Does host really matter to new members

[Acorn]

I mean, do new members really gravitate more to a self hosted forum than a proboards one like mine, even if the member/post number and activity levels are the same and even if both look good?

I'm just trying to tell whether moving to self hosting will make a difference because currently we have major issues trying to increase our number of active members. It's held the same for almost a year, though members come and go the number's been about the same.

 

[StripesAndFins]

All I know is that most people don't like forums hosted on free forum hosts such as forumotion or freeforums.org. That's all i know

Good luck 🙂

 

[Gimgak]

I'd say more of the webmaster crowd finds it unprofessional. People who aren't as "tech savy" really won't care though, at least that's what I've seen.

 

[agentmanningctu]

As long as it isn't forumotion or freeforums, I don't care.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

A forum's host generally has very little bearing on whether or not I join. However, if a forum is extremely slow or overcrowded with ads, I may not enjoy browsing it that much. o_o

 

[Justin]

Did you see how bad my forum started off on horrible hosts? It does matter

 

[Hitakashi]

Well i noticed your site is pretty slow with proboards

 

[Loopy Legend]

I recommend Zetaboards, yes its a free hosting forum, but the adds are only top of page and the site is very professional. The only thing I would rather use then Zetaboards is vBulletin, not even other paided sites, and all you need to do is grab a domain name for a couple of bucks.

 

[Uphoreka]

Well, as long your site is hosted on a web hosting server, it's cool! But make sure the web hosting's server is pretty fast.

 

[Hitakashi]

I recommend Zetaboards, yes its a free hosting forum, but the adds are only top of page and the site is very professional. The only thing I would rather use then Zetaboards is vBulletin, not even other paided sites, and all you need to do is grab a domain name for a couple of bucks.

well you do got to buy vBulletin for like $195 so you'll be spending like 205 dollars total for vB and domain

 

[Loopy Legend]

well you do got to buy vBulletin for like $195 so you'll be spending like 205 dollars total for vB and domain[/quote]

Well you do get what you pay for, as vbulletin is well worth the cost.

 

[Watch Me Sink]

What Gimgak said. My first forum I joined was a Snitz 2000 forum, possibly the worse thing known to man. It rivals Ezboard and Yuku in crappiness. Back then, I wouldn't have known a paid forum from a free hosted forum. People that frequent the net do though.

 

[AquaTeen]

I would say that most users do not care what your host is as long as the site is functional, not overcrowded with ads, and alive with activity. I've seen some very nicely made free hosted forums and some ugly paid hosted ones. Unless you have a webmaster forum I doubt most people will care about what the link is as long as they enjoy being there.

 

[Fergal]

I mean, do new members really gravitate more to a self hosted forum than a proboards one....

Normally I would say yes, because any site looks more professional when it is on it's own domain. Another advantage of having your own domain is that it is easier to remember the forum domain name and it is easier to tell other people about it.

Saying all that, your forum has obviously done extremely well on a forum hosting service.

 

[fantanoice]

I've found that most end users don't really care. They're usually after content, rather than the host/provider.

I recommend Zetaboards, yes its a free hosting forum, but the adds are only top of page and the site is very professional. The only thing I would rather use then Zetaboards is vBulletin, not even other paided sites, and all you need to do is grab a domain name for a couple of bucks.

I second Zetaboards if you 'must' go with remotely hosted. Some people complain about the ads, though AdBlocker/Flash Block got the job done when I was using them.

 

[Kino]

I mean, do new members really gravitate more to a self hosted forum than a proboards one like mine, even if the member/post number and activity levels are the same and even if both look good?

I'm just trying to tell whether moving to self hosting will make a difference because currently we have major issues trying to increase our number of active members. It's held the same for almost a year, though members come and go the number's been about the same.

As long as you aren't on a crap host, like Forumotion or FreeForums.org I honestly don't think people will care.

 

[Kaadu554]

I've found that most end users don't really care. They're usually after content, rather than the host/provider.

I recommend Zetaboards, yes its a free hosting forum, but the adds are only top of page and the site is very professional. The only thing I would rather use then Zetaboards is vBulletin, not even other paided sites, and all you need to do is grab a domain name for a couple of bucks.

I second Zetaboards if you 'must' go with remotely hosted. Some people complain about the ads, though AdBlocker/Flash Block got the job done when I was using them.

I third that, Zetaboards does everything i need and all you have to do is pay $10 a year for a domain

and i wouldn't care, as long as it looks good and has activity I'll join it

 

[Leo Ghost]

It completely depends on your member base whether or not they care. A site that targets people who are members of a lot of on-line communities (a gaming forum perhaps, where your members may be registered at a cheat code site) it may matter, because your users have experienced other software and *realize* that there are better choices out there.

If you run a forum targeted at an older age group, say 35+, it's possible that your users *only* frequent your forum, and wouldn't know any better. A good example of this would be a role-playing site, or a medical information community.

If you expect to have a lot of "webmaster" users, then software matters far more than other genres.

 

[Nuke]

I've found that most end users don't really care. They're usually after content, rather than the host/provider.

I recommend Zetaboards, yes its a free hosting forum, but the adds are only top of page and the site is very professional. The only thing I would rather use then Zetaboards is vBulletin, not even other paided sites, and all you need to do is grab a domain name for a couple of bucks.

I second Zetaboards if you 'must' go with remotely hosted. Some people complain about the ads, though AdBlocker/Flash Block got the job done when I was using them.

I third that, Zetaboards does everything i need and all you have to do is pay $10 a year for a domain

and i wouldn't care, as long as it looks good and has activity I'll join it

I fourth the ZB thing, and most softwares are ok with me as long as the CAPTCHA isn't too bad. I don't even have AdBlocker since it's not even that bad.

 

[Ziveeman]

To end users it doesn't really matter. Well, to some more tech-savvy people it does, but people usually look for a good community over the forum software.