setting up online forums

[murdoch]

hi,
im not sure what category to put this in so Im putting it here!

Im considering setting up a forum for one of my websites.

If I set up using a free software forum eg forum.snitz.com
is there any problem if I later need or wish to change to a software like the
www.vbulletin.com forum, which has telephone support (but at a fee)?

ie Can I change forum software after 6-12 months, to another provider, if I don't like the free one, and want to pay for a better one?!!
Can I transfer all the threads and passwords and user accounts etc to another forum package without too much difficulty?

Or is it better to just use a paid-for forum from day one?
Thanks
Matt

 

[Cromulent]

If you want to use free forum software and then upgrade to vBulletin (which I personally use) I would recommend you start with SMF as that has an easy import module into the latest version of vBulletin so you won't lose any of your posts, members or anything like that.

 

[murdoch]

thats very useful to know, much appreciated

 

[James W]

Whats your forum going to be used for;

PHPBB - More skin mods
VBulletin - More business like
Invision Power Board - More Professional
SMF - Not a personal favorite. Its like a cheap rip off of VBulletin

 

[TIMI]

There are free to use Open Source software like phpBB and SMF and you don't have to go for the little bit extra sophistication that vbulletin offers. If you are able to buy suitable web hosting you could be up and going in a couple of hours on phpBB for example. If you have any problem with this contact me.
Can you transfer all the threads and passwords and user accounts etc to another forum package without too much difficulty? I am afraid if you don't have access to the database (as your free forum will give you none) I don't see how you can do this .

 

[Optegris]

Considering the low cost of vBulletin I personally would have started as I mean to go on...

 

[murdoch]

thanks again guys. Itys going to be medical related ie quite professional look

 

[ServWise]

Might also want to consider myBB http://www.mybboard.net/ as an alternative. nice and clean, professional and easy to use. Certainly steer clear or Snitz which is about as ugly as you get.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

I use smf on http://www.serendipitybusiness.com if you want to see an example and phpbb for members at www.instantdownloadsonline.com. I would recommend either.

Hope this helps

 

[Cromulent]

I'd stay clear of Invision Power Board if I were you, it is far more expensive than vBulletin and does not add that much more to the package in terms of features.

There is a reason why the vast majority of forums you will visit use vBulletin (including this one).