.com for reference.

1.) If I reserve my own website with a domain provider can I simply implement the XenForo software/client over my website or do I need to lease my website at XenForo? I have no clue how this works.

2.) I am making this community because I and others see a need for it. However, with time I hope that I will be able to generate ad revenue and I heard that using XenForo has big advantages in this category. Is this true?

3.) I guess my final question is whether or not this is something that one person with limited knowledge will be able to figure out? Like most websites I plan to appoint moderators and such to help out but I guess a lot of the work will come from me using the software.

4.) Also I would like to know about cost, I did a little research and saw the plans seem to start at $60.00 a month. I saw there is also free software available as well. So could I start out with the free software and achieve what I want and if I begin to get more traffic or expand will I be able to easily transition?

You guys do not need to answer every question. It would be great if you knew something about a particular topic and shed some light on it for me. I appreciate any aid in advance.

 

[Dragonfruit]

I don't read reviews - i go by experience.
I for one would not bother with siteground, cloud access, or aws amazon because they rip you off and will suspend your accounts if you have yet to pay their overpriced plans.
Namecheap is worth it these days as they use cpanel which is compatable with both vbulletin and xenforo.

So is pretty much everyone else. I stated I've had very difficult support with NameCheap on just simple domain issues.

NameCheap isn't the only host using CPanel. Many do, including KnownHost, NameSilo, etc.

Again, I'm very happy that you're having a great experience with NameCheap. But not all of us have shared that same experience.

You're obviously not going to sway anyone who's using hosting they're already happy with, and we're obviously not going to sway you, who's happy with your existing NameCheap services. And that's fine. It's like you said, it's by your experience. Same as us, we're choosing what we prefer, based on our experiences.

 

[cdub]

Honestly just use any registrar you want and have @MattW do the rest for hosting. He's awesome.

I have domains with GoDaddy and hover.

 

[Mendalla]

NameCheap isn't the only host using CPanel. Many do, including KnownHost, NameSilo, etc.

Heck, my no-name Canadian provider in Kingston, Ontario uses it. I feel like it is just the industry standard for shared hosting, not something special about a given host.

 

[cdub]

Doesn't almost everyone use cpanel?

 

[Dragonfruit]

Doesn't almost everyone use cpanel?

Basically, but also the whole argument of CPanel being compatible with vBulletin & XenForo, that one just really doesn't make sense. What control panel it is has nothing to do with vBulletin & XenForo compatibility, I've used custom panels by the host, Plesk, CPanel & Direct Admin - which all worked fine so as long as the server provided PHP & MySQL services.

 

[Suzanne O]

Basically, but also the whole argument of CPanel being compatible with vBulletin & XenForo, that one just really doesn't make sense. What control panel it is has nothing to do with vBulletin & XenForo compatibility, I've used custom panels by the host, Plesk, CPanel & Direct Admin - which all worked fine so as long as the server provided PHP & MySQL services.

You need some sort of cpanel for your forums and sites buddy. Otherwise you will have issues with keeping them up.
Namecheap craps over cloud access which i used to be with.
cloud access has no cpanel. It's sister site called site ground does but is restrictive.

 

[Dragonfruit]

You need some sort of cpanel for your forums and sites buddy. Otherwise you will have issues with keeping them up.
Namecheap craps over cloud access which i used to be with.
cloud access has no cpanel. It's sister site called site ground does but is restrictive.

You're not understanding what I'm saying at all.

 

[AndrewSimm]

All the other topics aside, nothing beats a good lawn.

 

[TPerry]

You need some sort of cpanel for your forums and sites buddy. Otherwise you will have issues with keeping them up.

Wrong... haven't used a panel like you reference for over 8 years. Currently the "panel" I use is a very simple text based one, that usually is only needed with doing certain upgrades or adding a site to the system. In fact, I prefer it that way as the web based panel resources can be used for the sites. And at one time (still when I was not using a panel) I had over 7 different sites (not all mine) running on a fairly large VPS. Won't even delve into the period I had dedicated servers and ran ProxMox to provide VPS instances for each site, none of which used a panel either. There was a period that I didn't even use any panel at all... it was all done by CLI interaction.
For those that are not comfortable at the CLI, then yes, a web based panel is helpful, and even some that can do it at base level still prefer to use panels... but they aren't "needed".

 

[Suzanne O]

You're not understanding what I'm saying at all.

