A Forum Just for Golfing?

[gregsandiego]

3 hours ago, billchao said:

Sounds to me like you had your mind made up before you started this thread.

Just do it 

I agree with that - that you had your mind made up. But in my humble opinion it's overkill.

To organize your own private group of friends you could probably use emails and Google calendar. It's good to ask if technology increases the amount of time spent on a task or reduces it.

[Rainmaker]

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

Most hosting servers come with Softaculous installed on cpanel which provides free or open source software for websites.  On my server I have about 10 different forums I can install and setup free of charge.  I'd think as an IT consultant you'd be familiar with them.  

I'm not sure how this applies to my response?  I said if there were something free I'd use it vs build it and, if I wanted to build something just for the heck of it, I would expect that to be free or almost free as well.  This is true, is it not? 

I don't consult on how to build internet forums . . . why would I know anything about what free forum software comes with hosting servers?  I assume there is some.  

[ZappyAd]

15 hours ago, Grumpter said:

Not a forum such as this one. What I am thinking is more along the lines of creating a private forum just for the people I have played with and plan/hope to play with again. The idea being using the forum to get a group together rather than emails, phone calls and texts which can be quite tedious. I'm the guy who will mostly play anywhere and anytime but always seem to be the one trying to piece the group together when everyone else has certain restrictions (tee off time, location, difficulty of course, cost of course etc.).

So I have been back and forth on the idea of such a forum and wonder if I am just kidding myself that it will drive me as Bat &$%^ crazy as trying to work around everyone else's schedule/restrictions. It wouldn't be that expensive of a lesson if it is a complete failure but go ahead and give me your thoughts. Is it just a waste of time, money and effort?

If you are interested in doing it and think it might help you and your golfing buddies play more golf together then it might not be a waste of time.  It doesn't sound like a very difficult technical problem so the time, money and effort shouldn't be too significant. 

Are there a huge number of people out there who have a burning problem that this thing might solve for them and for which they would be willing to pay?  If you are asking for an opinion then I would say I don't think so because there are so many free alternatives, but who knows.  The first test would be to see if you can even get all your golf buddies to use it.

[Grumpter]

12 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

FWIW - I'm an IT consultant and I advise businesses on how or if to implement custom software.  I would NEVER build something if there was already something that met my needs.  And if it was FREE??  No question.  Now, if you just want to build a forum for some reason - like just for the experience of doing it or something . .then go for it.  Otherwise it makes no sense.  Even if you build something - you should be able to do it pretty close to free . .except, of course, your time. 

That not very expensive part of the lesson is the website hosting not the forum software which is free. As I said there are other benefits for me to have the domain.

Not looking for an App, social media or anything outside of a privately hosted forum on a domain of my choosing. This is not business, it is personal.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Grumpter said:

Not looking for an App, social media or anything outside of a privately hosted forum on a domain of my choosing. This is not business, it is personal.

Then why ask? Seems you know what you want.