Which forum software would you recommend?
This blog has not had a post for more than a week because I have been working hard to launch a new blog. The design is complete, ad I am contemplating a forum to go with the blog.
Since I do not plan to make any significant money from the blog or forum, vBulletin is not an option for me. What remains are phpBB, SMF or bbPress.
I have used bbPress (made by Automattic, who also make WordPress) before, and it is not yet powerful enough because it is still in its early days of development.
From the suggestions that I received from my friends, I concur that phpBB is very powerful but also hard to deploy. SMF is a lot easier (I have tried it out), and is also lightweight and resource-friendly.
Since this forum will be used for quite some time to come, I do not want to be in a situation where I regret the choice of forum software that I made.
So, I am asking you, my readers for suggestion. You may have used phpBB and/or SMF as forum users, moderators or administrators/owners. How were your experiences with phpBB and SMF, and based on that, which would you recommend? Or do you recommend any other forum software?
Dave said on April 30th, 2008
I’ved used both phpbb and smf for forums. I think phpbb 3 is the better software. Since its newly released, there arent enough addons, but they will be coming. Feel free to ask me if you have any particular questions.
Aravind said on April 30th, 2008
I’ve used both phpBB & SMF.
phpBB is extremely powerful. You get to tweak each and every part of it. Customizations are endless!!!
It gives you ultimate power as an administrator and features an extensive feature-set, which you might be lost in!!!
So, if you want complete & efficient control of you forum and you are targeting a wider audience, go for phpBB
Else, if you dont plan to scale it up, SMF wins the case!!
All the best.
Post authorSumesh said on April 30th, 2008
@Dave: Thanks for your suggestion. I’ve already installed both SMF and phpBB to test out, and I really liked phpBB. But with a software of such power, I’m bound to have doubts, and thanks for offering help in advance
@Aravind: Power is not so much an issue right now, but I want to go for a wider audience and have the forum running for quite some time. Scaling up is certainly required. Thanks for the suggestion; will keep it in mind when I make the decision.
Haris said on April 30th, 2008
Among the open-scripts one, I have used both phpBB3 and SMF. phpBB3 always takes the lead. It has got more mods, themes etc. On the other hand, SMF doesn’t give you much features as compared to phpBB3.
As for paid ones, I love both the big daddies, IP Board and vBulletin. I have used both of them. I like IP Board the best.
madhan said on April 30th, 2008
i prefer phBB
Post authorSumesh said on April 30th, 2008
@Haris: I am not interested in paid software, because the objective of the forum will not be to make money.
@Madhan, Haris: Thanks for your opinions. It seems that everyone prefers phpBB.
Vasu said on May 1st, 2008
I use vbulletin….
it really rocks…
My nest choice is SMF
looks very good and we can add mods easily….
Adding mods in Phpbb is a little time consuming process
But lots of resources for it
I think for you SMF will be ideal
Go on with it
Aravind said on May 2nd, 2008
@Haris
You love IP Board over vBulletin?