No mate because all you're doing is shoving your opinion down my throat. Please do not do this.
I'm happy with namecheap and have found them to be the best value for both hosting and registering.
All i say to the OP try Namecheap if you don't like it go elsewhere.

 

[Dragonfruit]

No mate because all you're doing is shoving your opinion down my throat. Please do not do this.
I'm happy with namecheap and have found them to be the best value for both hosting and registering.
All i say to the OP try Namecheap if you don't like it go elsewhere.

You're again misinterpreting everything I said. I said I'm glad you're happy with NameCheap and it works for you.

And it's by our experience that NameCheap didn't work out for us. You're the one that's being aggressive, and shoving your opinion down everyone's throats. I was merely stating facts. I've only been respectful. But yes, you do you, I'll do me.

 

[TPerry]

And it's by our experience that NameCheap didn't work out for us

Tried 'em for about 2 months, their support and the shared instance I was provided sucked. It was actually what forced me to get into learning about setting up a VPS because the "taste" left by them was so horrible I refused to look at other shared hosting providers.
I won't even go into the times that I've had to help others with "intermittent" issues with their site that was due to NameCheap hosting and their techs inabilities to provide guidance (like,duh, not enough mySQL connections is really that hard to trouble shoot).

 

[Suzanne O]

Has anyone tried to turn XenForo into a full-fledged social network? I know that XF is essentially a framework, but I'm not sure if anyone has ever tried to go the whole way with XF and morph it into something that comes to resemble a Facebook-lite.

Obviously something like that would cost a bit of money.





Have you ever worried about having trolls on your board who also go a bit silly with image uploads? How do you combat that?

I know that some other Xenforo forums (like Neogaf and Resetera) don't allow you to post threads until you've posted a certain number of comments. The first few comments by a new user are also pre-moderated before being published.

Have you ever thought about imposing image upload / post / comment limits? For example:
User can't upload more than 30 images per day.
User can't post more than 5 threads per day.
User can't post more than 50 comments per day.

I'm currently building out my website using WordPress. I have every intention of replacing the comments section with a full-fledged forum. With that being said however, I'm not sure as to whether I should go with a WP only solution (like BBPress), or whether I should be looking to integrate XenForo.

Wordpress is hopeless

 

[TPerry]

Worpress is hopeless

Its coding is crud... but its SEO ability (specifically with the add-ons designed for that) tends/trends to be much better than most simple forum scripts. Of course, NO script (forum or blog) is really worth anything without good content.
There is a reason that in the CMS field, they have about 65% of the market share.
Guess it's good enough for Sony Music, TechCrunch, AirStream (high end RV manufacturer that's been around a while) and a few other big names.

 

[Suzanne O]

Wordpress is an online journal/blogging app not a forum.

 

[TPerry]

Wordpress is an online journal/blogging app not a forum.

But you said, to quote

Wordpress is hopeless

And I simply showed you several sites that have been VERY successful with it, and they aren't "fly by night" companies.
It can be MUCH more than a "journal/blogging" app. It can be a sales platform. It can be a "forum".
As can a forum be much more than a forum.
You were giving several sites that aren't a "journal/blogging" experience that uses WordPress.
The simple fact is, even a "simple journal/blogging app" with great content will rank WELL above a forum script with mediocre/low end content.
A simple, well written article about the pursuit of soccer in Australia will rank higher than a disjointed conversation amongst several people in a forum topic.
Use the right tool for the job.

 

[TPerry]

Honestly just use any registrar you want and have @MattW do the rest for hosting. He's awesome.

I have domains with GoDaddy and hover.

I don't know.... sometimes I wonder about that @MattW guy.

Now, honestly.. want a solid provider... can't go wrong with him. He is one of the few that I would choose to use shared hosting with, and one of the VERY few that I'd ever grant root level access to my servers to.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Wordpress is an online journal/blogging app not a forum.

Love it or hate it, Wordpress is a blogging platform mat core, but has a couple of forum plugins. Nothing up to xenForo of course but you van have a cheap and cheerful forum on WP.

 

[Suzanne O]

Love it or hate it, Wordpress is a blogging platform mat core, but has a couple of forum plugins. Nothing up to xenForo of course but you van have a cheap and cheerful forum on WP.

It's forum is rubbish.

 

[TPerry]

It's forum is rubbish.

It has more than 1 forum option for it.
Exactly how many of those have you used as an admin and as an end user?