Want to Launch a website Help needed

[beastboy]

Hi to all i want to launch a website with forum capabilities in it like something like thinkdigit.com where there is a main page and a link directing to the forum page , and some other pages .
i want to know what are the things required for it, after some search i came to know about that i will need a hosting site, then a domain name and for building forum capabilities i can add Softwares like MyBB , phpBB etc. to it , but i dont have a clear idea about all this , i was thinking that many free hosting sites are there i can create an account there for free and host my site with their name appended to the name i choose for my website , is it possible to do like this for initial phase , can i upload Forum building softwares like MyBB to the root of those free hosting websites or i have to buy both the domain name and Hosting space ,
if yes can you please tell me about some hosting services which are best at least cost. ,
and how much will be approximate cost for all this stuff , from 1 months to 1 year

 

[Shah]

Hi to all i want to launch a website with forum capabilities in it like something like thinkdigit.com where there is a main page and a link directing to the forum page , and some other pages .
i want to know what are the things required for it, after some search i came to know about that i will need a hosting site, then a domain name and for building forum capabilities i can add Softwares like MyBB , phpBB etc. to it , but i dont have a clear idea about all this , i was thinking that many free hosting sites are there i can create an account there for free and host my site with their name appended to the name i choose for my website , is it possible to do like this for initial phase , can i upload Forum building softwares like MyBB to the root of those free hosting websites or i have to buy both the domain name and Hosting space ,
if yes can you please tell me about some hosting services which are best at least cost. ,
and how much will be approximate cost for all this stuff , from 1 months to 1 year

First of all, If you plan to host a forum, buy a dedicated server. Don't go for free hosting services for setting up a community. Better try something like Google AppEngine or Windows Azure. Sharding will be easier in future. From your writing, I can say that you have low to zero knowledge about hosting, domains and servers. Before you jump and buy a dedicated server and domain, learn the basics of hosting and servers, give a live try using those free hosting services.

 

[abhijeet.ak]

It all depends on what kind of community and the target audience are you looking out for.

Secondly the number of Hits that you will get, as suggested up there if you have a substantial user base then going in for a dedicated server would make more sense, however if you are just going to start up then starting with a shared hosting plan would be a wise decision.

That way the cost will be low and you will achieve what you want... if you get good response you can always migrate your community to a dedicated servers.

You need the following things in place :

1. Domain Name - Approx USD$ 8 - 10 per year
2. Shared Hosting Plan (Usually if you buy a one year contract you may get the domain name for free ... ) - Approx USD$ 7 - 8 per month for an all round Linux based plan.

Post you buy the hosting plan ----
3. Create a subdomain from within your hosting panel ... forum.domainname.com
4. Install the forum software using the hosting control panel provided by your hosting service provider.
5. Most of the shared linux hosting providers will provide you with either cPanel or Plesk and both these panels have an inbuilt automated script based installers.
6. Customize your forum as per your requirement by visiting the admin URL of the forum.. (Installing Themes, add ons etc etc)

For a basic Index page :

1. You will need a HTML web editor (Frontpage, Dreamweaver are the known ones)
2. Prepare a basic webpage and name the file as index.html and put this in the root of your domain.
3. Now this file will be shown every time you type in your URL...
4. Start customising the layout of the webpage and add links and URL (Every internal link that you add will need a webpage)
5. Similarly forums will be a link and will be linked to the forums.domainname.com subdomain.

Known Webhost Providers
1. godaddy.com
2. hostgator.com
3. bluehost.com

Compare the plans and then decide, ensure you buy Linux based web hosting.

Approx Cost will be the cost of the plan that you select and if you select annual package you will get the domain name free of cost in 90% of the case....

 

[beastboy]

First of all, If you plan to host a forum, buy a dedicated server. Don't go for free hosting services for setting up a community. Better try something like Google AppEngine or Windows Azure. Sharding will be easier in future. From your writing, I can say that you have low to zero knowledge about hosting, domains and servers. Before you jump and buy a dedicated server and domain, learn the basics of hosting and servers, give a live try using those free hosting services.

Thanks for the reply Shah,Can u please refer something for gaining knowledge on the basics you mentioned,
and whether will it be possible to upload forum software scripts on free hosting sites.

 

[prehistoricgamer]

AFAIK, free hosting sites disable your site if your site receives high traffic (its a different number in their perspective). So, even if u had, for example, 100 visits a day, your site will be brought down. Not much use then. Is it? I'm not sure if all the free hosts do this, but some do.

A little more research upon hosting forums and I guess you will have a fair idea of how it works.

 

[Shah]

Thanks for the reply Shah,Can u please refer something for gaining knowledge on the basics you mentioned,
and whether will it be possible to upload forum software scripts on free hosting sites.

Google it or search in Wikipedia. IDK any good sites which have some good content about hosting and servers.

AFAIK, free hosting sites disable your site if your site receives high traffic (its a different number in their perspective). So, even if u had, for example, 100 visits a day, your site will be brought down. Not much use then. Is it? I'm not sure if all the free hosts do this, but some do.

