Hi,
The Hosting forum really hasn't been the most active forum, so I thought that I would just start a provocative thread to get everyone posting!
Let's pretend that you are a teenager without access to a credit card (maybe you are -- in that case, you can probably connect to this scenario
), and you really
really want to host a forum for your online friends. So you really only have two alternatives: to get a free script (e.g.
Invisionboard,
phpBB) and host it on a regular free webhost, or to sign up for a remotely hosted forum (e.g.
Aimoo,
ezBoard). What would you choose?
Personally, I would rather have a remotely hosted forum. In order to host a forum on a free host, that free host must offer some sort of a scripting language and a database. Being familiar with the free webhosting scene, I have realized that such free hosts die out very quickly -- usually in a few months, if not weeks. As a result, you will constantly be needing to move your forum from host to host. Ironically, these hosts usually die
because too many people have uploaded forum scripts, and the server isn't able to handle the load.
That brings me to my next point -- remotely hosted forums are
designed to handle forums while regular free webhosts are not. This means that the servers of remote hosts, like ezBoard and
Proboards, are usually more capable of handling massive forums, whereas free webhosts can handle only general websites. Also, remotely hosted forums, in general, choose far better ad-placement, meaning that advertising will rarely, if ever, be in a position to interfere with your forum. Finally (and although I hate to say this), it takes more brains to run a remote host. You first have to know how to code a script so that signups are automated and all the forums are easily manageable. On the other hand, anybody can start a free host on their home computer. These days, there are free scripts that allow a free host to manage accounts without hassle -- all you have to do is grab a free copy of Genesis or HomeFree, and you can start a host. You can see why hackers and abusers don't really have a hard time finding a free host to terroize.
Most free webhosts have mail() and sendmail disabled because those functions are often a launching pad for spam. These commands are absolutely essential to e-mailing your users the registration details. As a result, you may have to sit there everyday, examining all the new registration requests, and manually send everyone their registration details through your e-mail account. This is a tedious task to say the least! This problem does not exist with remote hosts because they are not worried in the least when it comes to spamming problems. After all, how can anyone create a spamming script when all the user is provided with is a simple forum?
There are also many Internet users who are not too familiar with coding and installing scripts. They may quickly become frustrated in setting up an Invisionboard, despite the concise and articulate manual that Invisionboard has provided. For these people, remote hosting is not only the best option but it is the
only option. The only setup one needs to go through in a remote host is the signup process, in which you merely fill out a few trivial details about your board and yourself. Everything else is done for you. The biggest appeal of remotely hosted forums to the average Internet surfer is that they are quick and simple.
Honestly, I can see few arguments
for setting up a forum script on a free host. All of the arguments revolve around one central topic: freedom. Many people are strangely attracted to the idea of adding loads of hacks, templates, and mods to their forum. They think that this makes their board "cooler" and more attractive. I have seen many a board where the administrator has gone on a "hacking" frenzy, adding an incredible amount of mods that the board becomes horrendously slow. These boards generally end up with only 2 or 3 members anyway. The only thing that matters to your users is whether your community is friendly and helpful, or perhaps whether you have an original scheme. By using templates and hacks from some "phpBB hacks" site, you are essentially making your board exactly like every other board on the net. Is sacrificing originality for a few trivial features a fair trade? I'm sure you'll find that 99% of the time, these hacks aren't really that important.
One of the biggest arguments in favor of hosting forums on free webhosts is that a forum on a remote host will lose all the posts and members when the remote host goes down, whereas a "free" forum can still be transported should the free webhost go down. While this is absolutely true, you must ask yourself, "Just exactly how often
do remote hosts go down? And how often do free webhosts die?" Spaceports, Host.sk, Netfirms, and Tripod.co.uk are the only three webhosts allowing forums that have lived for at least 2-3 years. On the other hand, there is a plethora of remotely hosted forum services that have withstood the test of time: ezBoard, Aimoo, Proboards, Yahoo Groups, MSN Communities, VoyForums, Network54, Delphi, Everyone.net...just to name a few.
For example, Tripod UK is considered by many to be the most reliable free webhosts offering the high-in-demand PHP and MySQL, but even
they are sluggishly slow, have frequent downtimes, engage in discriminatory policies, and use a buggy simulacrum of PHP.
Please that I am only comparing free remote hosts to free scripts hosted on
free webhosts. When we jump into the paid hosting arena, the roles are reversed. Hosting an
XMBForum on a paid server is infinitely many times better than a paid remote host. Paid hosts are usually able to offer high-speed hosting for less cash. If you've got the money, then by all means go for a forum script and a paid host.
Any thoughts? Comments? Rebuttals?
