My free hosting company does not allow 'mass email' scripts... is there a way to turn off the ability to subscribe to threads by email? Or is there a way to set it to use my gmail account or something? Or would that put the same load on the server?
What are the best forum settings for putting the least load on a server?
How important are the default automated tasks (especially on a brand new forum with few users) since we aren't supposed to run 'cron jobs'... we can't even run automatic backups which makes no sense to me... a script running the backup is no harder on the server than us clicking the backup button...
(the 500gb bandwidth limit makes the limitations worth it though lol)
How much of a load do those automated tasks put on the server?
I have to worry about this because if you lag the server badly enough they shut down your site and lock you out of your account with no warning...
Hello,
You'll almost certainly be allowed to use a forum script... It's not "mass-mail" as in sends the same email to everyone on a list (as most providers define it).
Do email your free host and ask them on their policies regarding forum softwares. I'm sure it will be fine.
If it isn't, find a new host (if you pay, there are some great webhosts available).
Load... you won't have an issue if the forum is relatively small to medium sized.
Feel free though to read:
http://docs.mybb.com/Performance.html 
The tasks are important... they keep post counts, promotions and such up to date.
Just find a new host... your current host has way to many limitations.
According to a forum post on my webhost, even 10 emails would be considered mass mail... so if 10 people subscribe to the same thread with email notifications I would be sending mass mail. If I could afford hosting I would switch... less than $30 a year to host with godaddy... just a handful of premium members once I get the site up and running
You really need a paid host.
You cannot expect to run a forum, with premium members and many emails on a free host.
Look around, you can find some good ones. Put some of your own money into your own forum. It'll be worth it.
Zfast, DreamHost, MyBBWebHost, ETC.
You can run a forum without sending emails... there's actually quite a few forums with premium members being hosted by the same company I was using...
But since no one was actually answering my question I had to convince my boyfriend to let me have a little money that we couldn't afford.... although if someone could have just answered my question about how to remove the email option I'm sure that the forum would have ran fine for 1 month or less on the free hosting... only needed 1 person to buy a premium account to pay for the next month of hosting on a better host... but I couldn't sit here and just hope that maybe after a month or two that someone would actually answer my question rather than just telling me to buy hosting...
I'd still like to know for future reference if there is an option somewhere in the acp or somewhere to turn off the option to subscribe with email notifications - or a plugin that removes it from the subscribing options
Oh, and next time you might stop to consider the fact that not everyone HAS their own money to put into their site... especially after they post they can't afford the $30 a year and you keep suggesting they do it... if they can't afford it that's not going to change just because you tell them again they need to do it...
'cause it actually is a little embarrassing to have to admit that you CAN'T afford $5 a month or $30 a year