This post is a continuation of How to start an online forum – Part One. In this part we will discuss some good hosting packages available and also how to install vBulletin. Finally we will also see what are some of the SEO techniques possible with vBulletin as well.

For hosting, I would recommend going with Hostgator. Although there are many hosting companies around I have been a fan of Hostgator simply because of the fact that they have an excellent technical support team. Most of my queries have been solved over their online chat link or via email quite fast. They have some good cheap shared hosting packages as low as $4.95 per month and I would advice you to go for the entry level package for a start. Head on to Hostgator and check out some of their packages available.

One you have you domain and hosting setup, the next step would be to purchase vBulletin and download it from their website. Once you have downloaded vBulletin you will also have access to the online manual which outlines the steps required to install vBulletin on your website. Typically you will install vBulletin on a folder such as www.my-domain.com/forums.

Here are the basic steps:

Step 1:

Download the latest copy of vBulletin here.

Step 2:

Go to where you downloaded it, and UNZIP the file. Inside, you will find a file called config.php.new. (Located in upload/includes).

Step 3:

You will need to edit the following information:

$config['Database']['dbname']=’Insert Database Name Here’

$config['Database']['technicalemail']=’Insert Email address to send errors to’

$config['MasterServer']['servername'] =’Insert Host MySQL Server Here. Your webhost should have it.’

$config['MasterServer']['username'] =’Insert Username here for MySQL Database’

$config['MasterServer']['password'] =’Insert Password for MySQL Database.’

Prior to doing this step, you will need to create a MySQL database from the control panel of hostgator. The steps do do this can be found here. Note the database name and username that you have created which will be used to update the values above.

Step 4:

After you are done editing the values above, save the file and rename it to config.php

Step 5:

There will be a folder called “upload” which you will need to upload to your domain using an ftp program such as FileZilla.

Step 6:

Now comes the Install Script. Yay. Enter the full path of the URL like this: www.my-domain.com/forums/install/install.php

Step 7:

This is the first step of the installation and this is where you will need to enter your customer number.

Step 8:

Continue with the remaining screens and your installation should proceed well if you have created the MySQL database correctly as well as the username. Don’t forget to remove the install script once you finish the installation.

That’s pretty much all that you need to do to install vBulletin. Once you have your forum up and ready you might want to do some SEO to ensure that you get enough traffic. Some common techniques might be using adwords and twitter. Another good software that you might want to try is vbseo. A lot of forums have seen good results with vbseo and it should be a good investment for your forum as well.

Once you have completed all these steps, you will be on your way to creating your very own community or forum. Have fun like what I am doing with The iPhone Kopitiam. Good Luck!

Related posts:

1. How to start an online forum – Part One
2. How to become an iPhone app developer – Part Three