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View Full Version : Forum only hosting suggestions please



dynocat
03-05-2010, 12:40 AM
I'm a mod at a social forum that uses vbulletin. Sounds like we need a new host that is 1) reliable, 2) inexpensive and 3) has decent customer service. The site survives on donations so #2 is a need.

Let's hear it from you experienced folks please.

Thanks

btw, what version of vbulletin is this forum? I don't see it in the footer.

vangogh
03-05-2010, 01:40 AM
I use a VPS with Liquid Web for this form. It's reliable and has great customer service, but it is a VPS so it's not the cheapest thing around. You could ask Pete (http://www.small-business-forum.net/members/pete.html) about hosting since he runs a hosting business. I don't think he's expensive and I'm sure he offers great service and reliability too.

I took the version out of the footer since all it would do is help spammers identify which version we're using. I'll send you a PM with the version number in a minute.

rezzy
03-05-2010, 11:07 AM
Why are you looking to move? Is your current host not keeping up, etc?

What is inexpensive? A few dollars or $20 a month?

If I had a more concrete understanding of your needs, and price requirements, I could point out a few places that could offer you everything you need.

To me the largest decision is, how busy is your site? If you have a site with a few hundred members , your requirements will be different then a site with a few million members. The demands on hardware, software etc are vastly different.

vangogh
03-05-2010, 11:12 AM
Let me add Bryan (rezzy) to the list of hosts you can try. I forgot he was offering hosting, but I'll offer the same recommendation as I made for Pete.

dynocat
03-05-2010, 12:08 PM
Thanks, Steve. Here's the problem we've been having. Because it's a social site, there is heavy use of smilies. The past few months when someone is posting a reply in advanced mode, if they click on the "more" smilies page, choose one or two and come back to their reply, they can't "submit" it without losing the connection to the site. In fact they can't go to any other page on the forum either without getting the "can't establish a connection" error message. It may take 20 minutes before they can get back on the site.

The webhost says it's the vb software, which is why I was checking out the version used here. Of course people here don't use smilies (what happened to the term, "emoticons?") like they do there, so maybe that's it. I just don't know. It all worked fine six or so months ago.

Harold Mansfield
03-05-2010, 01:58 PM
I've installed and set up V-Bulletin 4.0 for clients on Blue Host ( with a few hundred members and growing) and Go Daddy and so far no problems.
It should be noted that Go Daddy doesn't have PHP 5.2, they are still using PHP 5.0 and V-Bulletin 4.0 say's it requires PHP 5.2...although I haven't seen any problems yet, but that particular forum is not busy yet.

I don't know what either is paying for their accounts, but they both have unlimited bandwidth.

vangogh
03-05-2010, 05:29 PM
Hard to imagine smilies causing problems. It could be your current host isn't all they'd like you to think they are. It's possible though your forum is active enough where it's outgrown its current hosting. There does come a time where price can't be the main factor in choosing a host.

I'm not saying that's where you are now, but it's something to consider. I assume you're on shared hosting. You could try switching to another host and seeing if things get better. They might. If you're still having problems it's possible the resources you need call for more than shared hosting, which is going to mean spending more money.


The webhost says it's the vb software

From what I've observed, hosts almost always blame the software and the software makers almost always blame the hosts. The truth is probably somewhere in between with each causing part of the problem in most cases.

Harold Mansfield
03-05-2010, 05:43 PM
From what I've observed, hosts almost always blame the software and the software makers almost always blame the hosts. The truth is probably somewhere in between with each causing part of the problem in most cases.

I go through this all of the time, especially at the moment.
That's why, when I get hit with a new problem that I have never seen (and I know it's a server admin thing), I investigate the cause and possible fixes and send it to them so that they can't send me in circles trying to repair something that is their fault.

I've come to learn that hosting companies don't employ a full staff of experts, some idiots are answering the phones too.

If you find one of the good ones that actually knows his/her stuff and is attentive, get his work hours and extension(or company email) and deal with him direct if possible.

painperdu
03-05-2010, 06:06 PM
Ever use some of the open source stuff like phpBB, Phourm . . .?

I'm going to pm you with a deal regardless of which forum software you use.

vangogh
03-07-2010, 10:11 PM
He's already using vBulletin. This is an established forum.

Years ago I heard more bad than good about phpBB, though I think it's been improved with recent versions. Much of the complaints in the past were about security and how you really had to keep on top of the upgrades. Again though, from what I hear that's improved a lot.

When I looked at different forum software prior to setting us up here, vBulletin seemed to have the most features. I'd consider using bbPress also if your site is running on WordPress since they should be able to work together better, especially when it comes to sharing the same database.