Using Forums Just as a Hobby

[Cory]

Do you or have you paid for forum software just to use a forum as a hobby and nothing more? I've personally never even paid for the forum software and always have used free software. I don't really see the need to blow money on something that's intended for a hobby only unless you're wealthy enough to afford it. I might not have all the nifty features in the world, but most free forum software offers you the essentials you need to run a (semi) successful message board.

 

[Arantor]

I have licenses for XF, IPB, Woltlab and vBulletin solely out of curiosity and what I could learn from them as a piece of software; none of them have been deployed into what could be called a production environment But then again, forum software has been my hobby for a good many years now.

And you can absolutely run *successful* forums on free software. Just depends on your definition of successful, I guess.

 

[Cedric]

There's nothing wrong with ending up on free software, but I genuinely admire software like XenForo, which is never to be found or reproduced through free softwares. I like playing around with add ons, making the community more appealing and unique step by step. It costs a lot of money, that's for sure. But as any hobby, it costs a lot of money and you pour in as much as you want. A community is made by the people on the forum and add ons or software will never have an impact on the greatness of a community. For me it's just fancy things.

 

[Matt C.]

I have 2 licenses for XF and 1 for IPS. All for hobbies. I don’t use IPS anymore (that’s for another thread), but XF is my favorite.

I’ve used all free forum softwares, and I just find that XF is the best value even at $160. In my opinion, XenForo is hands down the EASIEST forum to work with and customize to your liking.

Money is time. And I think for most people, they will be able to learn XenForo faster than any other software. I mean XenForo is how I got started with HTML and CSS over 10 years ago.

They give you so many tools. Style properties, template system (that’s actually understandable), and the template syntax/conditional system.

Not to mention, the XF community is infinitely more friendly IMO and there 1000’s of add-ons you can use.

 

[Kale]

Not to mention, the XF community is infinitely more friendly IMO and there 1000’s of add-ons you can use.

I'd have to say the moderation is kind of ehh on XF, and have heard that sometimes support can be a bit eh too sometimes. I don't hardly visit the forum for that reason and usually will Google or ask @Aerodynamic for help over their support forum.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I like both paid and free software, I can understand not wanting to pay for commercial software for a hobby. If you've found a platform that does what you want it to do, that's all that matters in the end. I have bought a Xenforo license for VGC. I had extra cash since I got my tax refund back, and wanted to splurge a bit. I also had some extra cash to try out vBulletin, but now since my hours did get cut at work I'm using SMF for my Pokemon forum that I'm almost ready to promote. Most hobbies do cost money, but thankfully there are free forum hosts and software so you don't have to worry about paying a huge amount if you don't wish to.

 

[Arantor]

That said, the plugins to do what my upcoming site needs... I don't think they really exist on XF, I know IPB has a plugin for it but I've never seen it (and I think it was pulled from the store so the folks who commissioned its dev could gatekeep who they wanted to let use it), no idea about Woltlab.

And I wouldn't run a new site on vB...

 

[Strawberry]

I have done this in the past, especially between the years 2008-2012. I used to sign up for free forum hosts to see what they had to offer, as well as installing other software on hosting. There used to be a forum comparator site too which I found interesting and it gave you links to demos to explore.

 

[PGen98]

I use XenForo for hobby forums because I prefer XenForo; however, I use and like free forums software, as well. I've used basically every paid and every free option out there, some are fantastic, some aren't, it's going to come down to trial and error and seeing what you like the most. I wouldn't waste money on IPS, but some love it, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend MyBB or Flarum, but some don't like them. It's all about personal preference. License are expensive, yes, but they are worth the investment, as well. You definitely do get what you pay for with XenForo.

 

[Cory]

There used to be a forum comparator site too which I found interesting and it gave you links to demos to explore.

This site? https://www.forummatrix.org/

 

[Cedric]

This site? https://www.forummatrix.org/

That’s really cool but sadly outdated to hell. Wish they would update it.

 

[Cory]

That’s really cool but sadly outdated to hell. Wish they would update it.

Indeed, I remember stumbling upon that site during the days of ZetaBoards, if not InvisionFree.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I think for a while the site was completely taken down, but someone managed to bring it back up. I do wish it was updated as well, it's a shame it hasn't been updated in a while. The site does list a email address however, perhaps we could reach out to the admin to update the site?

 

[Cedric]

I think for a while the site was completely taken down, but someone managed to bring it back up. I do wish it was updated as well, it's a shame it hasn't been updated in a while. The site does list a email address however, perhaps we could reach out to the admin to update the site?

That's not a bad idea. I could send the admin an email and see if he has the intention to do so.

 

[Cory]

I could send the admin an email and see if he has the intention to do so.

May as well give it a shot. The worst they can say is they don't plan on updating the site.

 

[Kyng]

Yeah, this is largely why I use free software, and why I don't pay through the nose for themes and plugins and so on. It's just a hobby forum, so the financial investment doesn't make much sense.

(Of course, the domain and the hosting are paid for, but that's pretty minimal!)

 

[Heatman]

@Naiwen is one of the free forum software users I have known. Forums are a big hobby of her ever since I have known her. I have been on more than 7 forums she's opened up using Proboards.

 

[Mnikolic]

I have never owned a forum software license. However, I was an admin on a board that was on a licnesed forum software. I even installed vBulletin 3 software a couple of times. Same with MyBB, although that's a free software.

Otherwise, I've used mostly free forum hosts like the defunct InvisionFree and ZetaBoards, SMFForFree, phpBB-based forum hosts, but now, I'm using JFH (Jcink). I've also briefly used ProBoards, but I didn't like how that forum software works & looks. Maybe I could afford for a forum software license someday, but somehow, I do think that's only a happy dream.

However, I was a member of boards that ran on vB3, vB4, IP. Board 3 and newer and xenForo. All of which I liked IP. Board 3 and newer the best.

 

[Shortie]

I once started a forum as a hobby and because I liked the features Xenforo had at the time I did invest in my hobby at the time and went with Xenforo. I feel if it is a hobby you are passionate about then you should be able to put money into it if you feel you can afford it.

 

[Cory]

I feel if it is a hobby you are passionate about then you should be able to put money into it if you feel you can afford it.

That makes sense because we do spend money on most of our hobbies. I'm just a poor man right now, and I know nothing about the backend side of things, which is probably one reason I've always stuck with already-hosted forum platforms.