Lookie here...

Just using my friend Google last night and found this place. Is it new or old? I see Nick registered in July of 08 but the place isn't that old, right?

Anyway, I'm not here because I became disgruntled at a different place. But I do like to visit other "admin forums" to get insight and advice often. And this place seems to be doing quite well so I'll spend some time here too.

I cut my teeth on starting a forum for sports in my area of Mississippi in the early 2000's, then expanded it to cover the whole state after some surprising growth. I used phpBB and then IPB. I then moved my site to the Scout.com network and use their proprietary software (which makes me miss IPB a TON!)

I recently started a forum for my local community using MyBB, but it's not taking off like I expected. I need to put some more effort in getting the word out for it. But I still have more ideas in my head than I have time for. But that's part of the fun in life, right?

Anyhow, looking forward to getting to know folks, learning together, and enjoy the time here. I'll soon get all my settings and such done.

 

This place started to get built in December of 2007. To make a long story short, it sat fairly dormant for a while and we finally launched around May 25th (of this year), so we're really barely two months old.

A lot of our members feel the same way that you do about other sites like ours, but we strive to be everything they are not. One site in particular is a nice resource, but it severely lacks in many areas and we try to fix that. It's what makes us better.

Anyways, please enjoy your time here. I look forward to posting with 'ya.

 

Hello and welcome.....plenty to get your teeth into on here..

 

Welcome to AA! : D

 

Welcome aboard AA. I'm sorry if this is a little forward, or too pro-vb, but may I ask if there's any reason you don't/haven't(?) used vb for either of your forums. And can I ask what the benefit of switching to the scout thing was?

 

Hey, Dan! Thanks for the welcome. And I think that's a very good question to ask.

When I started my first forum it was an experiment. I knew basically nothing about anything when it came to software. I spent some time at SitePointForums.com getting my thoughts together. And I didn't have the $$ to spend on vB at the time. So I read and read and read and decided to go with phpBB over IkonBoard, Snitz, and yabb. Plus my host installed phpBB for me so all the easier, right?

I ran into some cookie problems with phpBB. I'm not sure if it was my fault or what, but no one was able to stay logged in and I tried everything I could find to try. Invision Board had just came out too. So after my frustrations mounted with phpBB's cookies, I switched to Invision Board, which was free. I loved it. When Invision moved to a paid license I started paying as well. And used IPB until I moved MissSportsTalk.com to Scout.com.

With my current project, it's the same thing. Wanting not to jump into a project/experiment by dropping $150-$180 on forum software. I explored the free options and thought that MyBB was my better option. But I did look for people selling IPB and vB licenses off early. I don't dislike vB. I use plenty of message boards that are vB based. And even when I was using IPB I would look over the fence at vB quite often.

And in my decision making of what software to use in this latest project, I installed SMF and MyBB and phpBB in test environments and set up boards and poured through the ACP. And for vB and IPB I signed up for the demos (twice) and spent time in the ACP and mod controls. There are things vB could do out of the box that IPB can't, and a few vice-versa. But again, I think they're both great. And if someone wanted to gift me with a vB license I'd use it.

My site that's still basically on the launching pad right now, if it grows and matures enough, I'll strongly consider moving it from MyBB to IPB or vB. But a lot depends on how MyBB 1.6 and 2.0 turns out. And MyBB has a ton of features that are fantastic. MyBB's biggest issue to me is a lack of quality skins/themes. I know some have a problem w/ the modding community and a few preceived issues there. But MyBB has an opportunity to make a big spash.

But I'm sorry if I've seemed to be against vB. That's not the case.

 

My site was a message board only that primarily focused on high school sports in Mississippi. This is still true of it. Over about four years it grew to about 600k posts (that has the formatting stripped from it. Here's closer to how it was styled). And depending on what was going on sports wise I could have over 200 people on in a 15 minute timeframe. So I was on a VPS for hosting, play about $40-$50 a month out for it. I had no advertising either. Some members did make donations, but more was going out than was coming in. So my initial hobby with free software and $2.50/month hosting plan was much different.

I was approached by Scout.com about being a part of their national network. They have sites for most D1 schools, and each MLB, NFL, and NBA team. And they were starting to make a push into the high school market. So after talking with my family and some trusted friends. I made the switch. I lost some functionality on the message board. It's continually, but slowly maturing and gaining features. But still not close to what MyBB or SMF or phpBB provides out of the box.

BUT...I actually get a small big of income off of it. Not about to buy a new car because of it, but some months are better than others. Plus being a part of the Scout.com network has some perks when it comes to being able to report on games, do stories, contact coaches, etc.