Cost of running a forum (not this one)

[badabec]

Hello, I am a member of a car club which has a lack lustre, members only forum and an award winning monthly magazine.
I think they spend far too much time and money on the magazine leaving the forum to slowly die.
I get the magazine, skim through it and then into the recycling bin.
The club has a facebook page. Searching on facebook for previous advice posts is nigh on impossible.

I neither agree with nor understand why a car forum would be members only. Are they so mean they wouldn't share the freely obtained knowledge?

They are now pleading poverty and wish to archive the forum.

What sort of money are we talking about to run a forum? Is it tens, hundreds or thousands of pounds?

Would you prefer a monthly glossy magazine or an active forum?

Or wouldn't join any club that would have you as a member?

 

[julianf]

A low traffic forum (minimal bandwidth) that does not allow hosting of images etc is pocket change.

A skinflint could probably do it for less than £100 per year.

And, no, I'm not saying that's what discord costs... I'm saying a low traffic forum with no sizable data hosting.

 

[AVI_8]

An active forum any day.
I have an old modern classic, there used to be a few forums which were very busy, with lots of new posts every day, unfortunately the price of classic cars have increased so much that they’re now not owned by enthusiasts but collectors so the traffic through the forums have dried up to practically tumbleweed.
Such a shame.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Depends on how competent they are with hosting, the size of the forum database, the forums software (some are paid for), any extras that they host (pictures consume a lot of space).
I can't imagine a magazine is worth the cost, but perhaps that is their USP.

 

[gaz1]

A low traffic forum (minimal bandwidth) that does not allow hosting of images etc is pocket change.

A skinflint could probably do it for less than £100 per year.

And, no, I'm not saying that's what discord costs... I'm saying a low traffic forum with no sizable data hosting.

my forum is free for the moment

you can add images and files but better to link to them from another source

as goes for members only yes and no some files are behind membership other files are free to entice new members onto the forum

but averything is free

as goes for magazine because its award winning they are wanting to keep it that way by the look of it so are letting the forum die

 

[Jack Ryan]

you can add images and files but better to link to them from another source

I subscribe to quite a few email lists and forums and some images have been linked from other sources. Often when I find the answer to a question in the archives, the linked pictures are gone because the hosting service or someone's private cloud space is gone.

I suggest posting and not linking images. That way, if the archive is there, so are the pictures.

This is an active forum - how much does it cost to run?

The other cost is volunteers to manage the forum - they can be more difficult to find than money.

Jack

 

[gaz1]

its a yearly charge and it does go up in value the more known it becomes

sometimes success can cost more than you think

forum admins can be an issue so those ones have to be careful with some have been known to destroy a forum due to a bee in there bonet

im not like that as i believe it should be handed to another as many users value the site

so in case of my death instructions are left to hand over to a selected person or i sign over the admin right to that trusted person

forums can die if anything happens to the forum admin whos not able to continue the service of the site ive seen it happen

 

[Jack Ryan]

an award winning monthly magazine.

I get the magazine, skim through it and then into the recycling bin.

What sort of award?

If for content, I would be saving it.

If for layout and design that's great for the editor & etc but doesn't do much for the organisation.

Jack

 

[northwest]

FWIW I host a couple of Forums and one of them is as you describe, low volume, very narrow interest group (but really nice guys) and I host the pictures. It doesn't even register as an annual cost, it gets bundled up in the ongoing and I don't notice a cost until I renew the domain, about tenner annually.
I would calculate it out from the annual cost of a "hosting package" and there are a plethora of companies offering these. One thing I would say though is NEVER host your website on the servers of the company who manage your domain registration, ever. and always keep a backup.

 

[Kayos]

I ran a forum years ago, cost was minimal.
They come and go, fact of life and the internet. 2 previously active forums I am a member of are both ghosts now.
I think the narrow subject ones suffer the most

 

[MysterG]

I hate the fact forums are disappearing in favour of Facebook. As you say finding anything useful is difficult, and answers to questions (in my experience) are given by lots of people who actually don't know the right answer. Somehow they feel like they have to comment.
A forum is a great resource, tends to be easily searchable etc..

As stated the cost should be quite small in the grand scheme of things, getting people to moderate and run it is the tricky thing these days.

I also don't understand why a car forum would be private. Sure have private sections for members only, but a great way to put people off joining a club is to lock everything behind a Paywall. The TVR car club is a case in point. Only thing accessible to outsiders is the club shop, other than that you have to join if you want any of their top secret information

Anyway I digress. Yep a forum should be easily affordable for a half decent club with an award winning magazine. They are unfortunately now just seen as old fashioned rather the great resources they can be.

 

[OJCar]

A certain Land Rover Club (no names no packdrill) has an "award winning" magazine.
Distributed globally and the highest turnover cost in the Clubs accounts.
It gets Recycled upon receipt.
The management of the club refuse to either allow an Opt-Out or electronic delivery of the magazine.
The same club's Forum is an utter mess, the over moderated, personal project of a long standing club member who has a hissey fit at any criticism.


Another Club has a simple but effective forum (and no magazine).
Members have a "private" section and many non-members join in in the "open" section.

Costs for the second club's forum are just under £250 per year.

 

[badabec]

What sort of award?

If for content, I would be saving it.

If for layout and design that's great for the editor & etc but doesn't do much for the organisation.

Jack

Unfortunately the latter. Very poncy but no real information. The same Classifieds stay on for months.
Posting pictures on the forum is a PITA, you have to post bb codes which involves using a third party. I like the ease of posting pictures on here, much better.

Thanks for all your information..

 

[mike os]

Small simple forum I would guess under £200 a year.., hosting, domain reg and software

As they grow bandwidth and storage becomes more expensive. Last one I ran was about 800 a year… including a managed server but that had thousands of posts a month, high res images etc

 

[marlinspike]

It sounds like a great project if you have the enthusiasm to get it off the ground.