There are a number of posts asking about creating their own forum etc., so here are my top tips. I can't actually include code because there are so many different programming languages you could use.

If you get stuck, post a question in the forum. But rememeber, HAVE FUN!

1) Think! Do you need a forum which has its own special features and functions? If you do, read on. If you don't see Lissa's post stuck to the top of this forum which will tell you where to find a free one.

2) Plan, Plan and Plan! The First thing you need to do now is to decide which language you are going to use. PHP, ASP or CGI etc. However, before you make that decision, find out what your host supports. Do they support databases in one form or another? (Databases are crucial. If your host doesn't support one and you desperately need a forum, change host.) Generally with ASP, you would use an Access database, and with PHP, you would use MySQL. REMEMBER: Choose a language you know well and like - there will be bugs in your code and you will need to know how to fix them.

3) Sit down with a pencil and some paper and decide on the features you want. There is a huge list of possibles. Some of them are:

Will there be Support for multiple forums?;
Will there be Private Messaging?;
How will the posts look?;
Will each user have a title and avatar - will the title by change dynamically as the users post count goes up?;
What moderation functions will available?;
Will there be an Administrator Control Panel?;

If in doubt, look at this forum or download another and go through it picking out the features!

4) Think about your database. How many tables will there be? What fields will you have? What information will the fields hold? Which pages will have to communicate with which fields?

5) Build your database in the correct format. (Sounds simple but isn't!)

6) Start to build the pages. For this step, just build the static bits and put a placeholder where information created dynamically or taken from the database will be. i.e. When the users title is to be displayed, just type Title Placeholder. Don't forget that if you are having an Admin Control Panel which will allow you to change the colours, don't put the colours into the raw HTML, we will do the dynamic bits later.

7) Go through all your pages in turn. Is everything in the right place? Is it easy to see all the information necessary. Do the links work? Is the HTML all correct? This is VERY important - if you find bugs later and you know that your HTML is good, then that rules out one possible problem and you won't have to go through it to see if there are errors.

8) Now start to think about putting the dynamic information in one step at a time.

TOP TIP: Create a file which connects to the database (i.e. connect.asp). In every other page, just reference to this connect page (in php use the include() function). Now, you don't have to connect to the database in each page because referencing the connect page will do this for you. If you change the location or security of your database you only have to update the changes in the connect file - a great time saver!

Once you have followed the top tip, go through each of the pages replacing the placeholders with the dynamic information.

9) Go through your code and check for errors. Remember, you know that any bugs are in your database or your code for the database and not the HTML - this really reduces your debugging time doesn't it?

10) Upload and View. Try to do everything that a user could do. If it doesn't work, go back to that page's source code and go though it - change it until it works.

You should now have a great forum! All you have to do is get the users to visit it! Any problems, just post them in the 'Advanced Programming' forum.

I hope this will enlighten some people!