MyBB Community Forums

hiya, i used to do a lot of web coding when i was younger, but that was back when CSS was a WHOA BIG PROFESSIONAL THING and so i’m... rather out of practice. since getting back into forum rp, i’ve noticed the need for me to know how to create my own forum.

however this is just a hobby for me currently and i don’t really have the extra money to pay for a host from the start. i’d like to see if i can actually create a finished, working forum before deciding on a permanent, high-quality host to run a community on.

what are some reliable, safe free hosts for my internet paranoia that i can start with in the mean time while learning to build my forum? can i create it first offline, like it can be done with html/css stylesheets and just linking to reference files with drive paths? if so, are there any guides for doing so? i like to think i’m pretty good with coding, but everyone starts (again) somewhere.

also, later on, if all goes well i’d like to find a reliable paid host in my budget. i would say something like $5-15 /month would be ideal, though obviously i’d prefer the lower range! i doubt i’d ever get traffic like a help forum does, but i would need space for an rp forum with upwards of 50 users per day.

and if there’s a guide i’m missing on all of this, i’d love that too—sorry if these are questions that get asked a lot, i’m just very overwhelmed with new info and having a hard time finding info on writing code offline with myBB. 

thanks all, and sorry if this is the wrong category; i think it is, but i apologize if not!

You could use something like XAMPP or WAMP to be able to work offline without the need of free hosting. The installers for them are very straightforward and usually don't require any additional effort. You can find YouTube guides for this kind of software everywhere in case you get stuck.

You will never get the feel and atmosphere for a regular host on a free host. As suggested above, try WAMP or LAMP to trying things locally.

ok, good to know! i'm looking into both wamp & XAMPP to keep things simple; from what i gather, WAMP is probably a better choice as a windows user with little experience using a virtual server? i hear it's more simple, especially as someone who is just beginning with any kind of server-related info.

when i made websites back in ~2010, i used this old (definitely sketchy but i was about twelve lmao) host that basically functioned as a dropbox and gave me a URL and pushed me on my way, so i learned pretty quick to learn by just *doing* things and breaking functional code to figure out what coincided with what, and i have a really hard time internalizing long articles and handbooks etc. i prefer to just learn things as i inevitably get to them.

that all said, WAMP sounds like the best option to start with?

(2018-07-17, 03:12 AM)KARVR Wrote: [ -> ]ok, good to know! i'm looking into both wamp & XAMPP to keep things simple; from what i gather, WAMP is probably a better choice as a windows user with little experience using a virtual server? i hear it's more simple, especially as someone who is just beginning with any kind of server-related info.

when i made websites back in ~2010, i used this old (definitely sketchy but i was about twelve lmao) host that basically functioned as a dropbox and gave me a URL and pushed me on my way, so i learned pretty quick to learn by just *doing* things and breaking functional code to figure out what coincided with what, and i have a really hard time internalizing long articles and handbooks etc. i prefer to just learn things as i inevitably get to them.

that all said, WAMP sounds like the best option to start with?

Either will work just fine, they're similar in many aspects. One being that they both pretty much do all the work for you. Just power one of them up and you're usually good to go.

oh, hey, i went to pick up WAMP and it looks like the official site (wampserver.com) is down; is there somewhere else i'm supposed to get it?

(2018-07-17, 03:18 AM)KARVR Wrote: [ -> ]oh, hey, i went to pick up WAMP and it looks like the official site (wampserver.com) is down; is there somewhere else i'm supposed to get it?

Did a Google search and came up with THIS.

Enjoy.

If you want to extend your trials, there is also AMPPS

https://www.ampps.com/

It is good, easier GUI and has more modules

For paid host, try LevelHosting. Very good prices and service.

There are a lot of hosting provider that you can use in that range mate, my suggestion is to go with shared hosting for now and if traffic increases than upgrade to a VPS/dedi.

Regards
WallBB