myBB | phpbb | simplemachine

Hey guys, i want to start a forum and i am stuck in choosing the best free forum software.
I be needing modules like chat,etc..

Well, i am waiting for some suggestions for this.

 

I use MyBB, simply because it was easier for me to have a custom theme, but in terms of functionality I'm not sure. I would stick to using MyBB, I like it so far. You can also get mods like chat, just be careful which mods you choose as from experience they can lead to people hacking you.

 

I have tried smf and mybb. Both are good and easy to use but we need to install spam filtering addins, do regular updates, always keep eye on our forums. Else spammer attack always.

 

Old thread but ...

I prefer MyBB because I know it well.

As far as chat, Mibbit works well, and is easy to integrate on any forum. I know it works with MyBB, because I've run it from there, and I know it works from SMF, because one of the forums I use has it set up for their chat. I'd be amazed if it wasn't also simple to set up on phpBB.

(The free version, using any IRC network, works very nicely, and allows those users who know what IRC is, to access the chat using their IRC program if they prefer. You can even use it with your own chat server, if you have a shell account to run one on, but it's a lot easier to use DALNet or Undernet or some other established network.)

As far as other modules, MyBB has tons (I've written a couple), and a large community that will sometimes write a module if you ask for it.

 

In the past, I would have suggested SMF. It's still good, but MyBB is the best one now as far as free forum software goes. I like that it's as "tight" and modulated as SMF, but has good backend flexibility.

 

I have used MyBB since a year ago. Why? It has so many plugins (mods), themes, etc.
Google crawl my forum site almost hourly you know. MyBB is number one and phpBB is number two for me. It's hard to manage PHPBB. phpBB just for programmers who have at least medium web programming skill. MyBB is easy to manage. But I don't know anything about SMF

 

I myself prefer phpBB. The mods are fairly easy to install and you can easily modify it to your own liking.

 

my vote for Mybb

 

I`d say phpbb or mybb. Anyway, you can compare the forums here and see which of them is best for you.

 

None of them , i will support.
In SMF , support become poor after left by Illori (if you are web developer , you can otherwise leave)
In mybb, previous year this website get hacked
In phpbb , no idea.

All the above websites are famous for spam. I will suggest you to go with paid forums.

 

As long as the forum is properly configured and moderated, spam is not a problem. There are also many plugins to help protect against spam. All of these companies release updates as soon as any security issue has been found.

 

I use simplemachine on one of my sites and altough it's very simple compared with others, I am happy with the ease of use.

 

I would say phpBB, it's easy to use, apart from installing MODs which seems to being improved in future updates.