General What do free hosted forums say to you?

[Cedric]

Have you ever thought about what free-hosted websites "say" to you when you come across them? It's fascinating how a website's hosting choice can send subtle messages about its credibility, intentions, and more. Let's delve into this intriguing topic and explore what free-hosted sites "say" to you.

When you stumble upon a website that is hosted for free, what thoughts and impressions cross your mind? Here are some questions to consider and discuss:

1. Trustworthiness: Do you automatically trust a website less if it's hosted for free? Is there a perception that paid hosting implies a higher level of commitment and professionalism?
2. Credibility: Does the choice of hosting impact the credibility of the content or information presented on the site? Are you more skeptical of free-hosted sites when it comes to accuracy and reliability?
3. Investment: What does a free-hosted site say about the owner's level of commitment and investment in its content or purpose? Does it suggest a lack of seriousness or dedication?
4. Perceived Cost: Do you associate free hosting with cost-cutting measures, and does that affect your perception of the site's quality or value?
5. User Experience: How does the hosting choice influence your overall experience on the website? Are you more forgiving of limitations on free-hosted sites, or do you expect a seamless experience regardless of hosting type?
6. Purpose and Goals: Does the hosting choice align with the site's purpose and goals? For example, do you find it odd when a commercial business or professional organization uses free hosting?
7. Longevity: Do you question the longevity and sustainability of free-hosted sites? Does the hosting choice make you wonder if the site will be around for the long haul?
8. Content Perception: Does the hosting choice affect how you perceive the content itself? For instance, do you take blog posts or articles on free-hosted sites less seriously than those on paid-hosted platforms?
9. Support and Maintenance: How does the choice of hosting impact your expectations regarding site maintenance, updates, and support? Do you assume that free-hosted sites might receive less attention in these areas?
10. Alternative Options: Does encountering a free-hosted site prompt you to seek out alternative sources or similar content on paid-hosted platforms?

A lot of questions to consider, so share your thoughts and insights about what free-hosted sites "say" to you. It's a thought-provoking topic that sheds light on the subtle ways our perceptions are shaped by the choices made in the online world. Let's engage in a lively discussion!

 

[Arantor]

I have a lot of mixed views on the subject.

On the one hand, it’s smart - you don’t have to worry about maintenance, and it’s possible to make nice themes etc, but on the other… how do you stand it being so limited? Surely your community is not so generic that you can hammer it together under those conditions and that’s enough?

 

[Darth Cognus]

These places are often whipped up because someone or a few someones like a thing and they just want to get that passion out there. They may not be able to afford or support something more dedicated. If there's a vision or even just commitment, I will not fault them for humble means. It says nothing about their intentions or even credibility really as the reason for starting this way is diverse, the use is the key. Alas, far more often than not they lack vision or commitment and so they die.

I've often seen platforms like proboards and jcink used as staging grounds for something that already had another venue to start in. My last forum project was simply a staging area for the setting of an ingame group roleplay, and so did not require anything more than a free host with just enough customization to feel nice. It's just one example of course. Going back,

Very rarely is there a free community with the energy or design needed to last. But the ones that do are built on passion and that is what I want to find. The software just needs to be good enough to facilitate it. If successful it results in growing complications ie, ability to move somewhere else with greater control. But if that's their problem they've already struck gold. Free hosting generally just isn't professional so if I saw a corporation using it then yes, they'd look like cheapskates. But then again, what does it tell you when a small business, a hobbyist, an online seller has a gmail account?...

Virtually every large hosting related thing has its free services - forums, wikis, game servers, and I've been around all these. Then places like blogspot and tumblr, the logic is very similar. Even straight up free web spaces. You can find deeply passionate projects on any of these. It comes down to what the situation is (including if it is less scrupulous). The hosting is not an answer and shouldn't tell me much by itself, it is a part of the puzzle.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I think forums hosted via free hosts still are just as valuable as self hosting. The only thing is, most free forum hosts don't allow their customers to get a database backup, making it more difficult for those who started on a free platform that want to move onto self hosting. It's even worse when the platform shuts down with no warning, or even worse when it's going to shut down and you either have to start from scratch or take the risk of scraping your community so you can keep the posts intact. I know there's well established communities using free forum hosting, communities like the Lost Media Wiki, and the Sonic 3 Angel Island Revisited modding community are both super active and are both hosted on Proboards. They offer valuable information, and I don't look down at them for using a free forum host.

