Hi all,
I don't post on here often as I don't feel I have much to say but I do read every day and enjoy it.
I hope everyone is keeping well in these odd times.
I have a question but some background first. My brother and I have been talking about setting up a forum for some time regarding our hobby which is classic scooters , Vespas, Lambrettas etc. and we would have a Discussion forum and a Technical one, rather like here then.
We want to keep costs down (preferably to nil!) so are looking at some of the free hosting platforms such as freeforums where the GOF is hosted, as many will know. (again I read but haven't joined that forum)
Like all forums we would need a moderator, perhaps more than one. My questions is: when you set up a moderator, do they need any software installed on their laptop or pc, to enable them to the job? Do the moderators here or on GOF or even on HJ (as I know the moderators here were on HJ) need anything specific to be downloaded? I was thinking about Outlook email because I know that the moderators have email functionality but am I right that's internal to the website so Outlook would not need to be installed on the laptop?
Why do I ask this? Well my brother runs a Chromebook (as indeed I do but I also have a Win 10 laptop and pc) so he can't install any software so I'm wondering if I need to get another laptop.
I appreciate that a laptop will be better than a Chromebook and ultimately that's probably what we will do, but if the Chromebook will suffice at least for a few months then that is my preferred choice, as the forum may not take off and be popular so I don't want to spend the money.
My guess is that a Chromebook would be fine for moderating duties but I'm not as knowledgeable as many on here.
Sorry for being a bit long-winded but thank you in anticipation of any views.
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I set up GOF and was admin for a while, and others added as moderator.
Nothing is needed on your client end, its all done on the web, and a chromebook will be sufficient.
All you need is a working email address.
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I moderate here (a hand crafted forum) and also on another forum which is built on www.simplemachines.org/ free software ( - I didn't develop it and don't maintain it so can't advise on that side).
Neither require anything downloaded to moderate, both have web interfaces for moderating. Both use normal mail, software (i.e. internet based). The other site generates no mail at all but this one does occasionally (when people report a post for instance) so I added the account to my Outlook mail on my PC for easy access, and I have it set up on my phone email app, but that isn't essential.
the SMF forum software is quite common. It's (usually) easily recognisable!
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 14 Mar 21 at 09:37
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There already seems to be a number of forums dedicated to old scooters. Why do you think there's a need for another?
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Thank you all for your replies. The last expense I want at the moment is £500 on another laptop - and I'm sure people here may say that's too cheap. It's great to know that it's not needed.
Regarding the comment about 'why another forum'. It's a good question, I'm sure that there are plenty of forums for pretty much everything these days, I stumbled across one earlier about ant-keeping of all things! It's something we have been discussing for quite a long time and with the lockdown it seems a good time to progress it, being more or less stuck indoors and having spare time. It's just an extension of our hobby, not looking to make money or anything, just a bit of fun and see how it goes. If it's a flop then that's fair enough, hence why I don't want to incur any expenses unless trivial.
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Forum moderators' software - Zero
