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View Full Version : What forum software?

mogster
March 23rd, 2007, 20:34
What forum software do you guys prefer out of these three?
Please state why, eg. "I prefer PHPBB because it's open source and free"
Falcon4ever
March 23rd, 2007, 20:54
anything BUT phpbb...
Because a large community use it, it gets exploited by hackers / spambots very frequently. It might be due bad coding it might also be just due popularity...

Invisionboard: I like the 2.x series before they became payware :p (yea i'm a cheap bastard).

vBulletin: number one choice if I had the money and if I would start a new community. Stable, Fast and good support (that includes techsupport/mods etc).

Btw:
Why didn't you added MYBB (my personal favorite because its very customizable)
or USEBB (Light fast and simple)

You should increase the poll a bit, there are more good forum alternatives out there (SMF?)
mogster
March 23rd, 2007, 21:02
Can't edit polls =/
Feel free to include them if you can.
Falcon4ever
March 23rd, 2007, 21:09
Can't edit polls =/
Feel free to include them if you can.

I'm not a mod outside the PCSX2 section, so can't do :(

(oh btw using 'nulled'/'fixed' forum software sucks) ;)
ChankastRules
March 23rd, 2007, 22:07
vBull for me too... phpBB SUCKS! I wish I hadn't used it... even worse I modded it a lot so I can't upgrade to the latest version :(
dashboardy
March 24th, 2007, 00:13
ya vbulletin is nice. gotta give the admins and coders of this site a lot of credit. It's very well laid out.
Keith
March 24th, 2007, 09:27
Yeah vBulletin for me and I use it on my own site so maybe I am a little biased. :D
Chrono Archangel
March 24th, 2007, 17:37
I used to be an IPB fan.... but I recently found out it wasnt free anymore when I was making the Gekko forum....

Went with phpBB because it was the other one that I knew that was free.
Big mistake... Out of the box, it is a weak board. We were getting hammered with spambots. Not alot of features that I think are basic stuff for a forum...
After modding it alot, I now feel it's perfect. No more spambots at all and I added all the features I wanted.

If I had to money to spend on a forum, it would be vBulletin. Hands down.
cloudsBro
March 24th, 2007, 17:40
vBulletin really has that forum feel I think. The interface is also very suiting and easy to use.
refraction
March 24th, 2007, 17:44
added the 2 extra options.

personally id say MyBB, its free, and as falc said, very customizable.
ChankastRules
March 25th, 2007, 01:07
No more spambots at all...


Did you find a good way to get rid of them... I know of some good ways... but I'm always glad to hear of new ones...
raksmey1309
March 25th, 2007, 01:31
I will choose myBB easy and simple you will get an own forum.
Ramsus K
March 25th, 2007, 02:18
http://www.simplemachines.org/

Although, if I had the time, I'd rather experiment with making something that works a bit like reddit, only more discussion oriented and with a normal forum look and feel.
Coolsvilleman
March 25th, 2007, 04:27
vbulletin if you have decided to run a serious forum.
Smooth Criminal
March 25th, 2007, 08:54
well i have seen vb in nearly all the forums i have visited so far so i think its good
mogster
March 25th, 2007, 13:03
I tried to switch to invision power board, but my server admin (gopzap) said no...
There's the thread where he yelled at me here (http://hollowshrine.uni.cc/forums/viewtopic.php?t=295).
Falcon4ever
March 25th, 2007, 14:28
Original post of mogster (http://hollowshrine.uni.cc/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2447&sid=56c5daa187880b1f02a374f3319e3692#2447)

mogster (http://hollowshrine.uni.cc/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2&sid=56c5daa187880b1f02a374f3319e3692) said:
We can stay with PHPBB if you want (I was a little pushy at first, but I guess it's okay if we stay put). I'm just showcasing Invision Power Board so you guys can take a look at it and decide if you want to switch or stay...

