phpBB OR XenForo

[flametiger]

I use both. I actually surprised with phpBB 3.2 because it's pretty good, but the default theme made it seems outdated.

The only thing missing are mention username and spoiler tag, but both can be added using extension.

Install a premium theme then it looks good.

 

[Smokey]

Xenforo by far. Especially with newer versions of phpBB, it seems less and less supported by the community. Xenforo is still growing strong and is a fantastic platform to have powering your community. 🙂

 

[Deleted member 32117]

Xenforo as it better more plugins and themes

 

[Jason76]

Xenforo as it better more plugins and themes

(phpBB) More plugins could be developed if only there were enough unpaid volunteers to do it. As far as the themes are concerned, there aren't many free themes, but if you look around, the paid ones are good.

 

[tgtwizted]

phpBB 3.2 with a good paid theme is great. The default themes and many of the free themes do not look very good and many appear outdated looking. Xenforo looks great as well, and I would prefer it, but it all depends on how much you're willing to spend.

 

[Page]

add IPB to the list or that's the winner of all that doesn't to be added

 

[Jason76]

Possibly, though, free stuff like phpBB or MyBB wouldn't be worse at spam than XenForo. I mean, if you don't use certain spam protection on XenForo, then you get eaten up, just like anywhere else.

 

[markb]

I would go with phpbb.

 

[Page]

add IPB to the list or that's the winner of all that doesn't to be added

in terms of cost, which is more affordable between IPB and Xenforo?

Xenforo is the cheaper option if you can install it yourself. With IPB you need to renew your licence every 6 months

 

[Page]

Xenforo is the cheaper option if you can install it yourself. With IPB you need to renew your licence every 6 months

Yeah but I just seen the page with all xenforo costs and if you say xenforo is cheaper then I can only imagine what IPB would cost. Xenforo seems a bit pricey, can you provide the link to IPB payment / cost page?

It depends on what you get, IPB offers there own hosting that you pay starting from $30/month for low and $590/month for there high package.

Or you can buy suite that you download and install it to your own server (cheaper option) for me cost me $380 that's without the blogs. Then they are now doing enterprise package

 

[Smokey]

It depends on what you get, IPB offers there own hosting that you pay starting from $30/month for low and $590/month for there high package.

Or you can buy suite that you download and install it to your own server (cheaper option) for me cost me $380 that's without the blogs. Then they are now doing enterprise package

is the $380 a one time fee for a lifetime license or do you renew monthly?

you would pay $380 for the board and the add-ons Empire is talking about, then there's a renewal fee of around $60 or so every 6 months so roughly $120/yr for renewals. $380 was the initial purchase price for Empire if I'm understanding him properly.....

Xenforo is and always will be the cheaper option.

 

[Page]

@Smokey @stankovic Yes that's right. But remember it was $380 as I got the full Package. If you only want the board and not the full package that IPB offer then it wouldn't cost you $380, be less.

renewal fee in total for me is $90 depending on what package you get. the less package you get the less the renewal fee is.

Regards to third party ad-dons, Some are free to use others are paid. Not all paid have an renewal fee. Yet again I paid around $200 worth of ad-dons

 

[Jason76]

Spam seems to be difficult to control on phpBB, hence, why I have XenForo. Nonetheless, though, I did go thru long stretches of time where I avoided spam on phpBB by using questions as a spam-fighting technique. However, though, possibly things went under with my forums because I didn't change the questions or try a new method.

Also, the URL scheme of phpBB isn't SEO friendly - unless you buy that SEO magic mod for 20 to 40 dollars, something like that. Also, there is a free URL rewrite mod, but it might not work with the latest version.

Oh, by the way, the main things I hate about free forum software is that there are little quarks I've seen on them that can be major problems for visitors. For instance, on one phpBB forum when you quote, the name of who you quoted isn't mentioned. Also, on MyBB and phpBB, you have to edit a post to get the spacing correct. Otherwise, paragraphs won't break (MyBB) or words are too close to quotes.

Great reply, thanks for giving some insight. I was hoping more people would tell us exactly WHY they love Xenforo, IPB over Phbb besides the appearance etc.

From what I read on your post, phbb seems to have some challenges with spam control, also you made mention of plugins among other things, on the long run which would you say would be the wiser decision :
1. using xenforo with a custom theme or
2. using a phbb forum with certain plugins that would enable optimum performance.

I'm not sure if XenForo even fights spam better than other types of software. I don't think it does. I mean, it's not worse, but it's not better. In fact, the same old thing of asking new people (user registration) to spell words backward is the same trick on all of them.

 

[Page]

I'm not sure if XenForo even fights spam better than other types of software. I don't think it does. I mean, it's not worse, but it's not better. In fact, the same old thing of asking new people (user registration) to spell words backward is the same trick on all of them.

There are third party websites that can offer that for XenForo. Since it's paid thought it will have had something.

That's is why I like IPB they have that built into there system

 

[Jason76]

I'm not sure if XenForo even fights spam better than other types of software. I don't think it does. I mean, it's not worse, but it's not better. In fact, the same old thing of asking new people (user registration) to spell words backward is the same trick on all of them.

There are third party websites that can offer that for XenForo. Since it's paid thought it will have had something.

That's is why I like IPB they have that built into there system

I doubt if XenForo's protection is different than IPB or even MyBB. All of it won't work against these new spambots, so you have to use tricks like asking difficult questions or ask people to write words backward (during user registration). I mean, XenForo does have a strong spam fighting mechanism, but it proved ineffective on my forums, at least the captcha did. It's totally been broken.

 

[Jason76]

in terms of support, modification / customisation etc, between phpbb, xenforo and IPB which of these have more volunteers / support?

XenForo and IPB would have more support because they're paid services.

 

[Smokey]

Xenforo is cheaper than IPB, I've seen a lot of IPB add-on/theme developers drop off the face of the earth with the release of IPB4.....Xenforo 2.0 is nearly upon us and developers have already started updating add-ons to the next version now that a public beta is out for it.

 

[Jason76]

XenForo and IPB would have more support because they're paid services.

sent you a message @Jason76 @Empire

Got your message and replied.

 

[Page]

XenForo and IPB would have more support because they're paid services.

sent you a message @Jason76 @Empire

I read it!!

 

[Jason76]

OK, touching on some topics in private messages, I would say RocketThemes.com has a massive selection of killer themes (for phpBB). Also, I think ThemeForest.net has a few. Can people name more places?

Also, as far as volunteer support is concerened. XenForo, being premium has on-the-call pro support and also volunteers, while phpBB has good support but it's all volunteer (so possibly certain things may not be answered).