Message Boards like this

[Kristen]

How can I get some decent bulletin boards like this, and be able to give people private access to some sections?

Also, how much space do they take up?

Thanks,
Kristen

[Deb]

Hiya Kristen,

Being you have your own CGI-Bin via your full virtual server with FutureQuest you can install forums like this one. (Yes that was a plug for FutureQuest hehe and no Standard Susogi.net accounts do not have personal CGI-Bins only the Community one)

We purchased the scripts for this forum from http://www.ultimatebb.com Ultimate Bulletin board. These forums do not have the ability to have some public and some completly private areas..you have to purchase muliple scripts to accomplish that with this set so you could install one in a pw protected area and the other in a public area.....what these do have is the ability to make it so only a certain group of ppl can post in a 'private area' yet all can still 'view' the private area...as is with our members only section....

A great place to look for other BB scripts is at http://www.cgi-resources.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Bulletin_Board_Message_Systems/ price ranges from free to ahem pull out the visa with the most available funds heheh....

Out of the forums I've personally tested this one is prolly my favorite... another really nice one is called the e_board.. [url]http://www.wipd.com/~mbweb/eboard/index.htm</url] it's quite a bit cheaper then this forum is..and has some nice features like being able to subscribe to the forums and receive all of the messages via email in addition to being able to expand and collapse the threads.... the last one I installed is found at http://www.gentle-touch.com another web site that has this forum installed is http://www.wermany.org I really like the expand and collapse threads on this thing. Additionally with the price being so much lower on this script it's more feasable to be able to buy a few of them to put some in password protected areas.... considering the nature of your site you may even be able to get a discount or freebie from the author if you promise him/her a kind word http://www.susogi.net/forums/smile.gif

The forums I use on the DHearts site started as the Free Ware script from Matts Script Archive... TeRRa and I have made numerous enhancements to that script on our own in order to keep it free....

Best Advice: do some searches.. figure out which forums you like best and make sure you can use them whether freely or for purchase...once you have what you like go for it and/or contact someone who can install them for you and verify that A they will work on your server for your needs and B you can afford to have someone with experience install them for you...many times there are ppl willing to do so for very low amounts to free....

Hope this helps get the ball rolling for you...step one is usually the hardest--trying to decide which forums to go with http://www.susogi.net/forums/wink.gif

Deb