If I am starting from nothing and want to end up with a web forum hosted on the web, what are the building blocks I need to put in place?
Let's assume for the purposes of this I shall use VBulletin as my forum software and want to build this from home, what are the key elements I need to purchase and the process to get me from a box of bits to a starting point where I can build my forum using VBulletin?
I suppose the key questions are:
1) Do I need a bespoke server with server OS or is this something I can rent as a hosted service and easily upload the applications I need such as VBulletin?
2) Once I have a server, do I administer if from the server like a windows application or do I need to log on to the server from another PC?
3) What other software will I need on the server, PHP, MySQL etc and how easy, for a non expert, are these to work with and set up.
4) Any pointers on companies who make this easy who can perhaps rent me a built solution I simply buy/rent and build day one without worrying about the other 'stuff'
Thanks in advance for your help.
Housey.
Let's assume for the purposes of this I shall use VBulletin as my forum software and want to build this from home, what are the key elements I need to purchase and the process to get me from a box of bits to a starting point where I can build my forum using VBulletin?
I suppose the key questions are:
1) Do I need a bespoke server with server OS or is this something I can rent as a hosted service and easily upload the applications I need such as VBulletin?
2) Once I have a server, do I administer if from the server like a windows application or do I need to log on to the server from another PC?
3) What other software will I need on the server, PHP, MySQL etc and how easy, for a non expert, are these to work with and set up.
4) Any pointers on companies who make this easy who can perhaps rent me a built solution I simply buy/rent and build day one without worrying about the other 'stuff'
Thanks in advance for your help.
Housey.