phpBB VS SMF VS MyBB

So I am hearing good things about all these forums. I didn't quite enjoy SMF but it seemed ok. Never really worked with MyBB, and I have had bad experiences with phpBB3 (it's kind of insecure or use to be, and I don't know how good phpbb3 is).


Which one is the best? And list reasons as to why you think so.

Topics include:
Customization ( SEO )
Themes ( Are there lots of themes?)
Integration (with other software)
Design (the ideas they use, unique ideas?)

I use the "Drupal forum" with some mods to make it look better, but I'm not very happy with it at all!!!:
Inferno Forums

 

phpBB would be your best bet, because it has been out the longest, thus having the most mods and themes ect..

 

It's probably true, but I haven't been able to customize it as well as the others I suppose.

 

yeah, phpBB is the oldest and most trusted free forum software, but it's really unsecure which is the biggest problem.
I highly recommend you SMF, as it is very easy to administrate, has lots of functions, great integration with Joomla, has also integration with Drupal, Wordpress and some other CMS systems. And it is very strong about hacks too.
There are quite many themes designed for it, that can be customized. But I don't find SMF template structure great...
As for SEO and addons check SMF official website -there are lots of good stuff.

simplemachines.org

 

Phpbb3 is very good. I like it myself as for mybb it comes with some good themes that are proffesional

ex: http://www.ivgeo.net/mybb/showthread.php?tid=230

it also comes with lots of plugins.

so check it out.

 

myBB = old VB Rip
SMF = professional good one
phpbb = unmatched due a lot of users

you better decide now

 

That's really hard decision. I'm going to try phpBB3 a little. I just hate SMF and phpBB themes, I hope I'll find a good one tho .

 

I really really don't like phpbb3... Theming wasn't hard, but apparently modding is a very difficult process because of the design of phpbb3, and it takes a while just to add something simple like AJAX quick reply.

 

Mybb = good features on par with IPB & VB including a mod panel when viewing thread lists instead of being in the thread.. like in smf....
SMF = still catching up but lacks in updates and even going to the mod site via the admin cp is broken plus you cant multi lock threads at one time etc..
PhpBB = many mods & skins to choose from, get your share of mods + exploits at the same time!

You better decide now

 

My choice has always been SMF. Not because it's Free. But security is the primary reason. I tested SMF and PHPBB in two domains. I did not touch them for 3 months. The next time I logged in there were 31,000 SPAM posts in phpBB. But there was only one SPAM bot registration. All were tested under default security settings.

 

I'm going to try MyBB next.

I didn't like SMF too much, it's secure but it's sort of lacking in updates/mods/skins/community.

phpBB, man I made an awesome skin for it, and worked it out, but I couldn't even get a single mod to work, and I know PHP very well, I suppose I may have gotten it to work if I spent more than 1 hour on it, but I'm not willing to dedicate hours and hours just to mod a couple very simple things that should have come WITH a forum package.

 

use mybb , is better .

 

I think Mybb its the best. And the new version (1.4) its something like vBulletin.

Use Mybb

 

yes, version 1.4 is great ! and similar VB .

 

Definately Phpbb.

 

I like SMF best.

It's the software I use for my forum.

 

I'd choose SMF among those three.

 

i was using smf in my site a while ago.everything was fine except the seo.so i switched over to phpbb3.it works well for me.i face problems only during the mods installation.
but still, my vote is for phpbb....

 

I use SMF.

I'm not sure why people say SMF don't have many themes or mods, they have more free mods and themes out there than anyone could ever want/need + more.

I also use phpBB3 - That is a forum that doesn't have much for mods and themes. Even the settings in the admin panel aren't very good. You cannot even select users to get notify emails on subscribed posts without a hack. I'd like phpbb3 more if it was easier to install mods and had more mods / themes and support.

MyBB looks nice (though, I think vB had a lawsuit against them). They don't have very man themes at all and very limited on mods.

phpBB (original) shouldn't even be an option. They're too unsecure.

IMO, SMF is the clear cut winner if you want a safe customizable forum with lots of support.

Otherwise, I'd buy a vB license and just be done with it.

 

Runescape is older than World of Warcraft does that make it better?

For customization for SEO...probably VB with VBSEO as much as I think it's a waste of money if that's what you want then that's the most robust option. Every software has mods or plugins which perform similar functions. SEO is really just some optimizing for search engines. DP doesn't use it nor do most large forums. If you have good content SEO is worthless.

Themes...well PHPBB probably has the largest variety of free ones.

Integration...well that's tough because I feel like none of them play well with a CMS. Stuff like Joomla has bridges but normally it's clunky and in general people shy away from this option.

Design...well phpbb3 went tableless. They get kudos for that. However imho Mybb is the better and more innovative from a design standpoint. VB is the defacto standard for a lot of things but that's not always a good thing since your forum might look like a thousand others.

That's not true and insulting to the hard working developers of mybb. Where do you get your information from?

Another rumor..probably spread by phpbb or smf fans as they know mybb is better and are feeling very threatened. Mybb doesn't need nearly as many mods since well...it has more built in. And there are a growing number of plugins and themes.