 

[Jason]

My main problem is that you don't have as much control over creating things. It's worth paying $3 a month or less for the cheapest hosting just for that.

 

[Empire]

Just buy the domain and basic web hosting from godaddy. You don't need a whole server when starting out. Once you get access to the cpanel hosting control panel look for a fantastico or softaculous option. This will allow you to install various opensource content management systems (CMS) including forum scripts. MyBB is pretty good.

 

[Joeychgo]

Short answer is this...

When I come to your site, it's a reflection on your commitment to excellence to me. If you are using free hosting, free software, etc, it tells me you don't believe in your community enough to spend a few bucks. Kinda like showing up to a job interview in dirty jeans and a wrinkled shirt.

 

[Cedric]

Short answer is this...

When I come to your site, it's a reflection on your commitment to excellence to me. If you are using free hosting, free software, etc, it tells me you don't believe in your community enough to spend a few bucks. Kinda like showing up to a job interview in dirty jeans and a wrinkled shirt.

I agree.

We tend to forget we are so limited with time yet the possibilties online are unlitmited. So we browse what we love, and what's easily accessible. But more importantly, we browse something we know isn't a waste of time. Where we can find some sense of belonging too if possible.

That's just less found on free forums, that's a fact. It's not impossible, but it's even more tricky compared to premium software.

 

[Al]

It speaks volumes for our elitism that we dismiss free hosted forums as seemingly worthy of less respect than someone who spent $1.99 on bad hosting and a couple of bucks on a .xyz domain.

Free forums can have just as much character, flavour and worth as the best self-hosted board. They are a gateway into the hobby, allow people to experience being a forum admin without the associated risk, and offer people who can’t afford to spend vast sums of money a way of building a community.

The average person in the US or EU. That’s the average income person, is widely considered to be in the top ten percent of wealth on the planet. We can afford to spend $10 on a premium domain, $40 on a VPS, $150 on a forum script. In many parts of the world that $200 represents the monthly income for an entire household. XenForo isn’t going to offer local discounts based on a nations GDP.

I have been guilty of such elitist behaviour in the past. I’ve dismissed free boards at first glance. But which is better? A free hosted board with a bustling community and informational value, or an empty paid solution?

We should be encouraging people to start forums wherever, however and whenever we can. Free Forums are a significant contributor to our collective hobby. Ignore them at your peril.

Kinda like showing up to a job interview in dirty jeans and a wrinkled shirt.

I hear that! I wouldn’t employ any of these scruffy looking nerf herders.

 

[Arantor]

And you’ve just been almost as elitist, writing off all the free software that you can host yourself - an important part of the market.

More than one of the free hosted services is based on those free platforms.

But I digress. Why do we take paid environments more seriously in general than free ones? Simple: history has shown that while it’s certainly possible for free options to thrive, the majority don’t, and the ones that do are *invested* in what they do.

Sites that have front-loaded a sunk cost are immediately incentivised through sunk cost fallacy to out in more effort to grow the site. That is, unfortunately, just human nature.

It helps their case that free self-hosted platforms have more tools available to them than free hosted platforms, and that paid self-hosted platforms have more tools available to them than free self-hosted platforms.

Yes, you can compete but you have to replace the monetary investment with a time and skill one. And that doesn’t diminish the fact that there are things I can do even on my free self-hosting that *literally cannot be done on free hosted*, no matter how hard the community tries, that if the hosting provider doesn’t support it, you’re done.

The thing is, you’re pitching it as though it’s a zero sum game. We’d all want a bustling community, irrespective of the tools used to get there. But the reality is that the percentage of forums (so it’s a fair comparison) that were created by free host and free self-host that go on to never get going, let alone briefly spark and then dwindle is a higher percentage than that of more expensive outcomes. Sunk cost is a surprising motivator - someone who’s already $250-300 in simply has an incentive to see a return in that whether financially or otherwise in a way that someone who paid nothing *doesn’t* And you can’t wish that away no matter how hard you try.

Exceptions occur in all levels of the spectrum, but there are comparatively fewer of them in the successful free ones than in the not so successful paid ones.

As for employing those “scruffy looking nerf herders”, they don’t need to turn up in a suit and tie, they already did that during the process of making their money. When you’re at the CEO level, you’re the boss and you’re not generally being interviewed to be hired. But even CEOs wear suits if the need arises.

 

[Al]

I absolutely agree with everything you say.

