website based forum---help needed

[Fitness Bug]

Please take a look at the requirements below (from my post in e-commerce)

If anybody is interested then please let me know. If you take a look at some of the comments I received in the e-commerce section this should give a clear indication.

Any questions let me know

As the title says,

I need some help and advice on setting up a forum based website, The theme will be fitness related.
I would also like to sell various products on their too such as fitness clothing, accessories, supplements etc. Maybe a small little website linked to the forum or something.
I may also speak to various gyms to see if they would like to advertise etc, Maybe have a "members only" area etc

Anyway, As you can probably tell I am in the early "thought process" stage!!

I understand a forum is hard work to maintain and "keep everybody happy" as it where, Im not looking to spend thousands (I dont have it) but something that looks the part and gets people interested. Where I live the "fitness bug" has got the whole town by the looks of it, My town alone has 5 gyms ranging from crossfit, body building and fitness, it also has the "boot camps" going.

Simple discussion topics such as

training tips
dieting
nutrition
upcoming events
gym details and time tables
running clubs
weight training

Is this something that some of you lovely people could help with? As you can probably tell I dont understand a lot of what goes into building a site etc but do have a vision that im hoping will work.

Oh yes, Almost forgot, I have trained on and off for around 20 years and love all types of training so this is something I enjoy and know a lot about which is why Im hoping it will work.

 

[Faevilangel]

What is the ultimate goal for the site? Forum or to sell your products?

you have 2 real options:

1) Make a website (with the products and info pages) and bolt a forum in on the side
2) Build it all using a forum platform, and add features as when you want

I personally would go for #1, only because it gives you more room to grow the site from just a forum, and to be able to build a business.

If you went for #2, you would outgrow the platform and then would need to look into rebuilding the site in the future.

#1 allows you that initial flexibility and if, for some reason the forum falls out of your plans then you can shut it down and keep the main site running.

#1 will cost more than #2 though, but you do get the extended flexibility e.g.

mydomain.co.uk > for your business side
forum.mydomain.co.uk > forum side of the site, totally separate.

You need to be aware of your future goals for the site, as a few hundred more now may save you thousands in the future.

I would be interested in quoting but would need to find out more about the project so I can advise the best platform and strategy.

 

[ITsoldUK]

As previously...

Invision Power Board out of the box does it all and is extremely scalable.

Choose a skin (site does not need building down this route) and voila site done.

Total cost under £260.00 excl. Management and/or installation and configuration.

It would be about a 4 hour set up and deployment of a naked site.

Shout if you need anything further.

Regards
Daren