Easiest way to create a basic forum?

[2A Batterie]

I'm currently involved in project with about 45 other people nationwide who execute the same event in different markets. All of our email inboxes are becoming flooded with overwhelming amounts of messages from each other, some of them trivial. In order to save time and hassle, and also to score a few brownie points, I'd like to create a simple forum that is private to the members (my team of 45) that I accept. EVERYONE on the team uses PC and EVERYONE uses Hotmail as well. Is there a simple way to create a forum and moderate it for a small group? I mainly am a music person, so I'm not quite sure how to go about this. Would it be possible to create a group within Hotmail? I know there are a ton of new features in Hotmail, I just have stuck with my .mac for a long time! Thanks!

 

[mufflon]

well you should prolly go with one of the more standard (for instance) php forums available, which will have nice and easy administration with plenty of tutorials on the web... ... phpnuke is nice http://phpnuke.org/, but you will need a server (a host) where you can configure this, with a nice domain if you don't have a url

 

[zimv20]

for free/php forums, i like SMF. but yeah, you will need a domain name and hosting agreement. such things are quite inexpensive, fyi.

 

[Mac In School]

+1 for SimpleMachines. That's what I run Nascardiac on. I also have a very busy install of vBulletin, and a good working Invision board. Honestly, VB is my least favorite of the 3. I dig the gallery and blog add-ons that IPB has. That's more than you need to know for you needs, though.

If you're comfortable installing it, a free download of SimpleMachines, and a cheap HostGator.com hosting account should get you going just fine.

Avoid phpBB like the plague that it is.

 

[zimv20]

If you're comfortable installing it, a free download of SimpleMachines, and a cheap HostGator.com hosting account should get you going just fine.

Avoid phpBB like the plague that it is.

agreed: hostgator = good, phpBB = bad.