BleepingComputer.com: Suggestions Please

Hi! I came across this site and was hoping some one here may have some suggestions.

I'm wanting to make something like a forum or website for my duaghter and her friends. These girls are around 8 yrs old and I'm looking for some way for them to be able to be in contact this summer...maybe post messages as to what they've been up to and hopefully pics of summer adventures. I would like to have something where we (the parents) can monitor them and approve who has access to the site.

I'm not sure whether it would be safer to use a free or pay 4 use site. Whatever is going to be safest for these kids.

Any suggestions/ ideas are greatly appreciated

IMO, a forum could be much better off than creating a website. As there are free to use forum such as phpBB, what you need is just Apache + PHP + mySQL. And all these can be found in a package called xampp.

Download xampp and install, next, download phpBB (Download the stable version) and install. Now you have a forum where the girls will just have to register in the forum and use. They are able to do what you are doing now. Register, post topic, post reply and everything.

Now you have setup xampp and installed phpBB, next you will need to host your forum onto the net so that the girls will be able to access to your forum. No-IP would be the best solution imo. You will need to register with No-IP, download No-IP. The No-IP program is for you to update your IP address with the server each time your IP changes. So that the free domain that you chose would be able to access. Read more in the website.

The above are all free as I said. Just my 2 cent suggestions. If you only want this forum to last for the summer, then I feel that it isn't worth it to pay for it if you are only using it temporary. The only down side I feel is that you might need to run your computer 24/7 so that at any point of time, the girls are able to visit the forum.

Cheers,
Nikas

Just a addons.. If you are using my suggestion above, OR you are going to get a paid for service. You can be the administrator of the forum and you'll have lots of things that you can change/edit/restrict etc..

I guess one question is - how much time and effort are you prepared to put in?

You can find free software for forums or blogs, and if you can install it on your website you'll be able to develope something that will work for you.

Some Hosting companies provide pre-configured packages, such as Go-Daddy's blog hosting h e r e, that would do all the work for you, although you will have to pay a monthly fee.

I would like to use the safest thing for the girls.

This probably will not be just for summer....cuz one of the girls have moved (so we'd like to keep in contact with her this way cuz we're always on the go and they may not be able to catch each other at home to use the phone), another girl may be moving (depending on where her stepdad gets a job...she may end up a few hours away)

I don't mind putting in time for this since it is for the kids.

yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of a forum...but just wasn't sure which would be best and easiest for the kids to use, and didn't know if a website would be better for that or just a forum.

I would prefer a free forum but if its safer and better/easier for the girls then I would pay.