How do you create a forum
 

Hi,

I have some interest in recreating this forum in Florida and limiting it to the area I live in. I have read the forum for many years and although there are issues with some of the nastiness with it... it is also a fantastic medium for information concerning Winni.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to figure out how to do it and how to get the forum publicized?

Probably more work than I am up for?

You might be reinventing the wheel. Here are one that already exists.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/florida-georgia-32/

If there's an established forum it can be hard to get a following. The founder of "The Hull Truth" sold out and tried to start a new forum a few years later. That one (Reel Boating) now appears to be little more than a jump station.

Good luck!

This article has lots of advice:

https://www.hostingadvice.com/how-to...start-a-forum/

How to?
 

At the bottom of the page the software is listed: Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2021, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
It appears you an buy/license the software and you're off and running. Building support from advertisers and members is up to you, as it would be in any sales job. I've thought about the same thing, but it appears you have to be very dedicated (Thank you, Don) or sell enough advertising to pay somebody to be a webmaster.
There are other online forums that use this software, as there are many that use competitive software.
Did you Google "Starting an online Forum"? There are a lot of groups on FB, but to me, no organization and hard to follow, search, etc. so I spend little time there.

vBulletin is pretty much the main supplier of forum software. I am admin on a few hobby forms that all use it.


that's the easy part. managing it and drawing in users is the heavy lift

Citi-Data has forums all over the USA....same format as Wini Forum

Here are vBulletin's cloud options:

https://www.vbulletin.com/en/vbulletin-cloud

For many years I ran a private online forum using phpbb. The software is very similar to vbulletin except its totally free. It's very secure and works great. There are also lots of extensions (plugins) to enhance functionality and the look and feel. The only cost was the domain name and hosting service which came to about $10 per month. If the volume low, you could find a cheaper host. Check it out at phpbb.com

Wordpress also has a forum which might be easier to install and maintain.

Great Info
 

Thank you to all that posted. Sounds doable but no question there is much more work involved than I may have understood for me to do alone.

I will do more homework and maybe try to find someone who I could persuade this would be a good idea for them to do.:)

Advertising?
 

I'm curious about attracting advertisers to a start up forum that has no member base. Three months free? Six months? Base it on numbers of readers? Many may read but not join so that number may be difficult to calculate and present to prospective advertisers. Ideas?