setting up a guild website?

dogwatch · June 16, 2008, 12:03 PM

I need to set up a guild website for my wifes new guild. I've got a ton of experience in developing sites but I want to keep this project real simple.

Things I need are a forum and it would be great if I could just modify a templete so I don't need to spend a huge amount of time setting up all the pages and navigation. Want to keep things on the ultra cheap of course.

Any suggestions how to get started?

Absalom · June 16, 2008, 12:09 PM

While we don't have "forums" per say.. My guild uses google groups to keep it really simple. You could look at that if you don't find anything else.

lando87 · June 16, 2008, 12:30 PM

GuildPortal makes it real ez to setup and maintiain a guild page. has its own forums as well.

Absalom · June 16, 2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

GuildPortal makes it real ez to setup and maintain a guild page. has its own forums as well.

Interesting, but slightly pricey for smaller guilds.

*Akasha* · June 16, 2008, 04:46 PM

I thought GuildPortal was free?

wankerpants · June 16, 2008, 05:16 PM

Question - Do you already have a hosting service? If you do then I would recommend phpBB2 for the forums, It's easy to install and setup, and you can find many templates for it, lots of which are wow oriented. Here is a link to an example I had set up a while ago, but just never used. wankerpants.kicks-***.net :: Index

If you are looking for something that uses a portal, a news site with links to the site and other functions, that can be a little more complicated, but should still be relatively easy to set up. here is a link to a guild site using a portal
Cohors Praetoria Portal

That site runs "phpBB3" and "phpBB3 Portal". I'm not sure how many templates are around for it, its somewhat new, less than 6 months to a year old.

I personally don't like guildportal but thats just me.
My guild just uses a weekly post for raid signups and such, so you don't really need anything hardcore, if the people want to play they will sign up and show up. We also don't have a portal or anything, just a forums we use. We don't really see the need for anything more.

Hope this helps.

Absalom · June 16, 2008, 05:43 PM

Quote:

I thought GuildPortal was free?

Unless I missed read something.. the page on pricing was talking about $30 to get the starting package.

The_Torch · June 16, 2008, 06:27 PM

HI!

I have extensive experience doing just this sort of thing.

First, let me clarify how Guild Portal works. They offer, basically, 2 types of service: Free and paid. If you want to use Guild Portal for free they will insert banner adds into your site (yeck!). Additionally, they will limit the number of posts in your forums (forcing you to delete old posts so people can add new stuff), they limit your calendar entries (once again forcing you to delete old entries so people can add new stuff), and worst of all, they do not redirect to your guild's site. Meaning that guildmates will first have to go to Guild Portal's main page and from there they can go to your guild's site. No way around any of these things unless you pay, which makes all of these problems go away.

Forget generating all the HTML necessary for a guild website. That's way too time consuming. Go with a Content Management System (CMS) like PHPNuke, PostNuke, Joomla, Xoops!, and there are many many others. Basically, they all utilize a MySQL database backend and on the front end use PHP to query the database and present the data using HTML. Very slick stuff.

Regardless of the CMS you choose, administration is dead simple. Simply login to the Administrator page and you're presented with a GUI that allows you to make all the changes you might need. Your wife might need your help to add new features but manipulating them once they've been added is dead simple.

Oh, BTW, most of the popular CMS packages have a forum installed as part of the initial install.

And Wankerpants makes an excellent point: You'll need to have a hosting service. Guild Portal can do this or you can select a cheaper alternative (saves money over Guild Portal in the long run) and then install your CMS with them. Either way, CMS is THE way to go.

dogwatch · June 16, 2008, 06:56 PM

I'm going with the paid service. There are some good ones out there with premade templates.

I was actually thinking about doing this site as sort of Anniverary gift to my wife who is really into WoW.. "here honey I have lovingly built you this spankingly awesome new website and forum" while LOL maybe I ony dishing out 10-20 bucks a month to have this.

She doesn't have to know I didn't have to slave for days and days setting the whole thing up.

