Question about forum creation?

[GarrettC]

Hey guys, I hope this question is ok to ask as I'm not setting up any kind of rival forum. I'm in the process of organizing a role-playing forum around a specific plot as opposed to having it based on anything, but I want to be able to allow higher rated writing and every single forum I've found so far has had something in the terms about sexual content not being allowed. I was going to ask what kind of forum you use here so I could maybe look into using the same kind of forum. But then when I signed up there was actually something in the terms here too which amused me.

Anyway I wondered if anyone knew of a decent forum that allowed it? If not I guess I'll just have to make sure no-one finds out and use Invision or something. But I'd rather not break terms and have a load of work wasted if it's deleted.

 

[SweetErika]

This board uses vBulletin software, which requires a (paid) license/fee. There are quite a few free and cheaper forum programs, however. Click me for a comparison. PHPBB is a very popular free one, and it looks like Vanilla has a good amount of support as well.

Sexual content is obviously allowed here, but it can't violate the rules (which are based on US laws pertaining to kiddie porn, explicit photos w/o age verification, etc.).

What subject do you want your forum to focus on? Are you sure you can't get by with topic-specific roleplaying threads in the RP/SRP forums here? Do you have the time and skills necessary to set up, maintain and get people to use your forum?

 

[Ezzy]

You can also run into problems with adult content and some hosts.

Lots of hosts don't want to get caught out, and so their TOS do not allow adult content.

You can host it on servers outside the USA if you want to avoid some of the pitfalls of US legislation, but you'll find that most places have laws to protect minors etc, so you're just changing the laws that are pertinent.

As long as the content etc fits inside the US law, hostgator.com has good TOS, and allows adult content sites.

phpBB is a good freebie forum, write yourself a good disclaimer to go on the registration, monitor the site constantly and delete anything that doesn't fit inside the current law as soon as you can.