That's the short of it. My adventures in webdesign are a couple of years in the past and then I was responsible for a university homepage that already had a host.
So, what would be a good host for forums? Does not have to be the cheapest, but should be reliable. I am in Germany, but I think a US or other foreign host would be preferrable, since that would help with some of the strict legal issues that could arise in Germany if stupid bullshit is not deleted soon enough.
And what is the forum software of choice? I like Vanilla, but that is way too expensive for what my friends have in mind at the monent. Is Simple Machines good? Or are there any paid forum softwares that do not expect you to spend triple digits right away and are still good?
I have not dealt with stuff like that in years, I am fairly confident I can get into most halfway userfriendly software to set something up, but I do not want to recommend something that ends up being too restrictive or unsecure.
Posts
Remember, once you start up a forum, you have to keep on top of it. Bots are trawling for forums to spam 24/7. And hackers love to fuck with forums. It’s not like a Wordpress site where you can just set a strong password, update quarterly, and be ok. That’s why people pay so much for Vanilla.
I think it would be a better(read less expensive) idea to keep software and hosting seperate for now. I tend towards Burning Board software, but what would be a good host?
We offer migrations, but if you're coming to us from some forum we've never heard of, it will cost you money while we create a new import script. Best bet if you plan to come over eventually is a) use Vanilla Open Source, its the easiest migration path or b) use a well known product like www.phpbb.com, www.vbulletin.com, www.invisionpower.com, www.simplemachines.org, etc.
TL;DR - give the Vanilla Open Source version a look (new version, 2.1, coming out in April). It's not quite as feature rich or as polished as the hosted product, but its zero dollars. Otherwise, use a reputable brand to ensure a hassle free migration later.
And to be honest I have a hard time telling how many users could be active with the smallest package you offer, it says 150k pageviews, but I have no experience in judging how long that would last on an active forum.
Good news, you're a pretty good representative for the company. I know in the past if I deal with any technical or sales contact they're always a fuckoff and pass the buck on to someone else. Well, sales if you're buying someone and being angry about failed promises.