phpBB or Xenforo

[Luke]

Ive been thinking, it would be nice to sit down and try make a forum which lasts for years, AH could've, it was just awkward having my staff all suddenly quit.

I almost have enough money to buy a XFA license. Coming to the point, which do you prefer and why?

 

[karoshio]

Why would staff quitting matter at all? That happens, look for more and continue. It really wouldn't of mattered.


More on topics...

PHP = Outdated, Terrible, Mod Installation is terrible.
XenForo = Very modern, simply amazing, add ons install very easily.


If you have the money then XenForo is the way to go, you won't regret it over an outdated software like phpBB.

 

[David]

Why would staff quitting matter at all? That happens, look for more and continue. It really wouldn't of mattered.


More on topics...

PHP = Outdated, Terrible, Mod Installation is terrible.
XenForo = Very modern, simply amazing, add ons install very easily.


If you have the money then XenForo is the way to go, you won't regret it over an outdated software like phpBB.

This is as worthless as saying "go with Xenforo". Why is it "terrible", why is it "simply amazing"? Whilst I agree with your general bias towards XF, your comparison isn't really helpful.

@ZINC, I believe if you want that competitive edge, think of buying say XF as an investment. Sure you may revert back to PHPBB, but the potential of doing well on XF outweighs the cost of XF (which isn't very expensive over a period of time if you have a job).

 

[CyberFreak]

There is alot of difference between the 2 in terms of what they offer... and price also!

Personally I always think it is best that you use something you feel comfortable using, meets your needs and that you feel is best for your circumstances. Try all the softwares (either by installing them yourself or using a demo) and see what you prefer and what fits your needs best.

You shouldn't go with what other people think is best. You are the person that will spend the most time working on your site.

 

[karoshio]

Why would staff quitting matter at all? That happens, look for more and continue. It really wouldn't of mattered.


More on topics...

PHP = Outdated, Terrible, Mod Installation is terrible.
XenForo = Very modern, simply amazing, add ons install very easily.


If you have the money then XenForo is the way to go, you won't regret it over an outdated software like phpBB.

This is as worthless as saying "go with Xenforo". Why is it "terrible", why is it "simply amazing"? Whilst I agree with your general bias towards XF, your comparison isn't really helpful.

@ZINC, I believe if you want that competitive edge, think of buying say XF as an investment. Sure you may revert back to PHPBB, but the potential of doing well on XF outweighs the cost of XF (which isn't very expensive over a period of time if you have a job).

Alright, fair point.

XenForo is constantly updated, tons of huge communities and experienced forums owner are moving to it which just that shows it's great potential.

It's very, very nice compared to phpBB and is surpassing it in every way I can think of.

XenForo has a great template system allowing for even newer admins to create their own custom theme without any styling knowledge. phpBB definitely doesn't offer this.

XenForo addons are very easy to install and there's a great community of addon developers building up even though it's still so small. phpBB definitely doesn't offer this convenience when installing addons/mods.

XenForo has a great merge system for if you ever happened to merge another forum into it, it's all in built, fast and works amazing. phpBB can do these but not as easy and it's much slower.

XenForo is very big with social media which is what the world is getting more and more into phpBB doesn't offer anyway near as much as XenForo does in that sense.

XenForo has a great Admin Panel, everything is set out nicely and very easy to learn.

XenForo has a great page system for creating custom pages for well anything you may need and it even supports PHP Callbacks.


That's just a few off my head reasons I can think of at this minute.

 

[AndroidOS]

There is alot of difference between the 2 in terms of what they offer... and price also!

Personally I always think it is best that you use something you feel comfortable using, meets your needs and that you feel is best for your circumstances. Try all the softwares (either by installing them yourself or using a demo) and see what you prefer and what fits your needs best.

You shouldn't go with what other people think is best. You are the person that will spend the most time working on your site.

I agree with this ZINC. I use phpBB because I've used it for ages, and I find it hard to change...I love XF's interface as an end user, but I'm not so certain about it as an Admin.

 

[Luke]

I'm not sure if it's seriously worthy $140 though, to me, online that's a lot and for something I don't know will even match my needs could be a waste of cash. If the price was lower, I'd get it in a heart-beat.

I may, start with phpBB, see down the line if I have enough cash for XF.

 

[karoshio]

I'm not sure if it's seriously worthy $140 though, to me, online that's a lot and for something I don't know will even match my needs could be a waste of cash. If the price was lower, I'd get it in a heart-beat.

I may, start with phpBB, see down the line if I have enough cash for XF.

$140 really is not a lot of money to put into a website that lasts forever.
Why not go on the phpBB forum and the XenForo forum and make this same topic and get some bias opinons. Might help you.

