What's the best free forum software to use?
- Thread starter JBMedia
- Start date
Uhh.. Proboards, Zetaboards, Icyboards etc. are not forum software. They are hosting sites, while he specifically asked about forum software.
MyBB used to be a somewhat decent forum software during the 1.6.x era, although their security is somewhat questionable in 1.8 due to the many recent security scandals.
phpBB 3.1 seems to be moving along fairly nicely, they apparently even have some of the modern features like alerts and so forth, although I haven't taken a too close look at it.
My very own AtomBB will be a fairly good option when the other alpha is released soonish or so. Most of the modern functionality. Some original features, and so forth. Unfortunately, the alpha aspect means that stability may not be the greatest.
NodeBB is one option, if you have a VPS, and it seemed fairly minimalistic from when I last looked at it in terms of functionality although, the index was very jarring from when I last looked at it, and you will need some degree of server admin knowledge.
Misago was an interesting Python related one, which may make a good alternative from the big players, although yet again.. You need a VPS and some degree of server admin knowledge.
To be fair, VPS' are relatively cheap these days, although there can be problems when they aren't configured properly.
MyBB used to be a somewhat decent forum software during the 1.6.x era, although their security is somewhat questionable in 1.8 due to the many recent security scandals.
phpBB 3.1 seems to be moving along fairly nicely, they apparently even have some of the modern features like alerts and so forth, although I haven't taken a too close look at it.
My very own AtomBB will be a fairly good option when the other alpha is released soonish or so. Most of the modern functionality. Some original features, and so forth. Unfortunately, the alpha aspect means that stability may not be the greatest.
NodeBB is one option, if you have a VPS, and it seemed fairly minimalistic from when I last looked at it in terms of functionality although, the index was very jarring from when I last looked at it, and you will need some degree of server admin knowledge.
Misago was an interesting Python related one, which may make a good alternative from the big players, although yet again.. You need a VPS and some degree of server admin knowledge.
To be fair, VPS' are relatively cheap these days, although there can be problems when they aren't configured properly.
One first important question is which software are you most familiar with? SMF has a confusing management panel for me (both as a member and administrator) but if you have been using it for years that you know where to find something easily, I guess it's the one for you.
For me, MyBB is the best because it is simple for a member and an administrator. phpBB is number two because I like MyBB's overall layout better than phpBB.
In a way it's true, although as far as I know there are no other forum software which looks like them. So I take them as software too, although they also host forums created with their software.
I never tried ProBoards, but ZetaBoards is also nice. It's a good choice if you don't want to think too much about hosting. As a free hosted forum the administration panel is well organized and the themes are easily customized without access to cPanel and such.
For me, MyBB is the best because it is simple for a member and an administrator. phpBB is number two because I like MyBB's overall layout better than phpBB.
Azareal said:
In a way it's true, although as far as I know there are no other forum software which looks like them. So I take them as software too, although they also host forums created with their software.
I never tried ProBoards, but ZetaBoards is also nice. It's a good choice if you don't want to think too much about hosting. As a free hosted forum the administration panel is well organized and the themes are easily customized without access to cPanel and such.
D
Deleted member 25872
JBMedia said:
ProPhpBB, Free Forums, ProBards, ZetaBoards. These are the best free forums software to use. 🙂
MyBB is what I would recommend if I am honest. It's similar to the paid forum software in a few ways and looks a lot more professional than other free software not to mention it's also really easy to work with and manage
D
Deleted member 25872
Shortie861 said:
Actually, I will say alot of people are moving from phpbb to mybb. Do you know why? 🙂
As far as software is concerned, there's a demo for phpBB 3.1 which is up on phpBB's site which you could play with.JBMedia said:
As for MyBB 1.8, you might have to download it. If you use Windows then, it shouldn't be too hard to spin up a quick install on Xampp to play with.
Not sure about MyBB 1.6 (the one that is secure), they might still have a package of it up.
If you go for MyBB then, I would strongly recommend 1.6 over 1.8, due to the security issues.
To be honest I'm not really familiar with any of them. Hence, this post. I wanted to see people who've already been using forums and what their opinions are on them so I can choose an option and dive right into learning the functionality of it.Migi said:
Thank you Azareal for the information. I am leaning more towards the phpBB as my software due to a bunch of different reasons as of this moment. Still need a little more research done first though.
Thank you everyone again for the wonderful help!
xXInfectedXx said:
I'd say myself that people are moving away from PHPbb and moving to MyBB because it's a lot easier to use in terms of running the forum. The last time I used phpBB template edits were still needed for addons which is always annoying and frustrating as it can end up being that you will make a mistake and have to restart. I also always found MyBB to be a lot more professional looking.
phpBB 3.1 is supposed to have a hook system and a number of other changes, so the extensions shouldn't be as much of a hassle as they used to be in 3.0. Granted, it took them a long time to finally get around to doing it, but they seem to be fixing a number of problems and moving in the right direction.Shortie861 said:
Granted, there's a fair bit of fluff in phpBB like the roles system with somewhat ambiguous roles to begin with. I hope that they consider removing it or at the very least.. Hiding some of the fluff like that and revamping the Control Panel somewhat in 3.2 or a later version.
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I recommend MyBB, as it has lots of plugins, which are very easy to install, and has a very nice, clean look
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From my experience, phobia. I love the modifications that can be made, I love the freedom you have with it. There are also some good free themes if you look hard enough 🙂
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