Hartley Consultants

Setting Up and Running Community Forums

Introduction

Do you want to create an online community? Hartley Consultants have considerable experience of setting up and running Community Forums based around Simple Machines Forum (SMF) forum software. This state of the art application enables vibrant on line communities to florish, whether the members all know each other locally or are a group of people who have come together from around the world.

We have packaged the services in three easy to undertand ways. This does not mean this is the only service on offer, so if one of these three packages in not quite what you would like, feel free to discuss it with us, so that we can put together something that more precisely matches your needs

The Onyx Package

This package is designed for new communities just starting out who would like to set up and try the forum. It is designed to provide an entry level forum for the typical number of users that a local club or organisation would need, with a small degree of customisation so that is uniquely theirs.

Specifically it includes the following services:-

1. Provision of a shared hosting environment together with support for up to 15¹ simultaneous on line users for a period of 2 years². This assume you already have a domain name you wish to use. Please ask for a quote to provide one if you don't already have one.
2. Weekly backups of the forum database the attachment files and the text of the user agreement, and re-instatement of the forum in the event of a computer failure
3. Maintenance of the software to the latest release³
4. Initial set up of forum with Hartley Consultants staff as one of the forum administrators
5. Help with explaining the concepts and operation of the administration aspects of the forum to a nominated member of the new community
6. Installation of one of the custom themes from the Simple Machines Custom Themes list
7. Installation of the Google Analytics modification to collect statistics on forum usage

Footnotes:

1. SMF measures the number of simulatenous users online and reports the maximum for each day. If in any one calendar month the forum statistics show more than one day with this number exceeded, then additional hosting fees will apply from the start of the next calendar month after the one in which the numbers exceeded until a full calendar month has passed in which the daily maximum did not exceed the limit. If this looks like a long term increase it will be beneficial to both parties to discuss alternative long term hosting options which should cost less
2. The length of hosting is measured in whole calendar months, starting from the earliest of:-
   • The month after the month in which the order is received, or
   • the month when the forum opens for use by members other than the forum administrator
3. There will be mutual agreement as to when the best time to update to a new release should take place to minimise disruption to what will be, by then, a production site.

The Emerald Package

The Emerald Package builds on the basic forum provided the Onyx Package, adding to it the ability to define your own bespoke theme. Hartley Consultants will build that theme for you. The approach to defining the theme will consist of the following steps:-

1. We will have an initial consultation with you, either with a face to face meeting or via e-mail (for locations not close to our headquarters) to understand what you wish to achieve¹. It is at this stage we will ask you to provide digital versions of any logo's or other images you wish to use
2. We will produce a prototype version of the forum using this new theme and submit it to you for approval, or to indicate changes
3. We will produce a second prototype for you to comment on once again
4. We will produce the final version of the theme. Changes will still be possible, but they will be at additional cost.

Footnotes:

1. Whilst the price quoted above should meet the majority of your requests, we reserve the right to offer an alternative quote if, after discussion with you, we believe the requirements are particularly difficult to achieve

The Diamond Package

The Diamond Package builds upon the Emerald Package by increasing the number of sumultaneous users allowed (as defined above) before additional hosting fees to 45. We believe that this will give considerable flexibility to increase the size of the community before requiring more specialise attention to performance. It is obviously difficult to judge exactly what this limit implies, but as an example of another forum which has approximately 650 members and has been running for over 3 years, Melinda's Backups has only exceeded that figure for one day in the entire 3 years.

If you wish to run a forum with an even greater numbers of simultaneous users, then lets discuss it further. It is at this stage we would consider a wider range of hosting options to ensure that your forum performs flawlessly