write a reply

Better for beginner staff: proboards or jcink?

aliasSel, sella!
pronounsAny!
32written posts
capsellaearned bits
offlinecurrently
capsella
New Member
capsella Avatar
Hi! Sorry if I’m a little crusty typing this! It’s been a little while.

I’m interested in setting up a public site (and have been checking out some of the tutorials here!), but I had a quick question to get myself started.

I haven’t done proper admin work for a site since the webs.com forum era (showing my age), and was curious as to, between proboards and jcink, which forum hosts might be easier to set up a beginner site on. I’m definitely not trying to code a masterpiece of a skin and add a ton of different toggles right away, but I’d like to try and create a nice base to log some basic stuff (rules, a couple bits of worldbuilding I’m still working on, etc.)!

I know it might not be a big difference/too complicated to pick just one, so I might be asking into the void, but I wanted to see if anyone had advice.
I'm @capsellas on discord! Feel free to reach out of you need anything.
aliasantiviral
pronounsHe/Him
235written posts
Beetleearned bits
offlinecurrently
Beetle
Full Member
Beetle Avatar
My suggestion is to create a test site on both hosts and see which one you vibe with the most. On the back end, they have drastically different admin panels. I personally find Jcink's easier to navigate, but it might be different for you. Regardless of which you choose, having a test site is super helpful for getting a feel for the controls without worrying about fucking up a "live" site.

Solar Waltz, an 18+ panfandom set in NYC
aliasSel, sella!
pronounsAny!
32written posts
capsellaearned bits
offlinecurrently
capsella
New Member
capsella Avatar
Thank you so much! I'm currently playing around with a free skin on the jcink control panel, to try and get the hang of it. It's definitely a little overwhelming (and will probably be for both platforms!), but I already think I'm getting the hang of some of the panels/learning to edit some skin features!
I'm @capsellas on discord! Feel free to reach out of you need anything.
aliasray
pronounshe/him
59written posts
scaramoucheearned bits
offlinecurrently
scaramouche
Junior Member
scaramouche Avatar
one spark baby!
Tbh I would prefer proboards just for being able to like 👍 posts and the layout of pms and the ability to catch up on posts with a recent post listing. But the tos scares me. Otherwise I would be building my site in proboards.

To answer though: from my obsessive research before building my site, I think your best bet will end up being Jcink.
aliasSel, sella!
pronounsAny!
32written posts
capsellaearned bits
offlinecurrently
capsella
New Member
capsella Avatar
scaramouche Avatar
Tbh I would prefer proboards just for being able to like 👍 posts and the layout of pms and the ability to catch up on posts with a recent post listing. But the tos scares me. Otherwise I would be building my site in proboards.

To answer though: from my obsessive research before building my site, I think your best bet will end up being Jcink.
I think there's recent posts/the active topics tab on Jcink, if you're curious about catching up on posts! But it's definitely not as extensive as Proboards' is...

I do agree about the TOS, though! I'm not planning on including R18 content on my site, but I think Jcink prem. might help with age-restricting it, since I'd like it to be 18+, and it'll definitely include some violent content down the line.

I think we might be on a really similar page, though, re: building brand new sites... if I ever encounter some tips and tricks, I'll shoot them your way, too! I've spent... so much time hanging out on the Jcink admin panel today. It's kinda fun lol
I'm @capsellas on discord! Feel free to reach out of you need anything.