Which Forum software to use?

[Pablo]

OK, I'm just wondering what Forum software other folks are using? I know very little about Website building ... just the very basics .... and I want something that is very simple, yet very efficient too. For example, myBB and phpBB look simple and doable with plenty of support, but is there something even simpler available? I know I can Google this, but I'm interested in what other users' experiences have been.

 

[Sander k]

I use vBulletin 4.x.x.

 

[Serven]

vBulletin is a bit more complicated than myBB and phpBB though. Maybe too many bells and whistles for someone who is looking for something really simple.

I've heard people saying good things about SMF (Simple Machines) and it is simpler, not sure how goot it is as I haven't used it myself. I prefer myBB, as there is plenty of support documentation out there.

 

[Sander k]

SMF is easyer to use then MyBB.

 

[Briar Spirit]

PhpBB is just about the most popular free solution, from my own experiences MyBB is the better free solution, vBulletin is just about the best commercial solution with vB5 being a very exciting solution but still riddled with bugs, not that vB4 isn't mind you, Xenforo is a fun newish entry to forum solutions but it is commercial, I like it fairly well but much prefer vBulletin. Although I have a license for vB4 I much rather use MyBB, once you get the hang of it you find it to be a most enjoyable software to use and the user interface is interesting enough for members without being overly complicated.

 

[Sander k]

VBulletin starting from 4.2.0 and higher suck big time.

 

[Briar Spirit]

VBulletin starting from 4.2.0 and higher suck big time.

To be perfectly frank vB4 & vB5 have much to be desired, vB4 was rushed out as a release to please share holders and it would seem vB5 has been delivered with the same reckless attitude. To my mind vB3 was an awesome piece of software, if it were safe to do so I would use vB3 but without any security releases for the foreseeable future for vB3 it's not a safe solution.

MyBB is a good bet and it is the software I use.

 

[Tolkin]

I use MyBB. I think this is the simplest, easiest, and most modern forum software out there. And best of all, its free, unlike other forum softwares *wink wink*

 

[jreign]

xenforo is my fave fast loading and seo is one of the best with this forum

 

[dxverm]

I have used vbulletin, phpBB, SMF, kai miniboard, and myBB. Out of all of these solutions I have always proffered myBB for its ease of use and support.

 

[Grell]

Forem or Discourse. Is forum software that I use, very good and free, especially Forem. simple and lightweight, not like SMF and AEF are quite complex and highly cluttered Interface design in my opinion.

 

[Gregoric]

Do any of MyBB users have experience of it beaing very easily spammable? I am not sure why, but my friend created a small, rather private forum that was not widely advertised or shared and nevertheless it was attacked by spam bots. That fact surprised me a lot as there were a few new accounts created everyday. They have been coming to forums and spamming until my friend closed it.

There probably were better solutions like implementing some recaptcha or so but still. Did any of you have similar experiences?

 

[Genesis]

I wish un4saken could write a blog post about how he set up Gigarank, as we have virtually ZERO spam. Combo of disabling links for the first so many posts, employing all of the help there is with catching spam - through the stopspamforum tools - he basically set us up with all of his eight plus years experience in working with spammers and spam.

I don't think myBB is the problem. More how it is set up through the Admin side, as well as on the server side.

 

[Briar Spirit]

The best method to help reduce spambots from registering is to use the random questions instead of recaptcha, the bots know how to get around most security devices in registrations, of course if a human is gaining access for the bots then there is not much you can do aside from turning on Admin activation.

 

[admin]

We have a very large list of know spam ip`s which we block from the site, the list is regularly updated to keep 99% of spam bots away. There will be times when the odd spammer will slip through the net, then it falls to the forum staff to ban their ass and add the ip to spam list.

 

[Genesis]

We have a very large list of know spam ip`s which we block from the site, the list is regularly updated to keep 99% of spam bots away. There will be times when the odd spammer will slip through the net, then it falls to the forum staff to ban their ass and add the ip to spam list.

Aha .... so that is how it is done. No doubt probably with the help of stopforumspam.com. Brilliant!

 

[Penguin]

I have used SMF since version 1.1 and now 2.0 is the latest. They are preparing to release 2.1 soon.

Wedge is a fork of SMF 2.0 and it has more features. If you are interested then checkout wedge.org.


But I see MyBB being used in lots of websites and the more I use MyBB, the more I like it. Its really really fast.


Edit: I forgot to mention that SMF has SEO issues (atleast from my experience).

 

[Snowflake]

off-topic: everyone keeps talking about mybb. I have to check that one out sometime. I have a forum that already had it's share of conversions. from a free forum option to phpbb to smf. I don't even know if there is a way to convert smf to mybb, but even if there is I don't think I'll risk a change once again.

A friend of mine who doesn't understand much of the internet world uses smf (he was the one to introduce me to it), and says it's the easiest he ever tried, and you can do everything from their admin panel. No need to use cpanel or ftp for updates, templates installation etc.

 

[Genesis]

and you can do everything from their admin panel. No need to use cpanel or ftp for updates, templates installation etc.

This sounds very interesting. Although I personally prefer a separate cpanel for Websites. We've just had an experience at another free host where the forum went down, but since the Websites were on a different forum including cpanel, they were able to continue with the Websites without the need to access the forum to do so.

 

[Snowflake]

and you can do everything from their admin panel. No need to use cpanel or ftp for updates, templates installation etc.

This sounds very interesting. Although I personally prefer a separate cpanel for Websites. We've just had an experience at another free host where the forum went down, but since the Websites were on a different forum including cpanel, they were able to continue with the Websites without the need to access the forum to do so.

That's always a good thing... I had that happening with my forum and website in separated servers/web hostings, buuuuut, it was too expensive at the time to keep both, I ended up transfering it back to the site server. it doesn't get that many downtimes... which is good, because everytime it goes offline I get txt messages and emails from people complaining.