(Vanity)Looking for a Good Hosted DIY Bulletin Board

http://www.bulletinboards.com/ ^ | Today | Freedomlover in Atlanta

[freedomlover]

I am looking for a site (fee-based is fine) that will allow me to set up a message board with lots of features such as that provided on FR (threading, password protection, private messaging, etc) with the whole site also being password protected (no lurking w/o password).

I realize I could host this on my own site but frankly I don't have the time but I am willing to pay say the $10/month you see on http://www.bulletinboards.com/

I also don't want to deal with popups/ads etc. This is intended to be a simple no nonsense site.

This site appears to have what I need.

Does anyone have any experience on comparable boards? This is not going to be a high volume board, just to allow for multiple boards to allow for private converstaions/postings for a few groups I belong to.

Thanks in advance

Freedomlover

[sure_fine]

one of the most popular

http://www.phpbb.com/

I had one for awhile, relatively easy to setup and use and a great support forum to help

[TimesDomain]

check with http://www.forwardweb.com you can easily have the latest SAFE and SECURE bulletin board with a really good search engine (unlike this one)

I've been using Forward Web for five years for 15 web sites with only minor problems that were quickly handled.

[TimesDomain]

http://www.phpbb.com is the software that ALL the good boards use - they are open source (free)

You would still need the hosting company - http://www.ForwardWeb.com can install the phpbb.

[freedomlover]

Thanks for the response. I assume the one you are suggesting has to be hosted on my web space (?)

I guess that begs the question - I have done some light web management but frankly I am pretty busy and trying to bite off more than I can chew. Is hosting your own THAT big of a deal?

I am at the point in my life where I can pay others to do a few things for me and I don't want to manage my own web space just for the experience.

[Sir Gawain]

phpbb

[50sDad]

Foo! I thought I was going to find where to locate a good website with hints for hanging drywall!

[Red Badger]

A little BASIC, but you gotta start somewhere......

http://www.bobthebuilder.com/usa/index.html

[Sir Gawain]

Is hosting your own THAT big of a deal?

No. I set my forum up in about 15 minutes with hardly any previous experience. Other than moderating posts, there's nothing to it.

[sure_fine]

I had it on my own domain web space

it might be more than you want then, like pointed out, most Hosting Sites have it already installed for you to use
you should look for one of them maybe

[Ingtar]

http://simplemachines.org has one you can host that seems to be more secure than PHPBB (from my experiences running both.)

[Sir Gawain]

If you go through GoDaddy, the interfaces are really easy to use to manage your webspace. A blind monkey could do it.

[sure_fine]

http://www.improvenet.com/HomeOwner/AdviceandResources/MessageBoard/discussion.html?ID=13930

[antiRepublicrat]

Westhost has good, cheap packages, as little as $3.95 a month paid two years paid in advance, $4.95 if paid yearly. They have phpBB (a good, full-featured BB system) and a bunch of other standard applications you can install and uninstall through a web-based interface. You also get a virtual server, so you can create and delete user and email accounts at your leisure.

I've used them for a very long time, and recommend them. I won't even tell you who I am to get the referral credit, just suggesting on merits.

[100-Fold_Return]

bttt

[freedomlover]

Thanks

[antiRepublicrat]

Sorry, link to Westhost. And it appears they're running a special now, triple everything. And sorry, you need the $6.95 version to get the included message board, still not a bad price.

[Gorzaloon]

One problem I have had with the PHBBB is its vulernability to hackers and script kiddies and spammers. There seem to be endless updates every month as a result.

In my case, the worst origins for these exploits was Brazil and Russia.

They are usually in the form of Pharmacy spams, but one was an outright hack.

I solved it by requiring an email application process by disallowing the username "*". This prevented uninvited guests or bots from signing up and dropping their spoor.

[freedomlover]

"I solved it by requiring an email application process by disallowing the username "*". "
-------
process AND by disallowing ?

Just trying to make sure.

Also one of the reasons I wanted to have someone else host the script is for script updates which assumably would be done by a competent hoster.

Does that make sense?


FL

[Gorzaloon]

Yes, I disallowed all new users till they wrote me and ASKED. Then I would turn off the filter for a day, and reset it after the "Open Enrollment Day" ended.