Suggestions for Forum/Discussion Group Hosting

[alchemysa]

I'm thinking of starting a forum for a health/science topic I'm interested in. I'm a member of a few discussion groups but I think this Tractorbynet platform (or whatever its called) is the best I've seen. Does tractorbynet use some kind of readily available hosting software or is it unique? I havent been able to find any details of the software/hosting service behind Tractorbynet.

Heres some of the things I like about Tractorbynet.

A. You don't have to join Google or Yahoo to use it.
B. I like the way its split into Brands/Topics on the home page.
C. Threads are easy to follow and all the current threads are displayed on page 1 in each topic.
C. You can upload files, links, and pics directly into the message.
D. Non-members can view messages before deciding they want to join. (I'm Not dead sure if thats the case but I think it is).
E. No pop-ups.

The forum I would like to create would be MUCH smaller than tractorbynet (probably 50 regular posters at best) and wouldn't need many of the features like hot topic buttons etc. I also envisage the photo storage capacity would only need to be pretty small.

So does anyone know where I start? I see there's plenty of free forum hosting offers on the net but do any of these offer a structure like tractorbynet?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NuBota]

I believe it is using vBulletin - not a free one but reasonably priced (IMHO) - $180 to buy license outright, but you still need a server or provider to host it. This could drive up cost. I am pretty sure TBN does it this way

vBulletin® - Instant Community

Some of the other options you mentioned are serviced based - I'm guessing - they host it on their servers for you and you just manage it via their software.

 

[tallyho8]

I have a free forum from Proboards that works well. ProBoards.com - Free Remotely Hosted Message Boards

 

[rox]

If you are looking for a company to host your Bulletin board I suggest yu look at Netfirms - Web Hosting, Domain Names and E-commerce for Small Business I ahve our company wedsite with them and I really recommend them. I read a review in eh New york Times about them and went with them. Good Service and a low price.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have my domain name through godaddy, and wouldn't recomend them to anybody. I'm sure they do what they say, but it's non-stop spam with them. Then when you need to do something, or just pay the yearly fees, it's a nightmare to figure it all out.

Eddie

 

[cmuncy]

Here are a few shared server companies that I have used commercially in the past with great success:

ServerBeach - Unmanaged Dedicated Servers - Web Hosting - Self-Managed Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated Server - Dedicated Server Hosting - Managed Dedicated Server by Rackspace

Web Hosting- Shared Web Hosting, Dedicated Web Hosting by Wyenet ( great for you linux users and awesome phone support)

Dedicated Servers & Web Hosting | Managed Web Hosting Services | The Planet

These are all enterprise level hosting companies.

 

[alchemysa]

Thanks for the help everyone. At this stage I think this 'lefora' free option is the most attractive to me. Free Forum Hosting

I've already set up a test forum for myself and its pretty good. But I did learn about a couple of little snags so if anyone wants to try setting up their own lefora forum they can PM me. (The main thing is, if you set up a test forum, think very carefully about your forum name and username/foundername because you can't change it afterwards.