TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Chill Out Room
-- Cost of TA style forum

Cost of TA style forum

I wasn't quite sure where to post this, so why not the cor....

In a couple of months I will be starting up my own forum. (Non music related.) I want it to have the same fantastic lay out of TA - very accessable - although with a different style design.

What I need to get educated on is:
1) the costs of creating & maintaining the forum
2) the amount time required to create & maintain and
3) the amount of knowledge required

I would REALLY appreciate any help. I sure need it.

Thanks so much

SB

I think TA is a vbulletin forum. You can check their website for purchase details and other information.

http://www.vbulletin.com/order/

omega is right. it is vbulletin.

you must also consider server and bandwidth costs. at first you can do just hosted and not worry but as the forums gets bigger you will need to graduate to a dedicated server. also your bandwidth will exponentially grow as it gets larger.

quote:

1) the costs of creating & maintaining the forum

Have you bought the domain yet? Have you bought hosting? That can cost from $30-$40 and up depending on how much traffic you are looking at and whether you are willing to tolerate ads on the site. Generally domain name ownership and hosting are paid for with yearly fees; again, the amount of the fee depends on whether you allow your host to put ads on your site and how much traffic your site gets.

TA's forum runs on vBulletin software, which costs $160 to own and $85 to rent.

quote:

2) the amount time required to create & maintain and

This is highly dependent on a few things: Do you want to get a forum software package and just install it "as is" without any customization? If you want customization, how much of it are you looking at? Chat rooms, inserting custom scripts written by yourself, changed forum layout or colors, customizing the PHP of the board itself?

Maintenance: How many posters do you anticipate having? A hundred, a thousand, tens of thousands? Will you be delegating "moderator" duties or assigning other people "admin" powers? How controversial is the subject matter of your board (that can make a big difference in how often you need to moderate)?

quote:

3) the amount of knowledge required

If you just want to buy a domain and hosting service, install the forum software "as is," and then start running and promoting your board, very little knowledge is required and in fact you can probably learn all you need to know quite easily by just picking it up as you go. All of that stuff is really easy. The hardest thing would obviously be something like writing and inserting your own scripts to fit the needs of the board, requiring some knowledge of programming languages like Java or PHP.

1, 2, and 3 are all very dependent upon how many users you have.

Re: Cost of TA style forum

quote:

Originally posted by stevebutabi In a couple of months I will be starting up my own forum. (Non music related.)

is it pr0n related? if so, link me up!

I created a forum for the place I work. I recommend http://www.phpbb.com/

It's free and easy to use.

Post t3h link to your work forum. plzkthx.

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Have you bought the domain yet? Have you bought hosting? That can cost from $30-$40 and up depending on how much traffic you are looking at and whether you are willing to tolerate ads on the site. Generally domain name ownership and hosting are paid for with yearly fees; again, the amount of the fee depends on whether you allow your host to put ads on your site and how much traffic your site gets. TA's forum runs on vBulletin software, which costs $160 to own and $85 to rent. This is highly dependent on a few things: Do you want to get a forum software package and just install it "as is" without any customization? If you want customization, how much of it are you looking at? Chat rooms, inserting custom scripts written by yourself, changed forum layout or colors, customizing the PHP of the board itself? Maintenance: How many posters do you anticipate having? A hundred, a thousand, tens of thousands? Will you be delegating "moderator" duties or assigning other people "admin" powers? How controversial is the subject matter of your board (that can make a big difference in how often you need to moderate)? If you just want to buy a domain and hosting service, install the forum software "as is," and then start running and promoting your board, very little knowledge is required and in fact you can probably learn all you need to know quite easily by just picking it up as you go. All of that stuff is really easy. The hardest thing would obviously be something like writing and inserting your own scripts to fit the needs of the board, requiring some knowledge of programming languages like Java or PHP.

Thanks very much for the help everyone.

To answer your questions:

1) No, I haven't bought the domain name yet. How big does a site have to get to need it's own dediated server? (I guess that's a question of how much bandwith is necessary, right?) Is TA run on its own server and if so how much does it cost?

2) I'd like the site to be almost as customized as forums section of TA... though really only in terms of the style. I don't need tons of subforums or chat rooms. I'm not sure what a 'cusomized script' is.

The topic wouldn't require too much moderation, and I don't think the site would be big enough at first to appoint an actual user as a mod - I'd have to do it. At it's peak, I'd anticipate 5,000 users.


Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M Post t3h link to your work forum. plzkthx.