A little more research upon hosting forums and I guess you will have a fair idea of how it works.

This is true with almost all free hosting providers. Moreover, Free hosting providers will put their own ads in the sites. Sometimes, your account may get suspended without any notification.

 

[beastboy]

thanks PHG for the useful input , this is the reason i came here so that with the help of helpful peoples like you i can get to know what comes with lot of searching , and years of experience , can u provide me some other relevant inputs like this.
do you know someone who is already running a website and guide me in building one.

 

[iSh0w]

I would suggest building your own server. Allows you more control. Especially if your planning this website as a business/fulltime.

It's really cheap to get a 24x7 NAS like this one and use a decent speed connection/dedicated line.

It's a good way to start and then you could always change to some other option depending on how well your website/forum does. It seems easy to do/run but it takes a lot of hard work, dedication and people willing to contribute to maintaining/moderating.

Wish you all the best

Cheers,
Jake.

 

[abhijeet.ak]

well building a website is not something that you can read and start building... it comes by experience and you need to have some artistic sense for the graphical aspects of the website..

have a look at : Build a Website - How to Build a Website in 7 Steps

Some of the service providers also have web site generators available as a package in their hosting plan... with such generators in place you just need to have the content in hand and the rest is taken care automatically...

1. Select Template.
2. Add content
3. Preview
4. Publish website...

Hope this helps...

 

[Shah]

well building a website is not something that you can read and start building... it comes by experience and you need to have some artistic sense for the graphical aspects of the website..

have a look at : Build a Website - How to Build a Website in 7 Steps

Some of the service providers also have web site generators available as a package in their hosting plan... with such generators in place you just need to have the content in hand and the rest is taken care automatically...

1. Select Template.
2. Add content
3. Preview
4. Publish website...

Hope this helps...

But, OP wants to develop a community not some static web page.

 

[abhijeet.ak]

Hi to all i want to launch a website with forum capabilities in it like something like thinkdigit.com where there is a main page and a link directing to the forum page , and some other pages .

Forum Capability within a wider web portal is what I assume from this statement .... I maybe wrong...

But, OP wants to develop a community not some static web page.

Forums can be installed using the hosting control panel as I explained earlier... PhpBB is quite popular although vBulletin is excellent its meant for high traffic community's and is a paid web app ...

 

[prehistoricgamer]

well building a website is not something that you can read and start building... it comes by experience and you need to have some artistic sense for the graphical aspects of the website..

have a look at : Build a Website - How to Build a Website in 7 Steps

Some of the service providers also have web site generators available as a package in their hosting plan... with such generators in place you just need to have the content in hand and the rest is taken care automatically...

1. Select Template.
2. Add content
3. Preview
4. Publish website...

Hope this helps...

False. Artistic sense is needed for a web designer. Not a web developer. Those 2 roles are different. And you can read n build a website. U gain your initial experience by reading.

That being said, OP can start off with some templates as stated by using some frameworks or forum building sites. I may provide more help once I get into my PC.

 

[abhijeet.ak]

False. Artistic sense is needed for a web designer. Not a web developer. Those 2 roles are different. And you can read n build a website. U gain your initial experience by reading.

That being said, OP can start off with some templates as stated by using some frameworks or forum building sites. I may provide more help once I get into my PC.

I hope you must have definitely read that I have clearly mentioned graphical aspects of the website which is obviously done by a designer and not a developer...

Building a forum ground up is definitely no go as I feel it's a waste of time and effort.. Instead use phpBB and go customise it as per your own requirements its an open source... or if you got money to spend use vBulletin...

If you can read and build websites, then why are you so inclined to give templates.... let him build his first "Hello World" page using basic html tags...

I remember doing this 10 - 12 yrs ago..... lol using windows wordpad still the op can manage to use edit pad, helps in parsing the tags better...

 

[meetdilip]

For beginning, you can manage with a cheap shared hosting. You can either use a free domain name or buy one (recommended). All hosting providers allow you to either upload your script using FTP or File manager. As for blog and forum on same site. You can use WordPress on main domain and use a main stream forum software as sub domain or a folder (www.mydomain.com/forum).

WordPress itself have a forum plugins like SimplePress, bbpress etc.

 

[beastboy]

Wow with so many good inputs i think i can start building up the knowledge , and i will be able to finally publish my website , so anyone of you is using any webservice right now and can you suggest me some good ones.
Thanks Abhijeet and PHG i think you could be life savers for me....

 

[shankar_psn]

i think it would wise for u to use your personal desktop/laptop and try launching a web server in that.

How To Install A Windows Web Server On Your PC With XAMPP

learn for sometime , before u want to go and spend money ...

 

[abhidev]

Amazon gives you free hosting fro 1 year

 

[meetdilip]

Amazon gives you free hosting fro 1 year

Could you please give the link ?

 

[abhidev]

check here

 

[meetdilip]

Thanks. Nice option to check scripts on live site. But will they allow to move on after 1 year. I bet their rate will be higher compared to others.