Which Forum Software? Vbulletin, PHPBB, Simple Machines Forum or some other script

Hi Everyone

i would like to know which forum software you think is the best and why

Also whats you favourite must have forum mod?

please provide a link to any mods or writeups so we can all enjoy them

reason i am asking is i have just bought a ghood forum name and i am considering which forum software to use on it.

i look forward to your replies

 

I really like phpbb, its a great software, with a lot of different mods which are easy to add. Visit there website for info on the things - i dont advise using version 3 yet since it dosen't have alot of mods for it.

 

Use IP.Board, it's the best!

Lots of mods, Lots of themes, FANTASTIC support.

vBulletin has been bought out by someone, so where it might head will be interesting.

 

yeah i heard it was jelsoft and theyu are giving them a load of cash to play with too
should be interesting to see what comes out of it

i also found http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=440&highlight=vbulletin

which seems to have all the answers i needed just in case anyone finds this thread first

 

PHPBB is great. I have used it for a couple of years now and it has some really cool mods. The best thing about it is that it is free and so are the mods, although some people do now sell mods for it.

You can even make phpbb generate search engine friendly url's if you install the mods from www.phpbbseo.com

I almost switched over to vbulletin at one point until I found the seo friendly mods!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software_(PHP)

personally when i originally started with forum software i used phpbb, which was good to start with, i then tried smf which isnt bad its better than phpbb, however ive now migrated over to mybb which after a shakey start im a huge fan of now. The software is fairly new so there is not as many mods as you would get on phpbb or vbulletin but there is an active community and mods are being released daily.

In answer to your question i definately would have a look at mybb

 

i never realised wiki could be quite so useful

thanks for the link tony84

 

there is also a website which brings up all of the types of forum software and you can choose 5-6 of them i think to compare them. Ive forgotten the URL but im sure someone here will know or a search will locate it

 

phpbb or Ivision Power board are the best FREE ones. vB is the best one overall but it costs a pretty penny

 

Yeah, at $ 160, Vb comes at a cost, but It is well worth it at that!

 

I wonder why none mentioned Simple Machines, it's also good and freeware

 

i have used simple machines on a joomla site before

seems like another great free forum software

I think after comparisons i will go with vbulletin. it seems to have the best support and userbase.

another reason i decided on it is the familiarity of the look and feel of vbulletin sites. because it is so commonly used people recognise it when they see it and are comfortable using it.

thanks for all your input

 

Invision Power Board is a paid script. If you have a copy of IPB 1.3 around though, you can use that.

http://www.opensourcecms.com

 

I started off using phpBB as well, but I'm a fan of vbb in the end, if you're willing to spend a few bucks.

 

Seriously, go with SMF. It's free (as in beer), easily customizable, separates the presentation (the skin) from the logic (the programming and database calls), and comes pre-installed with a LOT of the features you have to hack/mod into other forums to get. It's also perfectly capable of handling large forums, like http://forums.classicbattletech.com for example (there are others, I'll be more than happy to link them if you like).

 

Vbulletin..
Simply bcoz it has been developed by a very strong company providing regular updates and going web 2.0 now.. bringing many major integrable products like Social networking.. blogging etc.
Highest of Professional Standards coding.. support available n access to Official forums for huge hacks n modules for free.
there are many n many reasons that Vbulletin is best.
I will simply say.. i am saying its best not coz i wanna recommend it...
i recommend it coz it is simply the Best.
Still all depends on what are your requirements n purpose/vision for your forums.
regards
deep
Websule.com

 

Web 2.0 is a trend, not a standard. I do agree that vBulletin is very good, but there are other alternatives. Unfortunately, the only alternative I recommend is SMF. If you want to pay, then avoid the other paid scripts and get VB. If you don't want to pay, then avoid the other free scripts and go with SMF. There's really no better option than those two when it comes to PHP powered forums.

And just because a company is behind a script or program's development doesn't mean it's great. If you need an example, just look at the company that's headquarted in Redmond, Washington (I'll give you a hint, it's called Microsoft).

 

But is it SEF? THAT is the question. I must have a SEF forum. I have put in some sentences into Google, from random SMF forums, and nothing comes up.

 

As search engine friendly as you can make it. As I said, the HTML code is separate from the programming functions and database calls.

And yes, by default it is search engine friendly.

 

vBulletin all the way, easy to customize, comes with tons of features, and both owned and leased licenses available at vbulletin.com.

Thanks,
Meti