Which forum software to use?

hello everyone

I was curious to which forum software you would suggest for a new sports related discussion board. (In particular the different sports' drafts, hence the domain thedraftwatch.com)

I was looking for something that is free, like SMF, or phpbb3 or something. I have purchased IPB and vBulletin licenses before but I don't think its worth the $100+ when the free ones do the same thing.

I'm looking for something that is rather easily editable in terms of placing ad's and changing the template. Also a forum software which has some addon scripts and plugins would be really nice too.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hello,

I would stick on Phpbb3 ! I think its the best one out there, and its free ! In fact i love phpbb3

Very good administration backnend! Easy to place ads on it , and editing the template.

Vbulletin comes next, which can have a very heavy mock up ! You can see a beautifull modification i found at h##p://www.e-steki.gr !! I just love that layout !

 

i like vbulletin

 

If you are concerned about security, I suggest to use SMF instead of PhpBB.

 

vBulletin is very customizable and flexible. It also tends to be more secure, but that is not to say that it is exploit free. If you want to go with a free option, I suggest phpBB or SMF.

 

There is a world of difference between smf / phpbb3 and VBulletin.

If you have an up to date license with VBulletin you get real tech support - something that smf nor phpbb3 offers. If you need real tech support, you aint gonna get it in the smf forums. I ran a smf forum bridged with joomla for 6 months. Asking for help was more like begging for help.

If you want a real professional and commercial grade forum, go with VBulletin. There are certain built in features (such as paid subscriptions) that the free software just can not touch. VBulletin stays on top of the security problems. After all, they are paid to do that.

The mods for VBulletin are top notch and tested for security problems. If a security problem is found, the mod is pulled from vbulletin.org until the problem is fixed.

I own 2 VBulletin sites. There is no way I would ever go back to that free forum software ever again. No matter how tempting it is, even free software aint worth it sometimes.

 

http://getvanilla.com/ this stuff is kick assssss!

Nigel

 

vanilla seems really nice! it rocks ! hmm! didnt knot that forum! and its free ! any live demo ?

 

http://lussumo.com/community/discussions/ well, this is the software in action. I thought I had it installed on my test server but I don't see it.

It is screaming fast, competely separates logic from design, and has loads of useful mods.
If the layout throws you, you can install a few mods such as show categories on main page and add subcategories and it will pretty much function like VB or any of the others.

hope that helps
Nigel

 

I have actually used vanilla before, its simple and quite neat.

It looks like a lot of the users are leaning towards vBulletin.

Now I know there are pirated versions of vBulletin out there, but is it worth the risk of trying to run a pirated version of vBulletin? Obviously I won't get any tech support, and there's a possibility that I can get caught (and possibly get in trouble?)

 

vbulletin Always
Its best

though its PAYED

else go for SMF

 

No, you want to buy it. You can't get mods or anything really for it unless you have a member ID.

Nigel

 

MyBB is pretty cool

 

True. Might as well just save up the monies.

Now say I go with phpbb3 right now, is there some kind of conversion tool that will allow me to convert the DB over to vBulletin when I can get a license?

 

I don't know of any conversion tool like that, since the DB's are structured differently. I would suggest you just wait to save up for vB, it would be well worth it.

 

Yes, there is a conversion tool over at Vbulletin that will do that for you. It's a piece of cake.

Nigel

 

Personnally, I do like phpBB, when I only build a forum. But, most of the times, I build websites with a forum integrated in it.

That is why I do prefer using a CMS like Typo3 or Drupal & use a forum plugin. That way, I can easily merge the forum and the website very well.

Oh, and I always use open source technologies

Steve

 

I wasn't that happy with PHPBB but PHPBB3 I like. Much better at stopping unwanted posts. I'd give it a shot.

 

phpBB is the best free forum/board

 

Vbulletin has a conversion tool called IMPEX. See these links for more information:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=92

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209508&page=2

That tool can import about dozen or more forums into Vbulletin.

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209508&page=2

It looks like the vbulletin impex script supports up to phpBB3 :: 3.0.1

So if you wanted to, you could go with pbpbb3 right now, then migrate over to vbulletin later.