Ok i have been splitting up my questions in the forum but I dont think I am explaining myself well. Ok my idea is I want to make a website for the stl cardinals which can include forums. The host for it is go daddy.com and i already have a domain name. It is www.stlcardinalsfanssite.com. However I know very little about web hosting and I cannot get my files from my folder on my server which has my home page and exct. Go Daddy.com doesnt alow me to use smart ftp either. Next I know a little about PHP however I am trying to get a forum on www.vbadvanced.com. The forum will cost 35 dollars and I am willing to pay, now it says I have to have Vbulliten to download. Next question what would I need to know if i got the forums and how would I get it up on my site. Another question sorry, I have heard that you need a certain server to have the forums running on. A very kind person on this forum in a thread that I should get Dream Host to use for my forums server. However money is not that big of a deal but I am trying to save, so should I drop www.Godaddy.com and just use dreamhost. Do i lose any money cancleling a domain name for a host. I am probaly stressing most of you out but If you have a chance will you respond to this please. Please feel free to move this thread to the appropiate forum because I didnt know what all these would go under. Thanks so much!

Also one more thing ive heard something about having MySQL Database what is that and is it important for my situtation? thanks

If you cancel your subscribtion with godaddy, Dreamhost offers domain hosting for the same price per year ($10). They also let you use SmartFTP and let you have unlimited databases.

As for message boards, I've used just about every one that is popular... And I have to say, although not advanced at all, I would go with phpBB. If you want to stylize your forum, it's A LOT easier than vBulliten. I had a few troubles with the complexity of vBulliten, YaBB, and Simple Machines when it came to customizing. phpBB is the easiest-- and hopefully within the next month or so their super dooper awesome version will be coming out which will practically match the forums that you need to pay for. I've tried messing around with the customizing of that, which is a little bit more difficult, but it's still FREE... So that's all that matters. :P

I did like vBulliten, but the fact that you need to pay every year to get updates is stupid.

thanks how much are the ones on phpbb, also what do I need to know like i dont really know php yet so do i need to learn it in order to use it.

phpBB is completely free. It always will be. As I said, it's primative compared to the other forums out there, but the next Beta release is supposed to be RC, which means you'll be able to use it in a live environment. At that point, it will be almost as advanced as vBulliten, except it won't cost you a penny.

And you don't really need to know any php. I mean, there's some coding stuff, that once you see it so much, you'll understand what its used for. Generally, if you want to make your own design for phpBB, all you need to do is edit the overallheader.tpl file... Which is x10 easier than vBulliten, because you have to edit 2-3 pages to have the same effect-- and even then it's difficult and doesn't work like it should.

wow that helped thanks, I am having a little trouble downloading it, because I dont know where to download it. Also once its downloaded and everything how to I get it on my page. Do you have any examples of useing phpbb if so could you show me some for a better understanding thanks.

also will people be able to register for it, and also how would I be able to get a chat box on it thanks!

If you get Dreamhost, in the control panel under Goodies, there's a link called "One-click installs". You can just easily set up phpBB that way.

If you do it the long way-- download the FULL PACKAGE phpBB 2.0.22 on the downloads page

http://www.phpbb.com/downloads.php

Once you set up the message board, people will be able to register to post on your forums.

A chatbox would be a little more work and MORE than likely will involve a database query and file changes. http://phpbbhacks.com/ Is the place to go for forum "hacks"-- which are basically additions to your message board to make it do cool stuff.

thanks a lot, if i get phpbb will i be able to embed the forums into my page i can still have my links on the top of the page like lissa's forums. do you have any examples of phpbb on websites please. Thanks

will i need mysqil data base (sorry for spelling error) to use the phpbb forums

Yes, you will need a databse to use phpBB. Not necessarily MySQL, but MySQL is the most common. And yes, you can embed phpBB into your website. Here are some tutorials for it: http://www.google.com/search?q=embedding+phpBB

thanks alot where can i download the data base, does it cost anything?

It usually comes free with most paid hosts.

my host is going to be dream host

Yeah, then the database should be free.

alright thanks a lot! do you have any examples of websites with phpbb?