Best Forum Software

[MiniK 0]

Hey. I'm making an unofficial RP for a book series I enjoy reading. It's a long story really, but the official RP was a Proboards forum and I don't particularly like PB. Recently, the admin purchased a new domain and is hosting it as a phpBB3 board. I got rather annoyed because I have a domain that would suit the RP better but I don't use it, and I would have been happy to give it to them for free. (I also would like to point out that most of the staff on there are staff on the official forum I don't particularly like the admin ) Anyway, I'm going to launch an unofficial RP to try and prove to everybody that normal members can run a successful RP but I'm having trouble selecting the right forum software. So I'll make a list of the 4 that appeal to me the most:

 

SMF - I've been using SMF for as long as I can remember and I've thought that it has a user-friendly and staff-friendly interface and a VERY clean admin panel. It has nice and friendly index.php?action= URLs. The SMF website has a nice theme and mod database. It has the SSI.php file which helps extremely to integrate your board into an already-existing website and has easy user management. HOWEVER, I've tried creating a simple mod for the software and it was just extremely complicated. They don't give much help when it comes to creating mods or themes. If you want to find out about how to create mods, you have to speak to somebody who knows how to create mods or trialanderror it until the mod works. Same for themes. I dunno whether it's just me as a crap coder or what... Moving swiftly on...

 

phpBB(3) - phpBB3 has an EXCELLENT design. I've fallen in love with all phpBB3 themes. They just look so professional. Also, I've never tried but I reckon it is quite easy to create mods as they are seperate files instead of all stuffed into the index file. Considering that it's been out for a while, there aren't many phpBB3 mods out there..It's the complete opposite for themes. It's in the RC8 stage now and there's loads of themes out there. In a nutshell, phpBB3 is good design&function-wise but sometimes the installer fails and you end up reinstalling all of it. (Don't be put off, it happened once and it hasn't happened since)

 

vBulletin - Most professional and top-class websites use vBulletin but I don't know why people choose it over many others. I suppose I only put VB on the list because I'm influenced by other sites using it. I've had a look at the demo and it doesn't look /that/ good. I suppose I won't be using that for many reasons, especially cost-wise.

 

IPB - Ah, I've left the best 'til last - I suppose. I've always wanted to own an IPB because they look so cool. I mean, I know it sounds weird but it just sounds like a grown up thing to own one. I think IPB might suit the board best but I dunno. I'm not an expert.

 

If anybody has any experience with the forum softwares above, I would be appreciated if you could help. Thanks

Edited December 8, 2007 by MiniK (see edit history)

[jlhaslip 4]

I can't help but suggest you check out an AEF Forum Software found here

AEF is a freeware Board that includes many nice features, is easy to install, there are Themes and Mods coming out weekly.
Version 1.05 is about to be released this month.

Check that one out. It runs faster than phpbb, uses smaller files, and includes a shoutbox, News rotator script and many more features.

[MiniK 0]

It sounds cool. I'll take a look.

[Spyda 0]

You def. forget mybb. I've been looking into it, and have been using it for my forum for a couple of weeks now. I really think that it is the best around. I wish AEF and MYBB coule merge together, because I like the MYbb interface, but really love the AEF enhanced features!

[silver_wolves 0]

i use SMF and IPB. i really like vbulliten as well, but i dont have a license for it. SMF has the best support by far, and im actually online friends with some of the support staff. so i highly recommend SMF. its really simple and so awesome. but IPB is really nice, but the admin panel isnt as organized and clean as SMF...i would just suggest continuing with SMF, once 2.0 comes out, so many cool things have been added. and its still got all the functionality from before.

[Russell 0]

I Use IPBFree.com And Its Real Flexible But I Think It Could Be Better

[Sandokan 0]

I started with PHPBB2, it's very simple to handle but the skin choises suck for me....I would deffenitely recommend this Forum-Software for beginners..I have my own forum with SMF now, the skin choises are great! You have a lot ofoptions for modefications, great help, but the big problem is you really need to have someexperience or know someone who has. This because everytime you want to install a modyou have to edit some files in wordpad to fit them with the skin and the language.I have been active on many IPB forums and have been admin for a VERY short while. I must say that it works great when you are just a normal member and want to post some stuff.The theme choises are also good but I think that the ACP is really hard.Last but not least PHPBB3, since it is not on the market for a very long time now I can'treally say much about it yet. Just that the theme choise isn't very big on the moment andthat the ACP is a bit harder then PHPBB 2.Greetzz

[MiniK 0]

To be honest, I prefer the phpBB3 admin panel to phpBB2's..

[SolidShadow 0]

I personally favor phpbb 3 but a good site to compare forum software is HERE

[polter 0]

As for me, SMF was just another ordinary forum software until the ultimate mod, Tiny Portal came along and changed everything. With Tiny Portal and SMF integrated, I really don't see the point migrating another forum software. It's working perfectly for me now. I bet most of you have checked out their arrays or mods n themes, so why bother to write one yourself? Yeah?

[MiniK 0]

I have to admit that SMF is pretty cool but, to be honest, I'm not that keen on Tiny Portal. SMF by itself is enough for me. Especially since they've got SSI.php. It's the best forum-website integration system I've come across.

[Yiah 0]

phpBB has a simple, user-friendly interface, a helpful FAQ and a generous administrator control panel.
You can choose the databases server (MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC), the functionalities (at first I was a little discouraged by the mods installation process but I found great support on the online community and the documentation they provide answered all my questions) the skins... Everything is customizable so you can create the forum you wish.

If you haven't got much time, and want to see what the new phpbb3 can offer, just try it out on this host : free forum hosting

Hope this can help!

Edited January 16, 2008 by Yiah (see edit history)