newbie - url - domain name - hosting questions

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  • StevenAvery
    New Member
    • Aug 2009
    • 23
    • 4.2.x

    newbie - url - domain name - hosting questions

    Hi Folks,

    Although I have some tech background, I have never run a forum, and we are looking to set up one on Bible issues. We don't expect major traffic, however we do have a medium-size base from email forums who will jump right in, so moderate traffic is our desire and expectation. Perhaps a couple of hundred members and a dozen or two posts a day, in he near-term future. Numbers are always dicey, time tells.

    I'm going to ask a free stream-of-consciousness questions. I am hoping to set up in the next few days. Nice that you have a forum section designed for this purpose. Probably, if all goes well, I'll have some follow-ups.

    First .. I understand that there are a few good free forums, and vbulletin is the most-liked paid. I am pretty much convinced to try to go to vbulletin at the front-end to simply save time and effort in the long run. The cost seems reasonable for any earnest long-term forum, so that is not a major issue, even with some extras later. However the 24-hour demo seems a bit on the lean side for a trial, compared to actually having a forum in action.

    Now the name (the url). Do I have the choice for a vbulletin url (not user-friendly) name versus a domain name I buy ? I don't have a forum-friendly name right now ready so I guess that I pick that up before I start up, to avoid having administrative name extra-work. And then folks come to the forum through www.bibleforumsmartname.com (dummy name). So choosing the name should be done before starting up, to avoid a bunch of hassles. Is that correct ?

    (I saw on another thread that changing the name even on the same web-host adds a bit of complication, although if it is real minor we might want to start up with a generic vbulletin longish name and then work through the permanent url name later, in a couple of weeks.)

    Next, the web-hosting. Some hosts seem to be forum-oriented, however mostly the freebie ones that work with the other forum softwares. So ultimately, given meeting the requirements for MySQL and such and a reputation for support and solidity and response time, is there any real distinction between choosing a web-host for vBulletin than there would be for any other web hosting ? I am paying for a web-host that is inactive at the moment and I simply tell them about the forum and point the forum to them, or something like that ? (Assuming they have the new url registered to my account, I have not checked if they consider each URL a separate account or not, or if they just go by space and bandwidth. Does this vary among hosts, dunno, all new to me.) Oh, the web host I have ready to go is Webado, not well-known but apparently quite friendly and competent. Anybody with experiences can share. I realize there are many dozens of favorite hosts .

    I'll stop here, feel free to give general advice outside my questions as well, I am hoping to get moving on it pronto !

    Shalom,
    Steven Avery
    Last edited by StevenAvery; Sat 8 Aug '09, 5:14pm.
  • IBxAnders
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2001
    • 1172
    • 4.0.x

    #2
    Welcome to the vBulletin community!

    Originally posted by Steven Avery

    First .. I understand that there are a few good free forums, and vbulletin is the most-liked paid. I am pretty much convinced to try to go to vbulletin at the front-end to simply save time and effort in the long run. The cost seems reasonable for any earnest long-term forum, so that is not a major issue, even with some extras later. However the 24-hour demo seems a bit on the lean side for a trial, compared to actually having a forum in action.
    Not sure if this is a question, but yes - there are hundreds of free choices; including hosted choices. Without trying to give you a very biased answer - I agree with your thinking about the long-run value of vB community platform.

    Now the name (the url). Do I have the choice for a vbulletin url (not user-friendly) name versus a domain name I buy ? I don't have a forum-friendly name right now ready so I guess that I pick that up before I start up, to avoid having administrative name extra-work. And then folks come to the forum through www.bibleforumsmartname.com (dummy name). So choosing the name should be done before starting up, to avoid a bunch of hassles. Is that correct ?
    Not exactly. Your license information can be edited very quickly and easily in your vbulletin member area; and your administration panel will have an option where you can configure the url as you please.[/quote]

    (I saw on another thread that changing the name even on the same web-host adds a bit of complication, although if it is real minor we might want to start up with a generic vbulletin longish name and then work through the permanent url name later, in a couple of weeks.)
    If your forum is active and public, changing the URL will cause the search engine pages to break, this can be fixed but requires some tweaking. Same with bookmarks, if people bookmarked domainX, their bookmarks will break when you switch to domainY. Ultimately, you'd want to pick a name and stick with it.

