Do I have to download discourse to host?

Support Self-hosting
1

To use my own Discourse do I have to download and pay for it, or can I just do it directly through github without downloading? If so, how? I really like discourse, so I want to have my own. :grinning_face:

Sorry for bothering you, but I am kinda a noob. :winking_face_with_tongue:

2

You can follow this guide if you are planning to host your own Discourse instance. :smile:

3

Guess not :cry: I have to pay :winking_face_with_tongue:

4

Plus I am on an iPad and would rather not use a computer, so yeah :confused:

5

Yes youโ€™ll need to pay for the Digital Ocean server.

6

:cry::cry::cry:
Is there some way to use github without downloading anything?

7

Wellโ€ฆ the only way I know to not have to download or configure anything is to pay Discourse to host it for you. :wink:

8

:face_with_crossed_out_eyes::face_with_crossed_out_eyes::face_with_crossed_out_eyes:
I DONT HAVE A CREDIT CARD :face_with_crossed_out_eyes::face_with_crossed_out_eyes::face_with_crossed_out_eyes::face_with_crossed_out_eyes:

9

You need to understand the difference between websites:

  • Static Content
    Static content sites are nothing but pure .html files. They donโ€™t change unless someone manually edits the code. This is the kind of website you can host on GitHub, Weebly, or whatever else service you feel like using.

  • Dynamic Content
    Most websites these days are what we call โ€œdynamic.โ€ This means that theyโ€™re always changing what information they show and how they show it based on whatโ€™s going on. These types of websites (usually) have a lot of server-side code that generates this content. Discourse (and most forums, and blogs, and basically almost every other website ever) are a prime example of this.

Discourse is purely dynamic, meaning you canโ€™t host is statically (is that a word?) on GitHub or whatever free HTML platforms exist out there. You need to have your own server.

In addition, Discourse requires a lot more things than your typical blog. Because of Discourseโ€™s complexity and the sheer number of things going on behind the scenes, you need to have your own VPS to run it.

Unless you can find a free VPS (if you do, I wouldnโ€™t trust them as far as I can throw them) or someone figures out how to spin up Discourse instances like they do with WordPress, thereโ€™s no way around paying for a server. Which you usually have to do anyways. DigitalOcean would likely be the cheapest bet, costing at least $5 per month. IIRC, you can try using the promo code DODEPLOY to get a month or two free.

Sorry!

10

:confounded_face: I should just set up a different forum, this is nice, but too expensive.