FREE Forum Hosting

[TPfan]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone knows of a free forum hosting service out there for TP?  I know there are lots for phpBB2 and IP forums, but I have not yet found anything for TP/SMF software.

Thanks, in advance, for your help here.   

[Zetan]

Hi there,

I really don't recommend a free host as you are often limited with what you can do and their adverts.
But, this site is specifically for SMF:

http://www.smfforfree.com/

[ccbtimewizard]

Yeah, vbgamer's SMF For Free hosting service is pretty good. It's recommended to be on a true hosted forum so you can access FTP and edit core files and templates.

Though I don't believe he has Tiny Portal as an option. So you might be out of luck looking for a free hosted TP board.

[ccbtimewizard]

Refer to this documentation:

How do I save my SMF board?
How do I restore the database data?
How do I move my SMF board to a different host?

[Zetan]

You should try posting this request at SMF as well. Somebody might kindly host your site temporarily.

Or, host it on your own PC. There are posts around on how to do this, I've never tried but I believe IchBin uses some software to do this.

[IchBin™]

If you get another host that uses CPanel just like TPH did, then you can use CPanel to restore that zip file as well. It should be pretty easy. Otherwise, if you're just looking for a place to install it to make sure you have everythying, you'll probably want to install something like WAMP or EasyPHP which install on your own computer. This is a bit more difficult if one doesn't understand how web servers work though.

[Ianedres]

After setting up php and MySQL on one of my local computers, I used Dynamic DNS (www.dyndns.com) along with a IP updater client (available on that site) to establish a site for someone on a temporary basis. Just had to configure my router to allow inbound traffic for port 80.

It wasn't a very pretty or easy to remember URL, as it was a sub-domain of theirs, but it worked nonetheless.

Failing that, there are many hosts that can provide you with a true domain name and suitable web space for your own site for about $50 or $60 per year.

It is well worth that price alone just to have a 'real' site without all that advertising and/or upgrade notices, as I hesitate to participate anywhere that does.

[Ianedres]

Assuming you are using Windows, you can install php and MySQL under that OS. You will need to visit php.net's site (link) for more information.

Just for clarification, it isn't what OS you are using, but rather your web server has PHP available for the scripts, and access to a MySQL database (whether local or remote) for SMF 1.x and TinyPortal.

It is much simpler than I initially thought- but it does require a strict adherence to the instructions throughout the installation, for both the PHP and MySQL.

[G6Cad]

No, it does not, you can use it on windows aswell, there are diffrent sownlods on the site you download from, so choose the one thats for windows, everything in the package are included to get you stated with ease

[laric]

I am hoping for some kind of response from Les as the cpanel backup I got from TPH waqs broken and didn't contain my mysql databases.