Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Table of Contents
. ntroduction of Myself
. Warnings and Expectations
. 8tarting the Forum
V. Forum Customization
V. Forum Categories
V. Finishing the Board/Release
V. Final Notes
. ntroduction of Myself
Hey everyone, my name is Peter and have run a couple successIul
Iorums in my time. I am Iourteen years old. I wrote this guide to reach
out to the people who want to make a Iorum, but do not know where to
start and to the people who make Iorums but can never get them started
properly.
Well, what is a Iorum? As I`m 90 sure you know, a Iorum is a
message board where users Irom around the world can sign-up and post
messages to the board. It`s a very useIul tool to meet new people, make
proIit and beneIit you in many other ways.
There are many diIIerent Iorum soItwares, as in many diIIerent people
who make the soItware Ior a Iorum. There is Mybb, vBulletin, Simple
Machine Forums, Invision Power Boards, Phpbb3, and a Iew other
underground companies make them, too. This guide is based around
Mybb because it is the best in my opinion. It has all the Ieatures the
others do, but best oI all it is Iree.
. Warnings and Expectations
This is not a walk through the park by the way. There is a lot oI eIIort
going into a successIul Iorum, but the end result is so great. You will
need to invest time, money, eIIort, stress and sanity to make a Iorum.
The Iamous quote 'you get what you put in, comes into play. II you
don`t try, you don`t get any results.
Now you need to create an idea. Whether you`re making a whole idea
Irom scratch or you had your idea prior to the purchase oI this guide.
Think oI something that isn`t overused, like xbox 360 Iorums. At the
same time, don`t think oI something that is dead or unattractive like a
Iorum based on how maggots turn into Ilies. 'Make sure it`s alive, but
not super healthy. But make sure it`s in good shape and not dead.
Now what type oI audience attracts your idea? For example iI the Iorum
is about gaming, I suggest a younger audience. II you go on a Iorum
with adults and try advertising a gaming Iorum you will not get very Iar.
However, iI you advertise on other gaming sites in respectable way you
will.
Another common mistake I see is how the admin acts. The title 'The
Owner should be used with pride. You must use proper grammar,
respect your members, be nice, etc. You`re representing YOUR Iorum or
company so do it in a respectable way.
Passwords, iI you`re making a Iorum make sure you password is secure.
II your password is apple` or rabbits` you Iorum will not last long.
People these days will do anything to Ieel cool, including hack your
Iorum. Don`t be scared, it doesn`t happen oIten but you will make
enemies in this business. Make sure to have a secure password.
In the end, expect some respect, proIit, and a lot oI new e-buddies.
. 8tarting the Forum
A. You Need To Pay
Now you have your idea, and general knowledge oI Iorums. How do you
Iund this project? A paypal account or credit card is suitable. On my Iirst
Iorum someone payed Ior my domain and hosting, but decided to make a
paypal account Ior myselI so I could make more Iorums. It was a good
and mandatory choice. Chances are iI you have this guide, you have a
payment method.
B. Domain Names
You will need a domain name. What is it? Google.com, Yahoo.com,
Bing.com, etc. That is a domain name; and you need one. I heavily
suggest http://www.moniker.com. They are cheap (in a good way), and
the domains are very easy to manage. Do not go with big names like Go
daddy as they are corrupt and you`ll end up losing than gaining.
You will also want a nice domain name/Iorum name. Pick it now, start
brainstorming. II you`re attracting a dark gaming audience, try
something like Grim Gaming. That was one oI my Iorums by the way. II
you`re attracting a nice bmx(bike) Iorum you can try angelbmx.com.
Those are just some examples.
C. Hosting
Now you need hosting. Once again, no big names and never buy a host
and a domain Irom the same company. There is always a chance you
need to move hosts and iI they are linked you are stuck. I suggest
santrex.net, mediatemple.net, ipage.org, and hosting24.com.
D. Linking Domain and Host
'Okay, I have a domain and hosting.what the hell do I do now?! I`m
glad you asked. You`ll need to link the two together. When you signed-
up Ior hosting you probably got a welcome e-mail(iI not check your
spam). There is a thing called name servers which links your domain to
your host. Once you Iind your name servers Ior your host, add it to the
domain. Here`s how iI you picked Moniker:
Click 'My Domains
Checkmark the domain you want to edit the Nameservers on
Now you can edit your nameservers. Depending on the host, it will take
12-48 hours to resolve. Once it does, you can go to your domain and
your website will be there.
E. File Transfer Protocol
F. Forum 8oftware
Now you need to pick your Iorum soItware. I highly recommend MyBB
because 75 oI this guide is based on it. You can download it at
http://www.mybb.com or by visiting on this link:
http://www.mybb.com/download/latest
Once you have the Iiles extracted (using WinRar) you will need to
upload them to FTP. Read this guide I wrote earlier this year on FTP.
It`s pretty short and a direct copy/paste on a Iorum I posted it on:
http://tinypaste.com/80dffa
Password: makeaforum
HopeIully you know how to use Filezilla now, iI not Iind a Iolder called
publichtml. Delete it. Now go to the MyBB Iiles you extracted and
rename the
Iolder to publichtml. Upload it to the main directory. Your Iorum is
now ready to be installed (the upload should take around 5-10 minutes).
Go to this URL:
http://www.YOURDOMAIN.COM/install
replacing YOURDOMAIN.COM with your domain.
Follow the steps to install your board. II you need help on that Ieel Iree
to ask. Here is a STEP-BY-STEP tutorial on setting up your databases
Ior your Iorum:
http://www.supportIorums.net/showthread.php?tid6673
Created by MasterZuIu
AIter that, your Iorum is now installed! Woo. Onto the next section.
V. Forum Customization
A. Themes
Now that your Iorum has been created you will need to customize it Ior
obvious reasons. Let`s begin with a theme. You can Iind some oI
MyBB`s Iree themes here:
http://mods.mybb.com/themes
http://www.awesomestyles.com/mybb-themes
Free is great, but iI you really want to show oII you can get some paid
themes at these websites. Please note I am not an aIIiliate oI any oI these
companies.
http://www.mybbcentral.com/
http://zynge.net/
Now you need to install the theme. To save both oI us time, you can Iind
a working and eIIicient guide here:
http://www.awesomestyles.com/blog/how-to-install-a-mybb-theme.html
II you need help installing a theme just ask me Ior help.
B. Banners/magesets
This may take 30-45 minutes, but go through ALL oI those categories.
For example, conIiguration, Iorum home options, reputation, etc. This is
partly how you make your Iorum unique. Change all the settings to your
liking, but keep your Iuture members in mind. Think like 'what would
you want to see on a Iorum people agree with.
AIter you`re done with that, take a second look at Reputation. Make sure
it is enabled. We`ll change those settings later.
E. Plugins
Plugins are an amazing Ieature made by MyBB. They are like add-ons to
your Iorum.
Here are some Iree add-ons:
http://mods.mybb.com/mods
Paid add-ons:
http://www.mybbcentral.com/Iorum-38.html
http://www.mybbcentral.com/Iorum-27.html
I recommend checking both oI them out as plugins are nearly required
Ior a successIul board. This is a timely process, but will be worth it in
the end. AIter you download all the plugins you need upload them to
FTP. Go to