Looking for cheap, private, easy to use web page forum for our Dem group

[SaveAmerica]

Does anyone have any suggestions for us?

It would have to be easy for me to put together and maintain, I'm no computer wiz. Our group has limited funds that we would prefer to save the bulk of for our candidates and GOTV but we really need a private place to make plans and stay in touch with each other.

Thanks!!

[ixion]

1. wordpress.org

easy to install, and full-featured.

[SaveAmerica]

5. Thank you! I'll add that to the list I'll look into

[bluerum]

8. I second that. You will need to get in touch with your inner geekiness though.

It is easy if you know a bit about ftp and server configuration.

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. Check your PMs

[begin_within]

3. phpbb3 is free, well-written and easy to operate

I've never installed it, I always used the automatic installer that comes with my web hosting account. I sometimes wish DU used it instead of the software they use for this forum, however, in the basic installation, threads are one long continuous chain of replies, they don't have subthreads that can go off on a tangent like this site does. But for a small group of users I don't think that's necessary anyway. I don't think you have to be a "computer wiz" to install and run phpbb3, but if your web hosting account offers "QuickInstall" or "Fantastico DeLuxe" installation utilities it makes installing the package simple and easy. Any forum software you install and use is going to take a bit of getting used to, as you will be the administrator, and you will have more privileges and more responsibilities for setting it up, monitoring and maintaining it.

[SaveAmerica]

4. We don't have anything at this time, I'm starting with the hosting account

I found this web page and wondered if it's a good beginning for me?

http://www.free-web-space-page.com/

If I use one of those under $5 a month hosting services, it will offer different installation choices that will come with that fee? Or if I don't want to use theirs you're recommending phpbb3? In the end the $5 a month is all we need to spend?

Thanks for your info.

[begin_within]

6. I wish I had all the answers but I don't...

I have never used any of those web hosting services so I don't know what you get with them. I use hostgator.com to host my sites, and their cheapest plan is $4.95 per month. Of course there are also costs of having a domain name, that is a separate cost from the web hosting service. Typically I think with one registrar, such as networksolutions.com, one year costs about $34.99, for the domain name registration. There may also be other solutions for free forum hosting and other solutions for what your needs are... such as just creating a blog on one of the free blog sites, such as for example Blogger or Blogspot, and letting people read and subscribe to the blog, and they can add comments to your articles. There may be ways to share the info you want without having to pay anything, but most people will eventually want to have their own domain name, and have it hosted somewhere, and there are nominal charges for those services which you can't escape entirely.

[SaveAmerica]

9. Thank you so much! That's just the information I'm looking for!

I wanted to make sure I'm heading in the right direction to get this done and that helps me very much!

[SharonAnn]

13. inexpensive domains.com is $9.99 a year for registering .com or .org name

I use two of their hosting plans, depending on the site size and activity.
$4.95 a month or $150 a year.

Also, we just redid an HOA site using "joomla" tools and software (free) and our computer club site using "drupal" tools and software(free).

Also, another group uses yahoogroups (free) for the email group and the associated mini-website for stashing files and databases for the group.

There are lots of tools out there, just not enough time for me to learn them all.

[DCKit]

7. No recommendations, but good luck! nt

[SaveAmerica]

11. Thank you!

[Locrian]

10. its simple once you do it once....

It's easy - I would get a hosting account and set up PHPBB.

I use http://www.powweb.com at about $4.88 a month, or they have deals for longer etc. They answer the phone, and have a great support forum that you can ask questions on.

I would also register a domain name, but make sure it's somewhere else other than the place where you buy host space. That way, it's easy to move your website to another host if they raise prices etc. I use name.com - it's about $10 a year for a domain name so you can have www.yourwebname.com or whatever.

Then you setup your website and/or your forum. I'd use http://www.phpbb.com/ Pretty easy to setup and configure and a lot of people that can help with it. Basically you just upload the files to your webspace, create a sql database, and run the install to setup your forum.

[SaveAmerica]

12. I definitely came to the right place, that's 3 votes for phpbb Thank you!

Thanks for taking the time to connect me with this info, I appreciate it!