Advice please

i am administrator on a phpbb forum but i dont have any access to the data base or servers.

I am fed up with it being hacked and the tech team not taking my advice to update - we are still running version 11

I want to go it alone if i can get the data base off him - but and this is where i need all of your advice/help...

1. I have never done this before - is it going to be easy enough for me to do.
2. I can do a basic website but never used forums, other than a free golala board i set up.
3. I have looked at sites doing templates and found some that look good
but i want to know how hard it would be to actually set one up - and then use the database i have from the other.
4. what is the difference between phpbb, vbulletin and IPB boards. I need objective answers - what would be easiest for a complete amateur at this.
5. What is safest against hackers?

Thanks everyone for helping, Debbie

 

I don't know a lot about IPB. I doubt that any website, forum or not, is totally bulletproof against hacking, but if you keep up to date with the software either phpBB or vBulletin can be made as safe as anything.

vBulletin costs you money but has more features enabled out of the box.

phpBB is free and has a lot of also free addons and MODs, not to mention skins/themes/templates.

You need a minimal knowledge of PHP to customize either forum unless you want to pay someone or have a handy volunteer who can do it for you. It's not that difficult. If you know how to code in HTML and have any experience at all with a programming language, you'll pick up what you need to know pretty quickly.

The hardest part is often transferring the database to a new server, actually. There is a neat little utility called BigDump which can help you there.