Forum Software

[rich_505]

So what's your favourite forum software? Personally I'm Invision through and through. Every board I run at the moment is powered by IP.Board, I've been working with it since IPB 1.3 and I haven't looked back. I have of course used other forum software solutions in my time, PHPBB/SMF/MyBB/XMB/PunBB/YaBB and naturally vBulletin.

I really detest PHPBB2, the ACP and the forum software itself lack in literally every area. SMF is getting a lot better, but still isn't an option for me. MyBB is pretty good indeed, up-and-coming really I can see if being big in the future. XMB/PunBB/YaBB are still all too regular, the other software coders have moved their software into the future but these haven't in my opinion. PHPBB3 does look to be a vast improvement on PHPBB2... But it's still PHPBB at heart.

The vBulletin ACP is, always has been and always will be a total maze to me. I find it has the longest possible ways of going about the simplest tasks, it just frustrates me!

[62442al_Man]

T.eh vB is t.eh best. Then goes MyBB. Very simple. I don't like the vast amount of images you need to change for vB, from a designers point of view. From a users point of view, they are great, especially if done well.

IPB, while harder to design, is still very very professional looking and that alone is why some buy it.

[kaz]

Haha. You made me laugh about phpBB. It does suck. Bugs, Security.. heck I would go with XMB over it! phpBB lacks support through its community also with its sarcastic moderators.

Read Half a Million sites hacked in phpBB. vBulletin is fantastic I will not deny this, its ACP is the only thing they need to work on. But having said this if you ask on the forums, someone always tells you the direction

Regarding IPB I have not used it since 1.3. The admin board was awful, the skinning system was a mess and so was the back end. Hardly mod able.

If its changed since 1.3 then I will look at it. We should make our own

[gertiekeddle]

Even if we don't like all softwares out there, we might still be able to voice our critiques to the team of creation and support in a constructive way. I'm sure all humans deserve this. Thanks!

[rich_505]

Originally Posted by kaz

Haha. You made me laugh about phpBB. It does suck. Bugs, Security.. heck I would go with XMB over it! phpBB lacks support through its community also with its sarcastic moderators.

Read Half a Million sites hacked in phpBB. vBulletin is fantastic I will not deny this, its ACP is the only thing they need to work on. But having said this if you ask on the forums, someone always tells you the direction

Regarding IPB I have not used it since 1.3. The admin board was awful, the skinning system was a mess and so was the back end. Hardly mod able.

If its changed since 1.3 then I will look at it. We should make our own

Invision have made some great improvements on IP.Board, the ACP is better (IMO) than vB by far now. Skinning, to my knowledge, is still a bit of a drama but modding isn't too bad.

PHPBB 3 is an improvement, and a step in the right direction for PHPBB as a project but there's a lot of work needed yet (as with MyBB, PunBB, YaBB etc and even vB & IP.Board). All forum software solutions are being developed endlessly, and always will be; I do think before long that free forum software will begin to have far better features than the premium solutions available. MyBB isn't far off kicking IP.Board & vB firmly in the rear, so long as they keep developing it and don't let their silly squabbles get in the way.

[leah49]

As a user I have to say the best one I've used is Prospero. Replying to a message shows what message you're replying to. You can click to view unread messages and unread messages that are in reply to your messages. I don't know anything from the designer or developer side of things. I'm just looking at this as a user.

I hear Prospero has turned into Mzinga.

[Aboxcafe]

I like phpbb because it seems to me that that is more lighter, i mean phpbb is loading quicker and that is better for the people that don't have faster internet connections .
Demo : forum hosting

[Link00seven]

I'm a fan of vBulletin - it's secure, stable, and well supported. It is also very customizable with a dedicated community for people who like to mod. It's not free, but in my opinion there is certainly a reason for that.

If you want a good free solution check out Simple Machine's Forum. I haven't used it in a long time, but I thought it was a pretty nice looking system.

[Grymmditch]

I use phpBB on mine simply because it's free, although I have been giving Simple Machines a look. I get a lot of spambots trying to sign up to my forum but have never been hacked.
I will agree though, phpBB is not the easiest or most feature laden solution; but it works, and hey, it's free.

[PotterManiac007]

I am currently using phpBB2 and its fully customizable.but there are some minor problems though..

Invision is simply superb!

[Erzeal]

Definitely vBulletin. Ive never had any problems with it and im just most comfortable with the way its setup.