    Next, the web-hosting. Some hosts seem to be forum-oriented, however mostly the freebie ones that work with the other forum softwares. So ultimately, given meeting the requirements for MySQL and such and a reputation for support and solidity and response time, is there any real distinction between choosing a web-host for vBulletin than there would be for any other web hosting ? I am paying for a web-host that is inactive at the moment and I simply tell them about the forum and point the forum to them, or something like that ? (Assuming they have the new url registered to my account, I have not checked if they consider each URL a separate account or not, or if they just go by space and bandwidth. Does this vary among hosts, dunno, all new to me.) Oh, the web host I have ready to go is Webado, not well-known but apparently quite friendly and competent. Anybody with experiences can share. I realize there are many dozens of favorite hosts .

    I'll stop here, feel free to give general advice outside my questions as well, I am hoping to get moving on it pronto !
    A small vbulletin community like yours could probably be hosted on a budget of $10-25 per month, cheaper on a one year committment. Not sure what you are asking in reference to pointing URL's.

    Thanks for posting and welcome to vbulletin.com!
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    • StevenAvery
      New Member
      • Aug 2009
      • 23
      • 4.2.x

      #3
      hosting - host w/ their own forum - vBulletin savvy

      Hi Folks,

      POST PUT IN THE HOSTING SECTION !
      http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=317337


      Thanks for the help, folks. Right now I am deciding on a host, rather than a new thread I'll leave it here with our existing chat. If requested, I will move it over to that area.

      Clearly there are many, the Dreamhost, Lunarpages, A Small Orange, Polurnet, Hostgator types, the budget hosting crew big (Dream and Host) and the medium-size -- and some that seem a little more specialized.

      Two things come to mind:

      Along with a reasonable price (I changed my mind about being concerned too much whether it is $7/month or $20/month.) A forum is a big plus... two things come to mind

      1) A neat discussion forum on the web host

      2) A host that specializes in vBulletin


      A third plus is if they allow multi-domains in one account, but that is only of modest importance (ultimately a $-saver, not a function-giver). You might save a good $50+ a year with the extra domain(s) squeezed into the account (the extra domain being a light-resource need). I am surprised sometimes that this doesn't get a lot of discussion.

      Any host that hosts a forum is putting it all out there for everyone to see, and I like that (granted, they are almost inviting the kvetchers, and taking extra time watching) .. plus you are more involved. HostGator seems to be in the lead in that regard for me, a generally fine company that has a forum. Dreamhost is another with a solid forum, LunarPages (not real vBulletin friendly) another, A Small Orange (cute) and there are probably many more. Right now HostGator is in the lead among these. Well maybe not, the vbSEO crew is quite negative on them (maybe simply some clashes with their SEO stuff) so I may put A Small Orange back into this group tied for the lead. Every budget company will get a bunch of good reviews and some heavy-duty complaints.

      For a specialty host on vBulletin forum URLJet looks great. No forum, yet real savvy according to vBulletin threads. The pricey factor is mitigated by likely saving me some time on intalls and stuff. Right now I am seeing how much extra it would be and any hidden gotcha's among these. I like the idea that the host is a defacto vBulletin techie and they optimize for vBulletin needs.

      A third segment would be quality hosts (and a moderately higher price) that are vBulletin friendly with a forum and service that might be a little more elite than the budget group. However nobody has stood out from this group. Companies like Liquidweb and Pair.com (no forums however) might fit this niche, although of course there is no set line between budget and elite. GlobalGold may fit in here, as they have "vBulletin Custom Hosting" and good buzz here. However again, no forum, and UK-based.


      Knowing that I am strongly preferring hosts that fit one or both of the requirements, feel free to comment in any way or offer any suggestions (or good alternatives that are strong in the same way). Thanks.

      Shalom,
      Steven Avery
      Last edited by StevenAvery; Sun 6 Sep '09, 1:03pm.

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