Forums
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. Forums differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.
Forums have a specific set of jargon associated with them; e.g. a single conversation is called a "thread".
A discussion forum is hierarchical or tree-like in structure: a forum can contain a number of subforums, each of which may have several topics. Within a forum's topic, each new discussion started is called a thread, and can be replied to by as many people as wish to. Some of these subforums may restrict viewing and/or posting access based on the person's level of membership with the forum.
Depending on the forum's settings, users can be anonymous or have to register with the forum and then subsequently log in in order to post messages. On most forums, users do not have to log in to read existing messages, but will have to log in to search for messages or to post a message.
MoparStyle Racing has created, and administers to, three popular forums.
MoparStyle
The first of these forums belongs to the MoparStyle.com web site. It was created back in January 2001, and its major focus is street cars, race cars, and trucks; built, sold, and/or raced by: Chrysler, Jeep, Imperial, Desoto, Plymouth, AMC, Hudson, or Dodge — collectively known as Mopar. Thousands of members, and hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the site for discussions relating to the restoring, racing, repairing, and enjoying Mopar cars and trucks. The MoparStyle forums have the threads categorized into the appropriate subforum.
Old Hippie
A forum was created for the Old Hippie web site in 2003. It has a large number of forums, in a large number of categories, covering discussions from politics, to cars, to hobbies, to technology. There is a category for the Big Kahuna Hosting Forums, which help potential and existing customers better manage their hosting accounts.
SS Racig
NSS (Nostalgia Super Stock) Racing has recently moved its forums from a free hosted forum, to its own vBulletin forums — which offers far more flexibility.
If you are looking to crate a forum, you have a few options:
Free Forums Hosting: There a quite few out there — but the best is most likely Pro Boards. There you can create a forum with the number of categories and forums you desire, and you have some control over the look of the forums. While is is hosted on their server, you can put a link to the board on your site. The upside is that it is free, they do a pretty good job controlling spamming bots, and they maintain the integrity of the application; while the downsides are their advertising banners and URL, lack of all but the basic options and features, very little control over the look and feel beyond colors, and some feel that the privacy of members comes into question.
Free Forum Software: The next level up would be free to use forum software on your hosting account and database. The best of them is most likely SMF (Simple Machine's Forums). Both Big Kahuna Hosting and Southern Star Hosting gives you the ability to quick & easily install SMF onto your web site's available database. The upsides are that you have far more control over the look and feel, you can put your advertising in the forums, more features and options, and it will use your web site's URL; but the downsides are you have to more closely watch for spammers, and still lacks many of the options and addons of the Premium forums.
Premium Forums Applications: We feel tat the best of the premium forums to be Vbulletin. It is not cheap, and it is not easy to install — but it gives you the both control over the look and feel of the site, offers the most options, and has a large network of programmers making add-ons for just about any feature you can imagine. It also offers an option for the forums to be used on a smart phone. We have a lot of experience with installing and setting up Vbulletin boards, installing the proper addons to reduce spam, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and installing 3rd party addons for the features you desire. For $799 plus the cost of your Vbulletin license, we will consult with you by phone on the forums, members, features, and the look & feel your desire; install and configure Vbulletin onto your Big Kahuna Hosting account's available database; configure the options as you desire; install and activate the 3rd party addons your desire, create your header graphic and customize the appearance of your forum; and set up your User Groups, categories, and forums. Any additional support required is at the rate of $50 per 30 minutes, in 30 minute increments. We can generally have all of this accomplished in two days.
Forums offer an excellent way to fill an interest's needs — and to generate revenue through advertising. If you would like to discuss further, please use the Contact Form to express your needs or concerns.