0. Choose Type & Theme
1. Name
2. Domains
3. Server
4. Source Code
5. Coder
6. Staff
7. Content
8. Design
9. Marketing
10. Paying The Bills

0 - Type Of Site

Think of what type of torrent site you want. This is all up to you if you can't decide you would probably want to go with a general tracker. also choose a unique theme to go with. The most common is a pirate theme these days. I wouldn't suggest using it though as a large amount of sites do . Try something new and Unique.

1 - Name

Ok, I know you may be thinking i want to go with <yoursite>torrents.com and you know what? Don't, i know this sound like the most logical name you can think of but its not. You should pick something that has no real relevance to torrents. FollowTheWhiteRabbit (FTWR) is one of the most wanted sites, You should try to think like they did talk with some of the other people who will be involved with the site and see what they think. The name is very important to grab users, you can also try something that relates to your content. Some other examples of popular sites are intheshadow feedthe.net and cosanostra. If you would like to run your names by me feel free to do so.

2 - Domains

When registering a domain you need a TRULY private domain register. Even with whois guard or any privacy addons you still leave a trace when registering (your ip). The one i use is http://www.katzglobal.com/hosting/an...s-domains.html . Its about twice as much as a normal register but if you use them they will not leak your info because they don't log your info. Do NOT try just putting all fake info at a normal domain register they still have your ip and fake info is against ICANN policy. That means if you do THEY CAN TAKE YOUR DOMAIN.

3 - Server

First rule is to get a Dedicated server if you don't, your site will not run properly and once you get some members it wont run at all, because of the large amount of cpu usage a torrent site can use. This can be expensive but its needed, second rule is to host it offshore try to stay away from Malaysia (they have been taking down alot of torrent sites recently) and any other countries who don't like torrent sites. Canada can be safe if there is no music on your site but, i wouldn't risk it. The Netherlands is where i suggest hosting your site. And if your looking for a specific place try leaseweb.com.


4 - Source Code:
Most private torrent sites use tbdev source code, Which can be found at http://tbdev.net/ its good source code and has a large amount of mods on the site. You will have to install some (invite mod, snatchlist, passkey ect..) and do modifications to the site to make it work for you (proper category's, forums, user classes ect...). This will take a bit of coding knowledge and if you don't know how to code it will give you headaches. You can do all of this on your own, all of the info is on the TBdev site but, if you are planning on running a site you will need a coder. if your having trouble with a certain modification read through the thread the answer is usually there. Make sure you have a IRC channel private torrent site members like that.

5 - Coder

If your planning on running a private torrent site i suggest getting a coder. You will probably have to pay him but if your lucky you might be able to find someone who will work just because he wants to be a part of the site. First thing your going to want to do before doing any mods is make the site secure, there are a lot of holes in the script which need to be fixed and if you don't fix them YOU WILL GET HACKED. There are a lot of hackers who use torrent sites and they will try to attack your site, the most common type of attack is DDOS which can cripple a server. Make sure you or your coder knows how to deal with these kind of attacks, i am a coder so never had a problem but if you don't know how to code and don't have someone who does you will have problems. If your looking for someone to work for free check the tbdev.net & http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-bittorrent-43/ Forums.

6 - Staff

If you cant find staff from people you know try some torrent irc channels or filesharingtalk.net. Some torrent sites will not appreciate you asking on there forums try not to do this. You will need a staff leader, three moderators and as many uploaders with a good connection as possible (try for people with seedboxes). Any other staff positions are probably not necessary when starting out but, you can add others. If you have any trouble finding people contact me i might be able to find some people for you.

7 - Content

Get your uploaders doing there job get rid of inactive uploaders, you can make uploads public just put a message asking slower connections not to upload. Make competitions for the uploads of any sections that are empty offer upload credit or a user class upgrade as a prize. Try not too launch the site with less than 100 uploads and then only if you make it clear that this is a very new site.

8 - Design

Another important thing is the design and whats great is there are alot of designers in the torrent world who will work for free, This is how i got all of my designs. Simply start out with a nice login and signup page and make a competition on the site for the design (offer vip membership or upload credit), This way the ugly signup page and login page don't scare users off right away. Your coder will need to integrate the design into the site and do the css coding and everything. The designers in the torrent world usually don't do that, They just give you a image you need to slice code and make a style sheet.

9 - Marketing

You need to make a abbreviation to refer to your site scenetorrents.org uses SCT feedthe.net uses FTN not hard to do but important. Never post the url anywhere and make it a rule to never post it. Start out as invite only make a post on a invite site saying you have a invite to a new super secret torrent site. that is just starting up (be as secretive as possible) and soon you will have people begging to join your site. For some reason people love to join secret sites even if they don't know anything about the site or its content. You may want to make a nice userbar with your abbreviation and allow users to use this in there signature basically make people think you don't want members then they will want to join. You can make a Recruiter staff position (below all other staff) whose job would be picking members (this makes you look special if its hard to join) .


10 - Paying The Bills

Members of private torrent sites are usually pretty generous and you should be able to get $300+ a month with even a userbase under 1k users with donations. If your not getting donations after the first month send all users a message saying you need donations. Try not to threaten to close the site right off the bat, This may driver users away wait a few months before doing that. You can offer upload credit for cash and offer people a elevated user class when they donate.


I am a web developer with over 10 years experience if anyone needs someone to setup a torrent site send me a pm.

Hope someone finds this useful.

BBBBB, your guides are amongst my favorites because they are so valuable and full of useful info. It is not amongst my plans at this moment to start a private tracker, but if I were, this would be my blueprint for sure. Thanks

Nice guide, so complete

Ahhh, fantastic....

Has anybody seen the new heinekin advert...well this is how I felt when I read this Post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZZreXEqSY

Hahaha, great thread. love the blueprint, and the heineken advert was great too - this thread has it all.

private trackers suck, when your upload speed is low not matter how hard you try to prevent that.