building a webpage with messageboard

I would like to create my own message board. But I don’t know where to start. What’s the best hosting company? How much should I expect to pay?
It would be great if someone could post a few links and possibly give me a little insight into something I know nothing about.

Messageboard? .. I'd recomment www.invisionboard.com. As for a host, the rule that applies and is right 80% of the time is you get what you pay for. If the hosting plan is too good to be true, it probably is. Cheap doesn't usually mean good.

Because of competition, webhosting companies tend to oversell their resources because users don't usually use what they're given. Know reliable webhosts include the famous www.mediatemple.net, www.dreamhost.com, www.futurequest.net

Mediatemple hosts TeamPS, Pank designed Futurequest's site and Deker loves Dreamhost. One thing you'd notice is the high price. Like I said, you get what you pay for. If you're on a budget, there are some host you might want to consider. www.myacen.com, www.cyberpixels.com and www.hostradius.com(hope i'm not breaking any rules here :p)

I'm in the webhosting business, so I see some stuff first-hand

yeah, all what has been says is completely true! U may find a free host that says it hosts message boards but i wouldnt trust any of them , as i ust have tried over 15 in my early times!

what do you think about

http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/index.php

How much webspace do i need to host just the board?
I doubt I will have more than 300 members. with the max of 10 -30 users on at a time.

Thats a good forum and very user friendly too. Im not quite sure what space u need, not a lot though. I would also recommend yabb Forums or invision ( as sidez already mentioned) Good luck

Yabb perl version is banned on certain hosts because it consumes alot of server resources. Yup, phpBB is another board that you might want to consider.

The message board alone takes about 1-2 Mb. If the server has gzip enabled, then you'll use less bandwidth and less space. At most 50Mb should be enough. The board I run takes up only 557.8 KB for the database. Has 71 registered users. 624 posts.

I'm estimating 50MB and bout 2Gb bandwidth/month should be sufficient.

Check out the resources forum:

Paid hosting:
http://www.teamphotoshop.com/forum/vbforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8232

Free hosting:
http://www.teamphotoshop.com/forum/vbforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8231

just want to point out, myacen.com (my host) VERY cheap, and VERY reliable and GREAT support. just wanted to point that out. fast too, speed tests can be done at http://www.webimpulse.net/dl/ :D i've got to credit one of the best hosting around :D

/goes to http://www.webimpulse.net/dl/
*damn, no porn*

Originally posted by sidez
/goes to http://www.webimpulse.net/dl/
*damn, no porn*

oh you wait, there will be porn eventually :p

oh yea, Fudd, why not code your own message board? :D hehe. me and paavo are going to make a TeamPS Message Board and sell it for $50 and make a profit from it with our l337 PHP skills. :D yea right :p