Realistically though XenForo is better, simple as that. I gave a ton of reasons and if you want more just say. I can list on and on and on.

I would also like to state my opinion is not bias in any way as I have ran communities on phpBB in the past as well as SMF, MyBB, IP.Board and vBulletin.

I have experienced them all and in every one I was always tempted to change but since getting a copy of XenForo I have not looked back.

 

[Luke]

I'm thinking of getting XF. One problem, mods seems to cost which means I have to fork out even more cash.

Do you know how much points (like $FP) costs for that mod?

 

[karoshio]

I'm thinking of getting XF. One problem, mods seems to cost which means I have to fork out even more cash.

Do you know how much points (like $FP) costs for that mod?

I'm confused at what you're looking at.

Addons are free unless the developer charges just the same as any software. I have a lot of mods on my XenForo forum, some really nice ones and they're free.

The BD Bank addon which is a forum cash addon is completely free. 🙂

 

[Yoda]

I can support Karoshio, I purchased Xenforo a few weeks back and being honest i'm pretty bad at the admin end of things, but even i'm managing ok.

 

[Luke]

I think I'm going to save up, nearly there about 20-30$ off.

 

[dojo]

If you have the money, get XF. PhpBB is very dated and limited.

 

[Luke]

The last $30 could be hard to earn, but I'm sure I'll achieve it!

 

[Expired Account 3]

I have used nearly all forum softwares and just between phpBB and XF, XF to me seemed like the Windows 7 whereas phpBB more like XP. I agree with almost everything karoshio said, besides the admin panel - I have used not only forum admin panels other admin panels as well and yes it is easy to learn regardless I felt like I wasn't completely in control.

For a startup forum, I'd suggest going with an opensource first and since XF has a great merge system, you can easily merge at a later point when you deem it necessary. Personally, I wouldn't take the risk of spending that much money without a certainty of the future.

Have you given thought to MyBB? It's a great piece of software - well at least when I used to use it.

 

[Luke]

I hate myBB with a passion. 😛

I have enough money (by 20 cents) to buy it, so I guess, I shall buy it! 😀 yay!

 

[IAAM Radio]

We are thinking of jumping over to XenForo but our main concern is the transfer of two hard coded mods on our music site.

Example: A site with 2,000 vids how do those transfer over to XenForo? I also have a grooveshark player code we developed, how do you get those to transfer over? Basically how do you ensure to minimize loss of content? We have thousands of pics as well all sized with the reimg mod what about those maintaining it's ration. See the XenForo site, does not do a good job of explaining how the most common phpBB mods can transfer to its platform. Suppose I should just send an email and ask outright.

phpBB has so many outdated mods the support is horrid if not overly arrogant in many regards where when you pay, you are the client and from what I hear XenForo is a one stop shop for your modification needs....

Cost is not an issue its the loss of content that is the issue for us.

Example of what we want to make sure transfers:

Here is an example of what we want to ensure transfers without loss:

http://www.itsallaboutmusic.net/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=2903

 

[karoshio]

We are thinking of jumping over to XenForo but our main concern is the transfer of two hard coded mods on our music site.

Example: A site with 2,000 vids how do those transfer over to XenForo? I also have a grooveshark player code we developed, how do you get those to transfer over? Basically how do you ensure to minimize loss of content? We have thousands of pics as well all sized with the reimg mod what about those maintaining it's ration. See the XenForo site, does not do a good job of explaining how the most common phpBB mods can transfer to its platform. Suppose I should just send an email and ask outright.

phpBB has so many outdated mods the support is horrid if not overly arrogant in many regards where when you pay, you are the client and from what I hear XenForo is a one stop shop for your modification needs....

Cost is not an issue its the loss of content that is the issue for us.

Example of what we want to make sure transfers:

Here is an example of what we want to ensure transfers without loss:

http://www.itsallaboutmusic.net/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=2903

Your best bet is contacting the developer of those mods or even finding a good XenForo developer to discuss it with the developer of those mods.

XenForo allows mods, just like any other forum but they can't really support the merge of them especially when they're custom.

I've had this occur that and it is a tough one so the first option of whoever developed them for you to talk with an XenForo addon developer. If the developer is into XenForo already then that's a big bonus for you.

 

[Allan]

Zinc,
I went through the same thing and went with XF and love it.
As for a point mod check out bd banking. It's free and really easy to use.
There are ones that cost money but this is the best free one.

 

[IAAM Radio]

karoshio

Thanks M8, I developed the Grooveshark player mod. The other mods are simple like youtube where we allow for the full url.

I'll get in touch with the XenForo team and and have them look at my board and see what they have to say.

Good thread here indeed.