In this article I go over step-by-step what's required to get your forum idea turned into a working web-based forum running on a linux-powered server using the domain name you chose. I have provided a real forum as an example at the end of this article (DIY Electric Car Forums) showing what I set up using the steps provided in this guide so you can see what your end result will be like.

Host your server
First thing's first. To run a web service you need a web server. There are many hosting options available. What you'll want is to search around for a cheap linux hosting provider. A shared server is completely fine so long as they'll set up the things you'll need described later in this article. You'll also need some basic linux sysadmin skills to get things done. Fear not, it's easier than it looks. Here's a good site for basic linux commands to get you started.

Main forum software
Now you need to pick out which bulletin board software you'd like to use. In software terms, a bulletin board is a web forum. There are many free and commercial options available. PhpBB is a popular option for free forum software, but I find it has very limited administration abilities. My personal favorite is vBulletin, which is not free, but has excellent features, great administration and tons of community support for mods and hacks.

Software to support the forum
Most BB software requires a database on the back-end, but this is dependent on which software you choose. vBulletin uses MySQL, which is free. I installed version 4 on my system and all it took was installing the package (this is dependent on which distribution of linux your host is running). Ask your host to install the database for you.

It's often accepted that the web server software to run is Apache. Again, your host will install this. Make sure it has PHP support, and that PHP can connect to MySQL servers. This is all required.

Get your domain name
If you haven't registered a domain name yet, it is now necessary. Use any major domain registrar and get a name that hasn't been taken yet. I've used dotster almost exclusively in the past, although there are many that will work as well. It's good to pick one that is obviously on-topic with what your forum will represent. Ask your hosting provider where to point it to after you've registered it. They should have exact information for you.

Configure your forum
Now it's time to set up your forum. Transfer your files (usually via FTP or SCP) to your server and unzip them into your website-to-be directory. Included should be a file called INSTALL or README. Open that up and follow their directions. They will be concise and you should follow every step carefully. Once you've finished that, go to the administration page and set up your forum. You'll want to specify the name, features, user groups and about 100 other customizable things.

After getting the base forum software set up, you'll need to configure the forums themselves. For whatever topics your forum is for, I recommend starting with less forums rather than more. A bunch of empty forums don't do anyone any good and can confuse your new users. Let the categories grow organically by only adding a new one once a single category is being pulled in multiple directions. You can't always predict how information will be conveyed and while you can try to coerce it into flowing a certain way, it often times will go where users demand it to.

Your forum should be usable. Make sure to watch it for spam bots and malicious users. I recommend reading up about search engine optimization (SEO) to increase relevant traffic to your site.

A good example forum
I wanted to set up a forum for Electric Vehicle (EV) enthusiasts with a specialty in converting existing gas-powered cars to fully electric. I followed all of these steps to set up my latest forum - DIY Electric Car Forums.