June 16, 2008, 12:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
dogwatch Member Character Info Phearcat 70 Human Warlock Crushridge US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/45/10	setting up a guild website? I need to set up a guild website for my wifes new guild. I've got a ton of experience in developing sites but I want to keep this project real simple. Things I need are a forum and it would be great if I could just modify a templete so I don't need to spend a huge amount of time setting up all the pages and navigation. Want to keep things on the ultra cheap of course. Any suggestions how to get started?

June 16, 2008, 12:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
Absalom Destruction Warlock Character Info Lavath 70 Blood Elf Warlock Shadow Council US RP Guild: Syk Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/14/47	Re: setting up a guild website? While we don't have "forums" per say.. My guild uses google groups to keep it really simple. You could look at that if you don't find anything else.

June 16, 2008, 12:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
lando87 Lurker Character Info Naoko 70 Human Warlock Lightbringer US PvE Guild: Glory Bound Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 44/6/11	Re: setting up a guild website? GuildPortal makes it real ez to setup and maintiain a guild page. has its own forums as well.

June 16, 2008, 05:16 PM	#6 (permalink)
wankerpants Lurker Character Info dontbanme 70 Gnome Warlock Lightbringer US PvE Guild: Dark Legacy Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: setting up a guild website? Question - Do you already have a hosting service? If you do then I would recommend phpBB2 for the forums, It's easy to install and setup, and you can find many templates for it, lots of which are wow oriented. Here is a link to an example I had set up a while ago, but just never used. wankerpants.kicks-***.net :: Index If you are looking for something that uses a portal, a news site with links to the site and other functions, that can be a little more complicated, but should still be relatively easy to set up. here is a link to a guild site using a portal Cohors Praetoria Portal That site runs "phpBB3" and "phpBB3 Portal". I'm not sure how many templates are around for it, its somewhat new, less than 6 months to a year old. I personally don't like guildportal but thats just me. My guild just uses a weekly post for raid signups and such, so you don't really need anything hardcore, if the people want to play they will sign up and show up. We also don't have a portal or anything, just a forums we use. We don't really see the need for anything more. Hope this helps.

June 16, 2008, 06:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
The_Torch Lurker	Re: setting up a guild website? HI! I have extensive experience doing just this sort of thing. First, let me clarify how Guild Portal works. They offer, basically, 2 types of service: Free and paid. If you want to use Guild Portal for free they will insert banner adds into your site (yeck!). Additionally, they will limit the number of posts in your forums (forcing you to delete old posts so people can add new stuff), they limit your calendar entries (once again forcing you to delete old entries so people can add new stuff), and worst of all, they do not redirect to your guild's site. Meaning that guildmates will first have to go to Guild Portal's main page and from there they can go to your guild's site. No way around any of these things unless you pay, which makes all of these problems go away. Forget generating all the HTML necessary for a guild website. That's way too time consuming. Go with a Content Management System (CMS) like PHPNuke, PostNuke, Joomla, Xoops!, and there are many many others. Basically, they all utilize a MySQL database backend and on the front end use PHP to query the database and present the data using HTML. Very slick stuff. Regardless of the CMS you choose, administration is dead simple. Simply login to the Administrator page and you're presented with a GUI that allows you to make all the changes you might need. Your wife might need your help to add new features but manipulating them once they've been added is dead simple. Oh, BTW, most of the popular CMS packages have a forum installed as part of the initial install. And Wankerpants makes an excellent point: You'll need to have a hosting service. Guild Portal can do this or you can select a cheaper alternative (saves money over Guild Portal in the long run) and then install your CMS with them. Either way, CMS is THE way to go.

June 16, 2008, 04:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Akasha	Re: setting up a guild website? I thought GuildPortal was free?

June 16, 2008, 06:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
dogwatch Member Character Info Phearcat 70 Human Warlock Crushridge US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/45/10	Re: setting up a guild website? I'm going with the paid service. There are some good ones out there with premade templates. I was actually thinking about doing this site as sort of Anniverary gift to my wife who is really into WoW.. "here honey I have lovingly built you this spankingly awesome new website and forum" while LOL maybe I ony dishing out 10-20 bucks a month to have this. She doesn't have to know I didn't have to slave for days and days setting the whole thing up.