Is this the standard type board for Hostmonster members?

[sonofwalt]

Currently my website/community is parked in Groupee/infopop, where i am spending too much money for something that is really not very user friendly for me or my members.

I am looking for someplace that provides chat and easy to use web builder tools as well as a great and easy to use forum like this one for my site. Is this what I will get if I pay and transfer my site to Hostmonster? Because if it is, I'm sold. :)

[shadmego]

The forums you are currently on (hostmonsterforum.com) is not free. The software is commercial, and this particular one is quite expensive.

Having said that, I believe the company, Vbulletin, offers a free, slimmed down version with advertising to people. You would have to look it up.

There are two very popular free forum boards available though. One is phpbb and the other is simple machine forums (SMF). They both offer a pant load of features and available addons, and are both easy to set up and configure. They also come with an account at Hostmonster as part of the Fantastico installer.

There are also other companys that offer community-based programs like forums and message boards. They all offer different packages and pricing points, so the best I can suggest to you is to do your research.

I've used both phpBB (php Bulletin Board) and SMF. I like them both and personally, don't have much of a preferrence, though I think SMF has better administrative control than php. This could have changed, however, as I haven't played with phpbb in several years.

If you have other questions, please feel free to ask away!

~regards, and welcome to the HM forums!
Shadmego

[SiriusB]

Never used SMF but I am an admin on a phpBB forum and the admin tools are excellent. phpBB is a very good piece of software and you should get it up and running in a short amount of time. Definitely worth a look.

[sjlplat]

I always use phpBB. There are a ton of mods available for it to make it capable of just about anything VBulletin can do.

[pdxhayes]

+1 for phpBB