Let's encrypt certificate or its configuration, has it any additional expense?
No, no additional expense. All plans have included all work needed to make the platform request Let's Encrypt, and deploy it with your Discourse.
Can I install a SSL certificate that is not Let's Encrypt?
Yes. You can see available certificates at this page. You can also give us certificate you want to be installed or we can give you CSR so you can sign it with another provider.
There is a max connection limit at the commercial offer, what happens if it is reached?
Every plan has resources assigned according to the capacity acquired. If they are exceeded it is a good sign: your forum is working and attracking people. In such case, you will have to upgrade your plan to support that additional capacity to avoid losing visitors.
If you already have biggest plan plan, contact us see next steps.
If you are preparing a campaign that could drive more traffic to your site than supported, contact us so we can help you to review your case and make your campaign to better success.
About transfer limits, what is the max file size that can be transfered?
By default a 4MB limit for files that are uploaded is configured. You can configure these values and others that also apply following next post indications:
How to configure upload max file size with Discourse
If month transfer limits are reached/exceeded, what happens?
If limits are reached/exceeded only in rare occasion, there is no problem. If they are exceeded/reached in a regular basis, then it is required to ugprade the plan.
About VPN access, how does it work? Is it included some VPN access?
VPN access are fully optional. They are only needed if you have special security requirements or if privacy, IP tracking, etc it is an important matter to you. VPN access are also useful to setup VPN only accesible forum.
In all these cases you will need a VPN access for each physical person. You can share a VPN access among several users but not use them at the same time. It will not work if several users connect at the same time using same VPN access.
You can use same VPN access with different Discourse users. In fact, there is no relation between these. VPN access only establishes a protected tunnel to the platform where your Discourse forum is running. Then, that VPN can be used by different Discourse users.
Also confirm every VPN access has an internal fixed IP (it is always the same). This way you can deploy privacy and security policies attached to these IP addresses.
Can I modify forum apperance, web logos?
Yes. You can change and configure all these aspects going to "Admin" -> "Sites configuration". There you can configure logos, colors, etc. Then, every category can also be configured: colors, logos, descriptions, etc.
Can we avoid ads and spam (unauthorized content/users)?
Totally. You define your forum policy. You can configure your forum to work with open subscription, only by invitation or only by Administrator invitation. This has to do with your forum policy. We recommend you to define it and make it public so your users are aware of it.
In any case, if a user does not fulfull your forum's policy (for whatever reason, spam, bad behavior), you can always ban them.
In short, given Discourse design and nature, Spam and unauthorized content is not a problem.
Is it included a mailserver for all transactional mails that are sent by the platform?
Yes: your discourse service comes with a preconfigured, supervised mail server, with reverse DNS and SPF configuration (ask for it) so your discourse can send all mails without any issue.
Because we supervise that mail server, all transactions are recorded so we can debug and inspect any issue associated to mail delivery problems.
Why could be interesting to acquire a dedicated IP for my discourse?
By default, your discourse is delivered with a shared IP and it will work without any problem.
In some cases, because of commercial or organizational image concerns, you might what to run your discourse (web portal) with an independent IP only used by your discourse. To have a decidated IP also adds a stronger image because it looks like it is working as a fully independent server.