Best software/host for club websites?
A frequently-asked query:
Our club wants to build a website with a number of features:
– Blog (I personally like WordPress)
– Forum (e.g., Simple Machines Forum)
– Wiki (I like MediaWiki)
– Calendar of events
– Common access control for members across all of the aboveAre there any software packages or hosting services — free or otherwise — that provide all these features in a reasonably easy to administer and customize fashion? (I tried Ning but it’s too kludgy and constrained.)
Just to be clear: I am familiar with general LAMP hosts (like GoDaddy), so only mention hosts if they provide some exceptional software or integration of the features I’m looking for.
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vBulletin combines single-sign-on with an integrated blog, forum, and calendar.
Check GoDaddy. WordPress and SMF. I don’t know about MediaWiki, but you have MySQL available, so you can install it yourself. Same with a calendar of events – just find a package somewhere.
Common access? That’s something you’d have to set up. SMF doesn’t have hooks into a WordPress login, and vice-versa (although WordPress does have an Active Directory plugin, which is interesting and useful, but not in your current application). GoDaddy is pretty reasonably priced (you can get away with $4.25/month plus the domain name, which can be as little as a couple of bucks a year).
As an experienced webmaster I recommend BH web hosting which I’m sure it would work for you and fulfill all your requirements. They have a really great offer for hosting & I have used them for over 3 yrs now, and have never had a single problem with them.
You can reach reviews about this web hosting provider and its latest DISCOUNT COUPONS at:
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Only $3.95 /month (with discount coupon).
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Another useful link:
http://www.threehosts.com/build
Hope this helps.
I recommend one of these: http://www.tophostingpicks.com
iPage has the best offer right now.
Their standard price is $84/year ($6.95) but they have
a 50% sale, one year of hosting for $42.00.
Their plan includes:
Unlimited disk space
Unlimited bandwidth
Free domain name
Price: $42/year ($3.50)
They have one of the most popular hosting platforms, which currently hosts over a million websites. They’re also one of the oldest hosting companies, founded in 1998.
They include a free point & click online site builder so you can create a website without any programming (easily, just by drag and drop) or you could install WordPress (they include easy, one click install from their control panel), choose a theme that you like, and start adding content.
They also have a great custom control panel with OneClick installs of all the popular software like
Blogs: WordPress, PixelPost, b2evolution
Content Management Systems: Joomla!, Drupal, Mambo, e107
Photo Galleries: Gallery2, Coppermine, ZenPhoto
Forums: Simple Machines Forum, Gbook, phpBB
and a lot more, and you can install anything else yourself, of course.