Forum Hosting Service

[Kuron]

I am looking for a forum hosting service, any recommendations?

[PB]

Maybe a Facebook page for your product? They have forums as part of the page,
and everyone is supposed to "join our Facebook page" these days for official product
information.

[Rook Zimbabwe]

I did that for my POS Software... it is kind of cruddy!

Turns out my webhost offerss that aas a freebie so I coud make a few clicks and have a forum on the website...

[Kuron]

Paul: I am not a fan of Facebook and do not use it. But that was a good idea.

Ralph: I would do it on my own site, but I lack the expertise to keep it secure. This is why I am looking at a hosting service.

Somebody suggested via email: zetaboards.com so I will check them out.

I am also not targeting a specific product (at this time), I am putting up some game development tutorials and want to provide a place to discuss the tutorials and game development, etc.

[Tranquil]

Maybe just rent a small v-server with an apache/php/mysql preinstall and then just install your favorite forum script.
Its just that easy.

[Rook Zimbabwe]

I have heard Limedomains is free and no ads
http://www.limedomains.com/free_web_add ... 2godS3jmJQ

[Kuron]

Thanks, I will keep that in mind if I decide to host it myself. For now, I am trying to stick with a dedicated hosting service for security reasons.

[Rook Zimbabwe]

I tried to set up a FORUM there and they had "issues"

The idiots that programmed the sign up assume you want a BLOG and not a forum like phpBB or Vanilla... killing the BLOG and the database and the user of that database and then installing the forum was a nightmare...

Had to call them... no way to explain to the idiot that answered the phone (call service I am sure) So I killed the account

[naw]

Hi Kuron,

Nabble is exactly what you are looking for...

It gives you forums (much like the PB forums) and you can embed them into your website.

http://www.nabble.com

Although I only use the Forums, there is also Mailing Lists, Gallery and Mailing Lists - it's all hosted by nabble, so setup is dead easy.
Posts can be made by registered or anonymous users.

I also use Facebook socially, but FB only works for people who are already using it, plenty of people don't use it and don't want it.

[GWarner]

We use Invision Power Board for our forums, it's a very nice forum software.

Invision Power Services, the authors of the forum software, also offer forum hosting services.

http://www.invisionpower.com/

Not free but it's a great forum program and they have very good support when you need it.

PS: There's nothing wrong with facebook, our family uses it as a convenient way to keep in touch, but I would never use in any business, it just doesn't feel right for that IMO.

[Kuron]

Thanks guys, I was in the hospital for a couple of days, so I couldn't reply, but I do appreciate the comments and suggestions.

I did try Nabble in the past. My hosting is currently via Weebly and Nabble was Weebly's integrated solution. Now Weebly has switched to offering Tal.ki based forums http://tal.ki/ Tal.ki is a bit limited on the free version. I am a little concerned now as the recent change makes me wonder how soon before another change in the future. Since the forums are for game development discussions, I want to be sure I choose a forum service that will be around a year or two from now. Although I will keep the actual game dev tutorials on my site, I do need a place to discuss the tutorials.

Invision is great, I have used them in the past. I actually did my web hosting in the past with the company behind Invision, so I got a free registration of Invision for my site. I have also used the excellent http://www.invisionfree.com in the past. ZetaBoards seems to be a new venture from the guy behind invisionfree.com. That is why I am considering ZetaBoards.

I could easily switch to a normal web host where I could set up my own forums, but I do not have the skills to keep the forums secure from any tampering/hacking. That is why I always prefer to use a forum hosting service.

[Mohawk70]

Conforums or ProBoards are 2 good ones that have been around for quite a while ...