Going to ask here as This is the site where i get the most sense and least abuse.
How do they work.?
if I have a forum and a chat room say, do they share the same data base for log in names.
If I have several forums and I want one person to join all forums at the same time can i do that and if so is it by just using one my sql data base.
I've been recomended web-mania or 1and1 hosting but web mania is only one mysql, so basically what restrictions does that put on 6 forums?

Its not straight forward to answer Mad, but I will try.

First things first, 1and1 - I would recommend them, Will on the other hand would not. If you do decide to go with them, I have an affiliate link which earns me a bit of commission for recommending them. That said, I wouldn't recommend them if they were rubbish.

2nd, many hosts will not allow chat channels via mysql as the load is too great. They will either say no straight off (as 1and1 do) or they will let you run it, before pulling the plug without warning when it puts too great a load on their myqsql server.

3rd, forum licenses. To run 6 forums with different VISIBLE content requires 6 licesnses (even if they are on the same db, but with masked forums for each URL). You may also get cookie issues with the login as each URL will require a different cookie.

4th, in the scenario you quote, they would use the same database for the login, but the chat would have its own tables within the db.

5th not sure about the legality or etheics of joining a person to 6 seperate forums in 1 go - they may not want to and may see it as a breach of their privacy.

In my experience, it wouldn't work in terms of its cost or practicality and once one forum gets popular, you are going to be into bandwidth issues.

....other than that, its a good idea - lol

I'm sure someone has asked this on VBulletin.com before, go their community forums and ask on the pre-sales forum. If they can't answer they will probably point you to Vbulletin.org, which has many hacks, one of which may be what you're looking for.

Op is right, I wouldn't recommend 1and1 to my worst enemy. Do a search on vbulletin.com, and you'll find most other people wouldn't either.

Thats assuming he wants a vb forum, but yes they are good places to research.

No I only want one v bulletin forum, the rest will be open source.
The wap chat site I used to go on wapoc is on 1and1 and I don't think they have any problems it's forum and chat.

Is the chat on this site using mysql?

I don't see as web mania are suitable with only one mysql then

back to small orange, what's thier rules on chat ?

If you want all your forums to link up, I'm almost 100% sure they'll need to be on the same database, so you'd need the same forum software.

1and1 are fine if:
- You don't mind limitations of your forum size.
- You don't mind limitations on how many emails you can send.
- You don't mind limitations on how many databases you can have, and how you are allowed to use them.
- You don't mind limitations on how many database users you want.
-etc.

Basically, if you don't mind limitations on absolutely everything, 1and1 are great.

As far as I know ASO have no rules on chat, they have no limits on anything apart from the bandwidth and server space. There's probably better out there, but after using 5 different hosts, I haven't found one.

They will need to be the same software to link up as the tables will have a different structure for each forum software.

Lets however clear a few myths on 1and1 - although it should be said now, Will and I will disagree on this all night.

for forum size: you are given a 100mb database, enough for anyones books, except if you use it to store pictures - which actally is not recommended by anyone.

160 members, 3,500 threads, 18,700 posts, heavily modded and with chat listings = still below 20mb

email: they have anti spam measures that prevent you sending an email to more than 100 recipients. You just send it twice with 99 recipients each time. No hassle, easy to do in Vb and good practice anyway (we have the same on our email servers at work as it helps admins detect mass mailing worms).

The number of databases is limited by the type of package. Thier 3 main packages are 2, 8 or 15 databases.

They impose the following restrictions, which do work well on a shared host environment. Please note that the MySQL database may not under any circumstances be used for log evaluation operations (e.g., ivw), ad clicks, chat systems, banner rotations, or similar applications putting extreme loads on the database.

ASO are good, but they are non UK, when the transatlantic lines bottleneck thay can be a little slow. I have considered them very seroiusly on more than one occasion, especially when I was toying with the idea of VS, but now 1and1 offer that too.

lol you two make me smile.
Funny how i've ended up shortlisting the two though, I can't be going that wrong.
I know I asked some of this months back but I'm still dithering, maybe my taurus traits.
The 1and1 site says one mysql database not two though. Or am I mixed up again.

Comparison chart for shared hosting

1&1 Internet Ltd. - Hosting - Comparison Chart

Been getting this site could not be found for the last 5 minutes which is what puts me off aso.
So if I've got 6 sites I need 6 databases 1 or 2 vbulltin the rest open source. two won't go anywhere tbh so I may as well scrap them.
For 8 databases it's 17.61 a month on 1and1
A small package on aso is $5 a month

with 6 sites bandwidth will be your issue if they are decent enough. the 8 db package comes with 100gb bandwidth for a reason......

Na, they're very quite really. Im thinking of scrapping the tamworth one. how much would this site take?
whats aso biggest package $30 work out as in pounds? would it be about 20?

google the following

30 usd to gbp

clever stuff, thanks.
Aso still looks the best to me but I get the connection was refused to warwickshire online stil at least once a day for a few minutes at a time. same on other vbulletin forums that are on aso.

Like I said before they will also slow up with the x atlantic stream gets tied up. Interesting that you have noticed this across other forums, so its not a case of anyone making this up.

It's annoying cos nobody else seems to get it, all other sites on my pc will refresh apart from sites like this and blackpool web, both on aso, sometimes both at the same time but not always. I click refresh and firefox throws that error box at me, could not conmnect to http://www.warwickshireonline.com or whatever it says.
I've asked on aso forums and got blanked. They've got other customers that have only been on aso a few days answering like they've been on it for years and know everything.
Asked about the % of up time and I think it's low, I expect 99%+ and they say I'm being unrealistic. The way I worked it out from their charts, theres more than 24 in a month down time. Thats not acceptable to me.
If thats a new visitor looking at the site, they'd give up and go elsewhere.
If I'm wrong please tell me .