vBulletin vs. phpBB

vBulletin is the best forum software if you are willing the spend the money. Most of the mods and hacks that other forum software vBulletin already have installed. Sub forums, paid subscriptions are just some of the things that are part of it.

phpBB is free. Used to be a big fan of phpbb But all really has going for it is the mod community. The software hasn't really had any major updates, and no word yet when phpbb3 will come out. I tried the cvs builds, basically just brings phpbb on par with other forum software. phpBB has had some security problems in the past.

If you are still looking for a free forum software. I suggest you try out SMF, (Simple Machines Forum). I just really found out about it a couple weeks ago, and have to say it is way better than phpbb. The main thing that I enjoyed was the package manager, in which you can download mods and hacks then have them instantly installed without any file editing. It really is a better system, the templates rock.

Other paid software to look into would be Invision Power Board. Haven't really used it much, so I can't really comment other than most of the major forums are based on vBulletin like digitalpoint.

 

Having used both, phpBB's main strong suite is also it's main weakness. Because so many people use it, it is a target for just about every hacker out there and as such no matter whether you keep your forum up to date or not it is just a matter of time before you get hacked especially if you are running a somewhat popular site. While running phpbb for my forum I was hacked twice in a matter of 2 months, both times I was running the latest version so if spending a large amount of time constantly updating you phpBB board after each security patch is released than phpBB will work just fine. On the other hand if you wish to install it and spend your time enhancing your forum and gaining users, VB is the better choice and worth the price IMO

 

Note to anyone about to buy a vBulletin license: please support your favorite forum (the one you're in right now is a pretty good choice ) by clicking through to vbulletin.com using the forum's affiliate link, located right at the end of every forum page (it's the link with the vBulletin version and copyright, "vBulletin v3.5.0 Release Candidate 2..." etc.)

This will ensure your favorite forum's owner earns a 20% commission from your vBulletin license purchase (see vBulletin's FAQ for details).

I just purchased a vBulletin leased license, and since I'm growing roots here at Digital Point, I used DP's vBulletin link as a small gesture of appreciation to Shawn for this very useful online community

 

Good idea, thanks for pointing it out!

 

I'm running phpbb on one of my main sites www.swordfishingcentral.com/forums/

The forums have over 10,000 pages indexed in google thanks to some seo mods. I also am running a quick reply mod and a few other minor mods for my users...

I would probably of prefered to go with Vbulletin, but phpbb is doing me fine. The updates are annoying but with easymod, they take seconds and dont mess with my mods.

The threats that come out are usually serious, so backups are critical.

Good luck.

Mike

 

My experience is similar, Swordfish... I have my forums modded similar to yours, too. And as for updates, it's true there were about 4 in short succession earlier this year but there hasn't been a need for one for a while now...

 

I never bothered to look at vBulletin much before their 3.5 release, as phpBB, and more recently Simple Machines, were serving fine. But the new "hook" API in 3.5 really got my attention, as I need to integrate one forum with Drupal (which is a CMS with a similarly well-designed hook/add-on API) and convert another one which is extensively custom-modded.

The mod system in vBulletin 3.5 means that for the vast majority of mods, no changes are necessary to vBulletin's core files, making upgrades a snap (already did my first update on my test installation, from RC2 to RC3, hehe...)

Also, using vB 3.5 forums, such as DP here, has convinced me that from an end-user perspective vB currently has a clear usability advantage, what with the Ajax and all. Others may certainly disagree...

Of course, if your forum works, don't break it ...but I for one am not going back to phpBB, ever