I’m incredibly elitist to the point of snobbery. I immediately dismiss freehosted forums as beneath my notice. I don’t pay them a second thought. All three of my forums are on xF; a significant investment; but then I’m in the ‘above average’ wealth bracket and whilst my peers choose to buy fast cars, faster motorbikes, expensive holidays, this is my hobby. It makes me happy so I use my disposable income on it.

 

[Darth Cognus]

You know, I kinda get the thing that paid implies more investment but considering how many of those I've also seen dip I don't trust that factor either, especially the ones that cheap out but even when it's all money no vision. The effort to build something alone is what makes it stand out or not to me, if it doesn't have a soul I don't care how much you spent otherwise the Metaverse would be the Matrix by now. The free ones that hardly bother are easy enough to skim and dismiss.

My dispensable has never given me the liberty of hosting a handful of xenforo boards on the side though so there may well be a wealth factor within this thread, I don't know.

 

[Al]

I feel there is a wealth factor to choices made. Free forum hosting is entry level. Free-script self/hosted is a significantly better option and paid/premium script is considered the gold standard.

That said, I was speaking to @Tyrsson about SMF 3 and I’m certainly going to give it some consideration as a replacement for xF on at least one of my boards.

 

[Tracy]

For me personally... a self-hosted (either paid or free) indicates to me more interest in the area they are offering than something that is "totally free".
It's more likely to be around longer when one is willing to invest their own funds into the project than leech off others offering for hosting/product.
I'm more apt to spend time on a site that the owner is willing to at least invest some "meat" into their site. As I said, it doesn't have to be a paid script.. but commercial style hosting will "entice" me more than a free platform.

 

[Arantor]

I feel there is a wealth factor to choices made. Free forum hosting is entry level. Free-script self/hosted is a significantly better option and paid/premium script is considered the gold standard.

That said, I was speaking to @Tyrsson about SMF 3 and I’m certainly going to give it some consideration as a replacement for xF on at least one of my boards.

If history is anything to go by, give it at least a couple of years to arrive.

 

[Al]

Ha! I’m here for the long haul.

 

[Tracy]

That said, I was speaking to @Tyrsson about SMF 3 and I’m certainly going to give it some consideration as a replacement for xF on at least one of my boards.

I went the other way on my "play" pipe & tobacco board. SMF was to limiting for what I wanted.
It does look like I need to work on the SSL cert for it though (which is an nginx issue).

 

[Kyng]

I think they're a great way to get started in the forum world.

I opened my first forum in late 2004 (when I was 14), and back then, free hosted was really the only viable option for me. I didn't have the money for paid hosting, nor did I have the technical know-how for self-hosting. So, I went with InvisionFree (and later ZetaBoards).

I stuck with that service until it closed in 2018 - partly out of loyalty; partly out of fear of the responsibilities of self-hosting; and partly out of not wanting to lose my board's history. Though, with hindsight, I probably should have made the move to self-hosting sooner.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I would never do free hosted forums. I am okay with freeware scripts and your own domain though. I started with freeware in 2006 and grew a successful community and eventually had to move up to paid software (Invision) in 2013. So I know this can work.

I'm sure free hosted can work too with the right amount of dedication and advertising. But I still believe that having a domain name demonstrates some authority and professionalism, so it's in my nature to skim over a free hosted forum and not take it too seriously.

 

[Reverie]

I remember back in the days when I didn't care about software and it was just... does the forum look good, do I like the layout. In the end as a member that is all you need plus a community to go along with it. I think that's why free hosts went so far because of the ability to customize the appearance so much.

Now a days as a member I have a lot of knowledge of what would be available on other hosts. So this could cloud my opinion a bit. Joining a new community I may have expectations that can't be met... but truly I think I still join based on the content/layout/appearance first. The great thing is that sometimes these free hosts are interested in expanding and sometimes with the right suggestions change can happen - just slower than a paid software.

I like features the paid ones offer, but this doesn't mean the free ones are worthless. In the end as an admin you must decide what features are a must for you and what you can wait on, or possibly never have. Financial stability is important, and if you can't put the money into the hobby then i wouldn't stress. If you truly are passionate about the content and subject your community will likely flourish no matter the software.

I have questioned about these communities that are opened on free hosting if they will last long, because perhaps they are not passionate about the content or subject in the end and they'll disappear. I think that is easily navigable though if you make it obvious how much you care about your community.

As these free hosts are becoming older and older I am beginning to become concerned also about updates and if it will just get to a point the hosting becomes desolate because of that with no support or anything.