We want to start a local community forum where people can post and search for local services etc.
We are not looking forward to create a new website. instead it will be a forum or group within a provider's website.
Is there a good website that supports such group creation with search features etc.?
Any suggestion would be helpful.

http://www.vbulletin.com/ - forum software
http://www.joomla.org/core-features.html - content management system
http://phpnuke.org/ phpnuke with forum module
you can host software with 1and1 or godaddy

or you can singup with http://www.phpbbweb.com/ or http://www.forumer.com

yahoo groups?

If you don't want to host it yourself, Yahoo or Google Groups should do it. If you are looking to host a forum on your own server there are a number of choices mentioned by dude2000 but I like PHPBB.

http://www.vbulletin.com/ - forum software
http://www.joomla.org/core-features.html - content management system
http://phpnuke.org/ phpnuke with forum module
you can host software with 1and1 or godaddy

or you can singup with http://www.phpbbweb.com/ or http://www.forumer.com

awesome collection dude2000. repped

by the way, we also have plans to add classifieds section in our website. Would joomla work for that ? is there any other suggestion?

thanks everyone for the help

joomla and other have a lot of addons / extensions (some free some not) in a nutshell you are getting an engine for free with some functionality but you need to pay for some addons.
for classifieds http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/ads-a-affiliates/classified-ads
main link for all joomla extensions : http://extensions.joomla.org/
you just need to research modules / addons

I recommend you use phpBB as its free and has a good community (for support).
Also you can get free webhosting nowadays.. All you'd need would probably be to secure a domain name. Or if you're cool with a .TK or .CC domain name. That's entirely free! :)

If you need more info about free webhosting, you could PM me. I'd be glad to help out!

I wouldn't recommend you go with Joomla if you're quite new to building websites. It can easily turn out to be a pain to configure for new users..

I prefer Invision boards. They also have free hosting for their software at www.invisionfree.com

thanks guys. I like both phpbb & invision for their simplicity and support. However I am not able to get an answer for one our specific needs

We need to have a group calender where volunteers can add entries and modify their own entries. However they can only read other entries but should not be editing it.

Any suggestions on which forum provider would solve this specific purpose?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Invision does that, but I don't know if their free version does or not. It has a built-in calendar that is user editable for events and everyone can see it, just as you want.

If you have a webhost for your site, chances are they have a forum you can add already. It's usually listed under C-Panel....

has anybody used wikidot.com ? curious to know if wikidot is better than invisionfree or phpBB

never heard of wikidot.com. Go for the invisionfree, if you don't like it, delete it. After all, ITS FREE :D

I prefer Invision boards. They also have free hosting for their software at www.invisionfree.com

IIRC, they use version 1.x which is outdated and there is no support for it.

Also, I don't think they allow you to take back up of your database so when you want to move to your own webserver you are practically going to loose everything :P

Purchase basic hosting package..

http://www.invisionpower.com/hosting/select_package.php

Comes with hosting + forums software.. Then by classified addon for your members and install it and you are good to go.

If you like it purchase full software and host it on your web server.

Facebook lets you save everything in your account & download it :-)

Facebook lets you save everything in your account & download it :-)
Does facebook have forum option? or are you referring to facebook groups?

Does facebook have forum option? or are you referring to facebook groups?

I think they have 'discussion' option. But it's not worth it because search is horrible under 'discussion'.

Does facebook have forum option? or are you referring to facebook groups?

Yes, groups works fine for a forum for some.