Traxio Forum Hub
Everything you need to start and run an SMF forum
Forum hosting, free SMF themes and plain-English guides in one place. The themes and guides are free for everyone, whoever hosts your forum; the hosting is free for your first 30 days, then £0.99 a month.
- Free SMF 2.1 themes
- Free guides
- Hosting: 30 days free, then £0.99/month
From idea to thriving forum
Create your forum
Start forum hosting free for 30 days, on your own domain.
Forum hostingInstall SMF
Simple Machines Forum in a couple of clicks.
Install SMFChoose a Traxio theme
Free SMF 2.1 themes, or any theme you like.
Free SMF themesCustomise your community
Boards, permissions, packages and moderators.
Set up your boardsGrow your forum
Spam control, SEO and inviting members.
Grow with SEO
Free SMF themes
Free to download and use on any SMF 2.1 forum. Using one is optional, and they work on any host.
Forum guides
Installation, customisation, administration, security and growth.
- Forum hostingphpBB, SMF or MyBB on your own domain. 30 days free, then 99p.
- SMF hostingSimple Machines Forum with full admin access.
- Community hostingA permanent home for a club, group or fan community.
- Free SMF themesFree themes for SMF 2.1, for any host.
- Install SMFSoftaculous or manual install, step by step.
- Install an SMF themeUpload, install and set a default theme.
- Packages and modsInstall mods safely, and which kinds to look for.
- Boards and categoriesPlan a board structure that grows with you.
- ModeratorsGlobal and board moderators, and how to choose them.
- PermissionsMembergroups, private boards and post-count groups.
- Forum security and spamStop bot registrations before they start.
- Forum emailMake sure activation and notification emails arrive.
- BackupsBack up files and database, and restore them.
- Moving a forumMove SMF between hosts or domains.
- Forum SEOHelp search engines find your boards.
- Community managementThe routine jobs that keep a forum healthy.
- Choosing forum softwareSMF, phpBB and MyBB compared.
- Compare forum hostsFair comparisons with Forumotion, ProBoards and Create A Forum.
Recommended kinds of SMF packages
SMF 2.1 does a lot out of the box, so start with the built-in features and add packages only when you need them. Every package is another thing to update. These are the kinds most new forums find worthwhile:
- Extra anti-spam: packages that check new registrations against shared spammer databases, on top of SMF’s own verification questions and CAPTCHA.
- SEO helpers: better page titles, meta descriptions and sitemaps for search engines.
- Welcome and onboarding: an automatic welcome topic or message for new members.
- Social sharing: share buttons on topics so members can bring friends in.
Only install packages from the official Simple Machines customisation site or developers you trust, check they support SMF 2.1, and take a backup first. How to install SMF packages safely
What it costs
One hosting service and one price, whatever you build.
The complete hosting service. No card needed to start.
Same hosting, same price at renewal. £11.88 a year.
- 3GB NVMe SSD and 100GB of bandwidth a month
- Your own domain, with free SSL
- DirectAdmin and Softaculous one-click installs
- An email account on your domain
- Daily offsite backups, cron jobs and SSH
- Node.js, Python, WP-CLI and Redis included
No setup fee. No VAT or card fees added (Traxio isn’t VAT-registered). Cancel in the client area whenever you like. Full specification
Create your forum free.
Stay for 99p.
Forum hosting on your own domain, free themes and free guides. First 30 days free, then £0.99 a month.
- £0 today
- No card required
- £0.99/month afterwards
- Cancel anytime