As for the illegal thing, don't let it bother you. I doubt IPB search servers for nulled boards (phone-home scripts removed), it's too resource intensive, and would take too long. Even if they did, nulled IPB boards are not visible from the outside. There's absolutely no way they can find out aslong as our CHMOD settings are secure. The only way they can find out, is by reading this, and I doubt this text has been indexed by any search engines yet. Thats just totally wrong... oO

Gopzap (http://hollowshrine.uni.cc/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12) said:
Sorry, but the answer has got to be no. It's my responsibility to make sure that there is no unlicensed software on the server. You have to understand that it's not my decision to allow this or not, the server is located in the USA and there are laws.

It's actually VERY easy to find out weather a copy of IPB is legal or not, just by 1 click of a mouse.

A few weeks ago I had a customer that was hosting an illegal copy of vBulliten, and I was e-mailed to suspend the account.

I agree with him.
MT
March 25th, 2007, 14:44
lol pwnd mogster :p

I like MyBB.
General Plot
March 25th, 2007, 18:00
I had issues with vBulletin when I ran it on General Emulation. It would lose the footers on all the pages, menus went haywire, etc... When I submitted a support ticket, I never got word back from them. That being the case, I sold the licence (made half my money back on it) and went with MyBB. I haven't had a complaint since then.;)
mogster
March 25th, 2007, 18:31
Maybe I shouldn't have posted that...
I'd switch to IPB if I could though ^^


Thats just totally wrong... oO
Yeah, that was one of my 100% total crap posts in my attempt to brainwash everyone into wanting to switch to IPB
JKKDARK
March 25th, 2007, 18:41
vBulletin always looks better ;)
NexXxus
March 26th, 2007, 08:04
you forgot wbb
KillerShots
March 26th, 2007, 13:07
Hmm... Personally, I use phpBB, but I too have been frustrated with how difficult it is to customize... and how difficult it is to upgrade and keep those customizations.

Luckily, my board settings have foiled all bot posts (picture text registration), but I'm actually seriously considering writing a different open source BB that actually keeps its interface from version to version. I'm just tired of the constant maintenance.
hamoood
March 30th, 2007, 11:26
PHPBB of course! ;)

here some reasons

1. it's Free and open source (DON'T LIKE IT DON'T USE IT!).
2. it's a lot faster than vBulletin.
3. PHPBB is very friendly with your server! vBulletin use a lot of Server resource.
4. PHPBB Database is a lot smaller than vBulletin even if your forum heavily modded.
5. it's safer than vBulletin see how many exploits on vBulletin last year and see how many exploits phpbb has. ;)
6. You can easily create mods and hacks from you own!.
7. Themes system is a lot easier than vBulletin.
8. it has great support and it's Free!.

and many....., but seriously you can't compare between commercial forum software and free ones! it's sounds not fair.
Ramsus K
March 30th, 2007, 12:59
PHPBB of course! ;)

here some reasons

1. it's Free and open source (DON'T LIKE IT DON'T USE IT!).
2. it's a lot faster than vBulletin.
3. PHPBB is very friendly with your server! vBulletin use a lot of Server resource.
4. PHPBB Database is a lot smaller than vBulletin even if your forum heavily modded.
5. it's safer than vBulletin see how many exploits on vBulletin last year and see how many exploits phpbb has. ;)
6. You can easily create mods and hacks from you own!.
7. Themes system is a lot easier than vBulletin.
8. it has great support and it's Free!.

and many....., but seriously you can't compare between commercial forum software and free ones! it's sounds not fair.

Being free and open source isn't even relevant to not using something out of mere personal preference...

The advantages to being free and open source are that there's an extremely low opportunity cost for giving the software a try (unless your time is worth a lot, in which case it could cost you more than just using the alternative if you end up not using the free option), and that you can expect to never see your chosen software disappear because the developers all died or some company went out of business.

You also get to work with the source code, but you should be able to do that even if you pay, or else it's probably not worth it...

The forum software doesn't really matter though. Just look at Photo.net. The TCL/AOLServer based code they have over there lacks even a good deal of phpBB's functionality.

In the end, it's more important to find something you can make work well with the rest of your site, and often times something like phpBB with a quick skin fits the bill.

Oh, but what if your site is just another forum? Then you either need something very specific (in which case, general comparisons of vBB versus phpBB are pretty useless for making a decision), or you probably don't need to be starting yet another forum with 3 active users and your little brother...