Forums Reliability

[Stridr 0]

Hi all fellow web developers and designers. I would like to ask what is the best free forum system, such as myBB and phpBB, Fireboard for joomla and so on. I have seen many sites with a huge community mostly powered by paid ones, such as IPB and vBulletin. So which is the best free one that can handle a huge community of users?

[jlhaslip 4]

check out AEF Forum software at http://www.anelectron.com/.

Free, includes a shoutbox, lots of Ajax features, Search the tutorial section here at the Xisto for an Installation guide. Tutorial by me.

I Mod at the AEF Forums as well. Do some Development/Mods, too. I like it. Several other Xisto Members have been using it, too.

[bishoujo 0]

you can't get vbulletin free legally, that's for sure. I've used myBB and phpBB. Both are pretty good and userfriendly, but if I remember correctly, myBB has more features and you can install many user add-on plugins to add more fancy features to your forum. In fact, I think it was almost as good as vbulletin. The only issue with myBB is that there aren't as many good custom-made skins available as compared to phpbb which has been around for a long time. then again, if you are good with scripting and designing, this wouldn't be an issue for you.

Edited August 30, 2008 by bishoujo (see edit history)

[jabito 0]

try vbulletin the most option of course.

[onscreen 0]

phpbb is good but with recent phpbb3 release, i find that its not really user friendly compare to mybb. IMO, every forum package available in the market have its own advantages. I would advice you to run a local server and try some of the forum package locally and its easier to judge from there.For me, i like SMF and mybb but when it comes to making a general forum, phpbb is my choice as it has the most users since its the best alternative to vBulletin.

[gjaldon 0]

I prefer SMF among all the free forums. I am not too sure if it is able to handle a huge community of users though. Compared with phpBB and myBB, SMF would be best in terms of forum features.

[wwilliams 0]

i personally prefer phpBB but like all others have said myBB, phpBB, and SMF are the top free ones... u just need to try all of them and pick your faviorite they all preform very well... but it if is a large community i would suggest to go ahead and buy vbulletin.

[joeblogg 0]

dude phpbb is way the best. it was a little hard touse and anoying at the beginning but i can tell you nothing is really better than phpbb.