Forumotion- too popular?

[Andy98]

I'm seeing a very large amount of forumotion forums, despite how limited their control-ability. (There is no mod control panel and the phpbb versions look like they're from the stone ages). So my question is why do people use them when creating a phpbb forum with hosting doesn't cost too much money?

I personally can't stand free providers (even though iv'e used them before) because they put limitations of everything.
(but honestly, what can i expect if it's free).

 

[HallofFamer]

Because there are a lot of newbie or lazy people who wish to set up some kind of forums? Most ain't really serious about running forums, they are just having fun and may pull out at anytime they feel bored. Formulation is also quite good at promoting/advertising it's services, so it's success is reasonable.

 

[Andy98]

Because there are a lot of newbie or lazy people who wish to set up some kind of forums? Most ain't really serious about running forums, they are just having fun and may pull out at anytime they feel bored.

I personally think it's a waste of Internet. (Can you waste internet...?)
With free forums, it's all the same. You didnt buy it, so there's less motivation to continue running it.

 

[meetdilip]

Such free hosted forums are good in a way. It is true that most of them are not serious about the success or future of the forum, but that is a stepping zone. Once they got used with how to run a forum at least 10 % of them move to self hosted forums.

Not every gets cash in USD, so it could be costly in not so developed countries.

 

[HoneyBeeBear]

so it could be costly in not so developed countries.

I'm in this boat exactly. I simply can't afford to host my own site, although I have the dedication, experience and desire needed. So I have to put up with the crappy limitations and so on to be able to do what I really want, which is run an RPing site.

 

[Andy98]

I'm in this boat exactly. I simply can't afford to host my own site, although I have the dedication, experience and desire needed. So I have to put up with the crappy limitations and so on to be able to do what I really want, which is run an RPing site.

There's not one thing wrong with that.

My only problem is that the majority of free forums are started by people who could easily afford to host a real one (not to say that free forums are fake, but they just have too many limitations to be called real).

I also hate free forums because they are near impossible to promote on admin forums, and they often use primitive versions of the software they run.

Take forumotion for instance. They offer phpbb3, but it just looks like a slightly improved phpbb2.

I know there are some benefits of free forums. They can teach you about running a forum. But couldn't you learn just as well by being a staff member on another forum?

Anyone else have some opinions on forumotion or free providers in general?

 

[meetdilip]

Yep, if you can afford, better use a self hosted site.

 

[Train]

I personally can't stand free providers (even though iv'e used them before) because they put limitations of everything.
(but honestly, what can i expect if it's free).

You my friend are going through a phase that many teen-early 20s admins go through by chastising free hosting. The fact is though is that many start out on those services and then later on move onto bigger and better things.

Or...

Sometimes they don't. There's quite a fair few forums on Forumotion and ProBoards that are quite large and are associated with successful websites. It all depends on how well you utilize the materials made available to you and how well you can manage the content you have. It also comes down to if you're good at making the best out of situations that aren't always on the up and up. lol

 

[haqzore]

You my friend are going through a phase that many teen-early 20s admins go through by chastising free hosting. The fact is though is that many start out on those services and then later on move onto bigger and better things.

This is what we did.

Free...

Then phpbb on paid hosting.

Now IPB on paid hosting.

 

[doubt]

This is what we did.

Free...

Then phpbb on paid hosting.

Now IPB on paid hosting.

Good way.
Start with free hosting, get 5-10 active members.
Getting popular with 15-20 active members?
Start your own with the same software you are already familiar.(phpBB, IPB)

 

[meetdilip]

With free hosts we have a risk of our account get banned unexpectedly. It is hard to convince them to lift the ban when something like that happened.

 

[HallofFamer]

With free hosts we have a risk of our account get banned unexpectedly. It is hard to convince them to lift the ban when something like that happened.

This... I guess when someone decides to use free hosts, he/she uses it under his/her own risk. After all, you get what you pay for in this case.

 

[ZiggyM]

This is a toughy.

There are several possible reasons why one would go with a free hosting provider.

I think one of those reasons is the risk of wasting money and getting next to nothing in return. It can't be denied that nowadays, forums are just not that popular anymore. It is very hard to build out and maintain a successful and active forum community in this age of growing social media (eg Facebook); these social media are a big contributor to the forum concept losing the level of popularity that it once had. It's sad, but true.

So, many people tend to go for free providers, as it doesn't cost them a dime, so no biggie if their forum ends up in the gutter; they have not lost any money on it anyway, and they can always try again later, if they want to. For many it's just not worth this risk anymore.

Of course, there are other reasons, too.

 

[S1n]

IDK. I, myself can install phpbb and punbb on my own, but I use forumotion because of the donation page, and the cool styles.

Also, I hate it when you can't install mods. Plus, you can't even add your own bbcode(s).

 

[haqzore]

IDK. I, myself can install phpbb and punbb on my own, but I use forumotion because of the donation page, and the cool styles.

But you can add a donation addon to phpbb, and there are hundreds of free styles?

 

[Darth_Apple]

Forumotion actually uses its own custom forum software that is able to mimic phpbb2, phpbb3, punbb, and a very old version of IPB. While it is pretty neat being able to instantly convert forum softwares within a matter of 15 seconds, it just doesn't feel the same as an actual, solid install of phpbb.

In my personal opinion, it's probably best for anyone who is looking for an actual phpbb host to look elsewhere. Forumotion isn't really very much like phpbb beneath the surface.

 

[meetdilip]

I chose IPB when I tried it. I was think the forum will be cute like the IPB forums out there. It took me at least 10 year back on forum looks.

 

[Andrea Borman]

With free hosts we have a risk of our account get banned unexpectedly. It is hard to convince them to lift the ban when something like that happened.

Yes that has happened to people but it can also happen with a paid web host if you break their terms or go over the bandwidth. The latter is difficult to avoid if you site becomes very popular.

I saw a You Tube video of a website owner who had an account with Just Host who suspended her site because she went over the bandwidth. Forumotion s more customization that a lot of free hosts. If you look at many of the forums on there they have quite a mixed range of controversial topics such as the news and politics forums, and they don't get banned. The real thing FM don't like is pore deflamitory content, or anything to do with hacking, so if you stay away from that you are okay.

But the one problem there is the spam filter they use which blocks out short usernames and other accounts that should not be blocked. But FM won't fix it despite many complaints from other FM admins. That's why I left FM because the filter was blocking out half of my members and ruining my forum. And my members could not log in or post. So never again . I will NEVER use Forumotion again.
Lesson learned.

 

[cheat_master30]

It's certainly more likely with a free host though, since you're not paying them and hence not giving them a real incentive to not kick you out whenever it's most 'convenient'.

As for Forumotion's spam filter... yeah. That's the kind of thing that a host should probably not be trying to run on their customer's websites. Especially if as you said, it blocks many innocent people due to being badly designed and configured.

 

[Andrea Borman]

Well it is only happening on Forumotion forums. They have this Online Guardian Spam filter which is blocking out many innocent people as you say for no reason.
See posts here Forumotion Support Forums:
http://help.forumotion.com/t125367-online-guardian-blocking-my-ip-can-anyone-help-me
http://help.forumotion.com/t120890-we-have-noticed-suspicious-activity

Many FM admins have complained of embers being blocked from their forums and even admins are being blocked. But FM won't do anything about it and won't give admins the option to remove or disable it. So y forum was getng ruined because a lot of my members could not log in. So I and my other admins tried changing their usernames but after about 5 mnutes they were blocked again. That's why I quit Forumotion.