Hi all. I have been asked to set up a forum for our community here. (Where I live)

I have not got a clue how to go about it. I imagine I buy the forum, then buy some webspace to put it on and then what!!!!!!! What kind of forum and what webspace do I look for

Has anyone done this for a local group, can anyone help me?????
Any advice etc will be much appreciated

Wouldn't you ask your 'boss'?

Thought of that but don't need anything of this scale.

vBulletin (the forum board that Pprune runs on) appears to be very scalable and although I've not used it myself I've heard that it's pretty easy to set up and manage - I wouldn't dismiss it. Danny may be able to offer a practical viewpoint. FWIW, it seems a very capable program and costs less than a hundred quid - and I don't get a penny if you go for it!

Try 'bulletin board' in Google! There are free systems, but yes, your 'customers' WILL need to buy the server space (unless Danny is having a warm fluffy moment ) and you will need more than the 'basic' web server because the board will probably need to run PHP or similar and the access loads could 'upset' one of the low-cost providers. Once set up the simple ones run pretty well.

I know 'Keef' is involved in one of these and will, no doubt, be along to offer help - and there are others here. The size of your task grows with the requirements of the board!

It does depend very much on the size of the community you plan to serve.

There are several packages on offer, ranging from cheap-and-cheerful to all-singing-and-dancing. The one I admin on uses phpBB, which is pretty easy to operate - but you do need to get it installed and set up.

Some webhosting companies offer BBS software as part of the package. A bit of googling will find you one. You may even find that your own ISP offers it!

It looks like you'll pay £5 or so a month for the "entry level" with all set up for you. More googling than I just did might get it for less.

As I said, unless you can catch PPT or Danny in a generous moment you will have to pay for the server. However, depending on how 'lo-co' you wish to be, have a look at this page.

Have a look at SMF (Simple Machines Forum)
http://www.simplemachines.org/
It's free and easy to set up (I managed it)
Cheers,

I have used YaBB for sometime now and have found it very easy to set up and use and it is free! It can be found here.

If you are going to need to buy a domain name and webspace then some come with a product called cPanel included. cPanel has a feature that with a couple of clicks will let you set up a forum either phpBB or YaBB.

If you need any help with setting it all up BRL just drop me a PM and I will do all I can to assist you.

BRL try here

It is a web based forum, VERY easy to set up and manage, I created 2 with ease, and above all it's totally free, however, what it is not free from is ads, but they appear pretty much as they on PPRuNe except in the form of a post

Dean

Thank you for all the replies and PM's guys, much appreciated indeed.

I have just finished a stretch of nights so will get around to replying properly later on.

Cheers.

Free, and simple to set up. http://invisionfree.com/

Many many thanks to everyone with the offers of help and advice.

I have set one up now, just have to wait and see if it grows as the board I am using is free. If it does take off then I will have to look at doing it the hard way, buying a domain name, bandwidth and a decent board but for now I think I have cracked it!!!!

Again, many, many thanks to all who PM'ed and emailed me, cheers