Sorry I can't. Its a private message board for a school for the use of parents and teachers. It actually ended up being a fiasco because a bunch of irate parents posted some vicious messages. The school didn't allocate me the time to moderate it. Most of the school staff isn't very web savvy so they were unprepared for the type of language and behavior that often develops on a message board.

quote:

Originally posted by stevebutabi Thanks very much for the help everyone. To answer your questions: 1) No, I haven't bought the domain name yet. How big does a site have to get to need it's own dediated server? (I guess that's a question of how much bandwith is necessary, right?) Is TA run on its own server and if so how much does it cost? 2) I'd like the site to be almost as customized as forums section of TA... though really only in terms of the style. I don't need tons of subforums or chat rooms. I'm not sure what a 'cusomized script' is. The topic wouldn't require too much moderation, and I don't think the site would be big enough at first to appoint an actual user as a mod - I'd have to do it. At it's peak, I'd anticipate 5,000 users. Thanks again

Your better off getting inexpensive hosting that offers php, its not worth the trouble and expense of setting up your server. domains are cheap so that shouldn't be a problem. Then you can upgrade your hosting plan to meet the bandwidth demands. Its not easy to attract traffic thats why i recommend a low initial investment.

quote:

Originally posted by stevebutabi 1) No, I haven't bought the domain name yet. How big does a site have to get to need it's own dediated server? (I guess that's a question of how much bandwith is necessary, right?) Is TA run on its own server and if so how much does it cost?

Pretty darn big, although it will depend heavily on what sort of stuff people are downloading from your site (for example, videos or sound files that people download with any regularity would obviously require much more bandwidth to host than text would). I don't know TA's server situation.

quote:

2) I'd like the site to be almost as customized as forums section of TA... though really only in terms of the style. I don't need tons of subforums or chat rooms. I'm not sure what a 'cusomized script' is.

Something like phpBB, which is free, will probably work fine for you, then. You can use that to customize the colors, formatting of posts, and display of forum index pages, although the latter two will require some minimal HTML knowledge and a bit of time.

quote:

The topic wouldn't require too much moderation, and I don't think the site would be big enough at first to appoint an actual user as a mod - I'd have to do it. At it's peak, I'd anticipate 5,000 users.

Five thousand regular users is a pretty good size for a forum. Will your forum be attached to a larger site of some kind or part of a forum ring linked heavily by other sites? If not, how do you plan on attracting five thousand users?

It is easy making a website.

All you need to do is to follow my easy step-by-step instructions!! Allright, here we go:

Cook turnip in a pot of boiling water until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare a steamer. Bring water to a boil, and find a pan or bowl that will fit inside the steamer.

Clean the dashi kombu sheets with a damp towel, and place the larger kombu sheet on the bottom of the pan or bowl.

Season fish with sea salt and place on the dashi kombu. Add mushrooms, turnip and tofu. Pour sake over all. Place the small dashi kombu sheet on top.

Place the pan or bowl in the steamer, and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for another 10-15 minutes. If not using a bamboo steamer, be sure to leave lid slightly to the side to allow steam to escape.

To serve, put the small sheet of dashi kombu on the bottom of a plate, and top with the remaining ingredients. Discard the large kombu. Serve with ponzu sauce mixed with grated daikon.

Note: Dashi kombu and shimeji mushrooms can be found in Japanese markets.

Per serving (without ponzu): 190 calories, 21 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat (0 g saturated), 31 mg cholesterol, 78 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

and then BAM you have a website!!

Back in 2001 TA was only on a cheap (300mhz) dedicated server with 512 mb of ram (lol)... Mind you, it started out at about 256 or 128 and then I just kept on upgrading as needed.

The key here is how many simultaneous users you're looking at supporting -- either way - you're pretty safe with some cheap (<$20/month) hosting starting out.

quote:

Originally posted by Swamper Back in 2001 TA was only on a cheap (300mhz) dedicated server with either 512 mb of ram (lol)... Mind you, it started out at about 256 or 128 and then I just kept on upgrading as needed. The key here is how many simultaneous users you're looking at supporting -- either way - you're pretty safe with some cheap (<$20/month) hosting starting out.

sorry swamper. broken link.

Thanks again

Here are more questions/answers to your questions:

-What is the expense of setting up a server?

-Up to what level can I upgrade a hosting plan?

-Would I really save money by doing this, if I'm going to have to switch to a dedicated server anyway?

-Is the transition from hosting to dedicated server difficult?

...

-I do not plan on there being any downloads off the site, so it seems as though bandwith is only an issue with # of users on the site at once, like swamper suggested... so how much bandwith will I need if I have 200 users? 1,000 users? 5,000?

-I'm not sure if there will be 5,000 soon, or even in the 1st year. In fact, I'm not sure if there will ever be 5,000 REGULARS. I'm looking for 5,000 that just sign up to post at some time.

-I plan for it to be a seperate site, although it will be linked to a retail site. I'm looking to build up a base through advertisements, both online and print (if I luck out/work hard, I hope to get the word out via editorials). The site will exist essentially as a service and community forum for our customers (of the linked retail company) and for those interested in the product or anything related to it/to discuss issues associated with it.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.