Free Online Forum

[timwhit]

Has anyone ever setup a free online forum before? What sites are legitimate and offer good forum software?

Yahoo offers Yahoo Groups, but I have found these annoying in the past.

I found several sites that claim to host phpBB forums for free, with minimal adversiting. Such as this or this.

Another stipulation is that it has to be private, both to read and post.

Any advice is welcome. I know I could host something on my personal site, but I would rather not as it's not for me and I don't want to have to do any administration.

 

[timwhit]

There is also Google Groups, which might be a good option. Opinions?

 

[Mercutio]

A google group is just a newsgroup.
Pretty sure about that one.

I visit a couple forums on proboards.com. They use phpBB and other than having god-awful custom graphics they seem to work OK.

 

[timwhit]

It looks like there is a way to make a Google Group private though. Would this not accomplish the same thing as a private forum?

 

[timwhit]

No one has set up a Yahoo or Google group before?

If not, I will probably go with Merc's suggestion, or with one of the other free phpBB forums.

 

[Adcadet]

My wife set up a Yahoo group, but that was at least 6 years ago. She's been happy enough with it. I'm not sure how's she's using it or if it will do what you want.

I set up something through ProBoards (I think) 4 years ago, and it was so-so. It worked for the low-volume we had. The ads were annoying.