A couple of TGS members are hounding me about getting a forum up and running. The free forums are okay but most of them don't allow to use a custom domain. I've done some research and I see a few good paid forum hosting services but I'm really skeptical of each one.
Does anyone other than Pincus and Grainger have any experience with paid forum hosting? If so who did you use and do you recommend that I use them? I want to spend around 5$ to 10$ a month. I was going to just host the damn things myself but buying a dedicated IP address is more expensive than the bandwidth to run it.
Paid Forum Hosting
Re: Paid Forum Hosting
It's been quite a few years, but I've used a few hosting plans (migrated from one to a different one due to sudden changes with policies with the first host). Back then I was using MT (at first, WP later) and phpBB. I really depends on what kind of services you're looking for. One host I used had an excellent dashboard that you could drop in installations onto your site without having to do it yourself via ftp. If you have forum software you really like, check around on their forums and see if someone's started up a host thread. Many times you'll find some excellent companies through word of mouth supplied there. (Basically what you're asking here, but going to a different source.)
Re: Paid Forum Hosting
If I didn't host my own, I'd use enjin.com. One of my SWTOR guilds was hosted there, and I set up a free one just to do a test run of their capabilities. I forget how much they cost a month, but I'm pretty sure it was under 10 to
1. get rid of the ads
2. be able to point a domain there
3. enable more of the widgits
4. fully customize the look of the site
There are probably a few other things you get if you pay. The nice thing is you can setup a free site to checkout the features. I think they give you a week with premium access to see what you get if you pay versus what you get if you don't. Another advantage is they have the co-pay system built in, so if you have a bunch of members they can all chip in $5 or whatever and you get that much credit (there's a widget you can make public that tells how long the site is paid up for)
example sites:
swtor guid site (native domain): http://sonsofkorriban.enjin.com/
large RP site (they own a domain) http://swtor-rp.com/
1. get rid of the ads
2. be able to point a domain there
3. enable more of the widgits
4. fully customize the look of the site
There are probably a few other things you get if you pay. The nice thing is you can setup a free site to checkout the features. I think they give you a week with premium access to see what you get if you pay versus what you get if you don't. Another advantage is they have the co-pay system built in, so if you have a bunch of members they can all chip in $5 or whatever and you get that much credit (there's a widget you can make public that tells how long the site is paid up for)
example sites:
swtor guid site (native domain): http://sonsofkorriban.enjin.com/
large RP site (they own a domain) http://swtor-rp.com/
WRA Grim: Duskheron
Re: Paid Forum Hosting
I just negotiated with a local host. I'll tune some Global Positioning database that he has and in return he'll give me a CentOS VM with an IP. BAM!
Re: Paid Forum Hosting
Bartering at its best, bitches!