The XMEN Clan Forums

Ok, odd question but I need to know some information about forums.

Are they hosted on a hosting site or are they a part of the actual website?

The reason I ask is I am getting set up with my own website and I would like to add in a forum of some sort. For basic discussions, tailored discussions, etc...

ANy info on this would be appreciated.

The host provides web access and storage space, along with a database and PHP scripting ability. The forum engine itself is PHPBB and is free under the GPL, I believe.

To make it work you just copy in the files, including configuration files that you've updated to match your options, plus any themes, mods, etc. you want to use. Create the database space and run the initialization script(s). Not too hard, really.