I desire info on how to start my own forum

[Super Bleeder!!]

My friends and i have been sharing a common gmail acct for awhile now to trade homeworks, labs, notes, etc with each other in a convenient manner.

I want to take this to the next level and start a really simple forum. Something like this: http://www.drolex.net/student/

I believe i need to buy a domain name and get some hosting. Correct me if im wrong but didnt Enes host the site for awhile?

Any info is much appreciated as i have zero clue about web forums.

[Pushit2.0]

It would be funny if they had a forum that only talked about how to start a forum, Search might find something.

~John

[JET]

Why not just start a Yahoo user group, like MN-dsm? It is free and would probably work fine for you.

[scheides]

I host this site as well as mnmazda.com. Basically you need a working knowledge of how to
-use an ftp server to upload and download files to create a www site
-mysql configuration & setup
-register a domain name
-choose a forum software to use. This site uses vBulletin, there are many others out there. I recommend one called Simple Machines, its free and pretty kick ass.
-after all that, you need to be preparied to maintain the forum. Install updates regularly, maintain your userbase, and basiclaly figure out how to not waste *all* of your time on it

You can either learn how to do all of this yourself, or pay someone else to do the setup stuff and then you handle the rest. If you need help, I know a guy pm me for info.

[Speedfreak]

I'm in this boat. Scheides, could you PM me whatever info I would need to know to start a forum? Like costs, what I need to know, what to look out for, etc? Any info would be appreciated. And for anyone interested, it is not car related at all.