May Someone get me Started Please

[Tech-Enix]

I love the way Lithium have your forums. I always post at the PlayStation community and I so love it.

My question is if I want to create my own forum where do I et started? Do I have to pay anything? May someone get me started with steps please and lead me to where I can get started.

[#2]

Tech-Enix,

I like your animated avitar - very cool!

There are probably a number of low cost or freeware forum platforms out there.   Several seem to be fairly popular and well established.

phpBB is free I believe and has just come out with a new version of the code

vBulletin is another popular platform, and I believe the yearly license is around $200.

Both of these platforms will require configuration and hosting, and you could self host, or make use of a number of hosting services.  Hosting costs will scale based on bandwidth, and you might be able to defray some of the costs by selling adspace.

One of the first questions I might ask myself is why do I want to start my own community?   Are you planning to create space to serve an interest not covered in an existing community?

Have you explored your interests with the community managers of the PlayStation community?  While developing and launching a forum of your own is admirable and a great way to build technical expertise, there may also be existing opportunities in the communities you already participate in...

What aspects of forums do you find most interesting? 

Mark

[#3]

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Mark_Hopkins wrote:

phpBB is free I believe and has just come out with a new version of the code

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We're very happy with the new version of this in the Other Forum.  It would be a good way to get your feet wet, Tech-Enix, if you're just wanting to try your hand at setting a forum up.

Jane

Message Edited by jloyless on 01-12-2009 09:14 PM

[#4]

I know, but they are not advanced as you guys are. They are pretty good but they dont have all I exactly wanted. I been a PlayStation member for a year and out of any other forum I been to Lithium has the best stuff etc...

For a teen like me I believe this is my best time to start my community... I hope you guys dont think childish but my forums is going to have a lot.

I do have a reason t start my own forum. Just personally, I have friends prepared to help me out etc...

No info on Litium forums and there price?

[#5]

Hi Tech-Enix!

I think that starting your own community is a great idea! It's wonderful to see people of all ages wanting to dive in head first, and as long as you have the time and effort to spend you can learn a lot by doing.That said, it is important to do some up front planning first to give you every chance to succeed:

• What is your community going to be about?
• Who will the members be and how will you let them know about the community?
• Are there enough potential memebers to sustain the activity you need toget started? Remember that a small percentage (around 10%) of people who come will post, and a forum needs about 5-10 posts per day to appear active. 

The Lithium platform is priced pretty comeptitively for large to medium enterprise organizations, but we don't offer a trial or individual version of our product at this time. If you are interested in finding out more, please send me or one of th moderators a private message and I can arrange for one of our sales team to contact you.

But whether you end up with Lithium or another product, stop on by and let us know how things are going!

[#6]

Im advertising right now in my signature on the two forums I post on everyday. I already have a list of people that will help me out with this.

And my forums was going to be mostly Tech related with the side of music, videos, and even anime related subjects.

[#7]

That;s a great idea for everyone of all ages to want to start their own forum and community.

Also, a good forum software is UltraBB, but it is kinda high in price for someone whom is still in their teenage.

phpBB is alright.

SMF is easy to use.

[#8]

Hi Tech-Enix,

If you just need a basic community, Ning works pretty well. I created one last summer for my high school reunion.

It's fast, easy to use, and free.

Message Edited by TomD on 01-17-2009 01:07 PM

[#9]

Thanks, Ill check out Ning.

Although, I guess to use Lithium I have to have a actually company thats pretty big...... dang.

[#10]

There are a lot of great cheaper and/or free types of forum software out there. If you haven't started already (and I don't see that anyone has mentioned this yet), it might be a good idea to start with IPB Free. You can use this forum to during the early stages of your commuity. That way, if you decide not to continue with it, then you haven't lost any money.

Furthermore, if you decide to keep the community, then you can upgrade to IPB (Invision Power Board) which is a very good and easy to use forum.

I wish you the best of luck with your new forum/site!