putting a forum on a website

[spyderfx]

do most people build their own forums using php. or do they use the free ones you can set up?

[sosADAMsos]

Most use already created forums.

This forum (and my forum) uses vBulletin. IMO the best, bust also costs $80.

You could use phpBB, which is free. I've used it and liked it (just not as much as vBulletin).

[spyderfx]

is it a one time cost of $80?

[sosADAMsos]

I'm sorry, I meant $180.

Yes, it's one time and you get 1 year of updates. (and $60/$40 a year for updates after that).

[spyderfx]

$180! damn, think i'll go with the free one. more than likely it will be a very lonely board

[sosADAMsos]

I'd definitely suggest going with phpBB then.

[nobody]

Check out Vanilla (http://lussumo.com/vanilla) as well. It's a different feel for a forum, but it a good way. vBulletin and phpBB are both monstrously huge and prone to attack. I wouldn't use either for anything.

[blazes]

If you need a small forum, go vanilla. Otherwise go phpBB. I use phpBB everyday and it's an amazing piece of software.

[adfox]

do most people build their own forums using php. or do they use the free ones you can set up?

http://www.phpbb.com/ is good, i've used that before. Dont use anything like groupee/infopop where you pay a monthly fee to for them to host. Theyre easy to setup but it gets expensive if people upload a lot of images etc.