[WildKat]

Yahoo has a VERY VERY easy template to use on Geocities that even the most beginner of beginners can figure out. Hosting fees are pretty cheap too and you can elect not to have all the stupid banners that basic geocities accounts have too so it looks more professional.

You can link to your message board from the start page and then from there its a piece a cake.

[Mojoe]

Yahoo has a VERY VERY easy template to use on Geocities that even the most beginner of beginners can figure out. Hosting fees are pretty cheap too and you can elect not to have all the stupid banners that basic geocities accounts have too so it looks more professional.

You can link to your message board from the start page and then from there its a piece a cake.

well that is a concern. the banner stuff. i do not want ANYTHING on the site that I didn't put there myself, or authorize a member to put there. no ads for viagra, no ads for cheap phone rates...nothing.
Plus I want my own domain name...something easy to remember.
if a member wants to access the site from some other place than home, where his favorites are, I don't want him or her have to remember

https://www.whateverwhatever/yahoo/motosportestrie/geocities/yahoo/whatever.wtf

know what I mean?

[WildKat]

yeah.. basic geocities or aol pages or google pages have urls like www.geocities.com/username or googlepages.google.com/username or something and they have banners and ads everywhere. when you pay to actually host a site there, you can pick your own domain name and call it whatever you want assuming its available for purchase and not already taken. so you can have MotoSportEstrie.com more than likely; or whatever you want to call it.

The other option is to have someone create a start page for you and then you can link your forum to it. If you do want to make it yourself and since you have limited knowledge in web page design, making a using a template and tools provided by yahoo for example is a good way to start out. you can always change and upgrade as you grow. the main thing is u'll want a forum so you can keep all your information centralized instead of spread out over tons of different pages on a website where ur clicking on this link to go here to see this, then back to go there to see something else.. way too much of a pain in the arse if u ask me. A basic start page and a forum will get you off the ground and running and then you can add and do as much as you want as time goes on.

just my .02 on it

[steves]

My friend uses http://www.ace-host.net/ hosting for his website. It comes with pretty much idiot proof site building tools that will setup PHP Nuke (which runs the website) and PHP BB (for the forums).

I think he pays like $80 for the year and gets all pretty decent stuff from the package.

[meanstrk]

Mojoe,
I am sure you aware of the many, MANY localized sites such as rocketmadness.com (southern Louisiana), Burntheedge.com (southern Cali), etc.......

All you need is the forum software, a place to host it, and a little bit of knowledge. Run a time program to deactive inactive accounts and that weeds out inactive members. Have it to where members must log in for ride meets sections as well so it's not public knowledge.

It's not hard. Just takes some learnin!

[Mojoe]

thanks all you guys. and thanks ron. i was in fact NOT aware of these sites you mentioned. like I said...none around here and i never felt a need to visit clubs that are 100's, even 1000's of miles away. KR is the ONLY site I use....or even visit.
A forum is a must, I believe, and those sites give me an idea what it would be like.
One thing I do like about KR...this forum has a great look. It is clean looking. I went to rocketmadness, and my impression was that it just smacked me in the face too boldly. it is hard to explain.....all I can say is that this site is much more "attractive" in the sense that it is simple and clean looking. it's subtle...and i like subtle....even tho I am far from subtle...lol.

[bobs]

Look at the offerings from services like http://godaddy.com. My hosting is at http://savinghosting.com. They have phpBB (like used here) already installed, ready to build your own forums like this one. They also provide shopping carts, chat rooms, calendars, databases, all the underlying technology is there, already installed and maintained. You just need to upload your own graphics, select the phpBB color theme, and you're on your way.

Since you're not comfortable with the technology, I suggest you continue using your existing methods to meet with other local motorcyclists. When you get to a rest stop, talk up your idea, and mention you need help building a local website. You'll probably find at least one of them is a closet geek with the skills you need to back up your vision. As they're working on it, have them show you how it's done, so you won't be left high-and-dry if something happens to them.

[Kanati]

Watch starting a motorcycle club or you might have to race Smoke on a dirt road for street cred...