Which Forum Software Has Provided the Best Experience for Your Community Needs?

[JBCreates]

Compare different forum platforms (phpBB, XenForo, Discourse, etc.) and discuss which features have made the biggest difference for your specific community type.

 

[Ravenfreak]

So far I will say Woltlab Suite has done a great job providing Thee Zone with a cms and forum. It's great because I can write articles about topics I'm interested in and the CMS was free with the forum software.

 

[1stop]

So far I will say Woltlab Suite has done a great job providing Thee Zone with a cms and forum. It's great because I can write articles about topics I'm interested in and the CMS was free with the forum software.

I haven't heard of woltlab. Is it a free forum software too?

 

[zappaDPJ]

I haven't heard of woltlab. Is it a free forum software too?

WoltLab Suite - Premium Community Forum Software - WoltLab®

Create a forum for your customers, fans or colleagues in just a few steps. The modern and secure forum software for your community platform.

www.woltlab.com

It's not free but comparable in terms of pricing and feel to Xenforo.

In general I've found SMF to best suit my member's needs. Although the pace of development is glacially slow, it's fast, secure and contains functionality hard to find in other products such as a limited image search.

 

[cpvr]

So far, xenforo has been the best for me. I used vBulletin 3 and 4 back in the day though. vBulletin 3 and 4 were great during that time period.

I like the features that Xenforo provides and the core SEO features. I also like the add ons that are available.

 

[Nomad]

I have ran communities on SMF and phpBB longer than on Xenforo. I do not have any complains on the open source but based on my personal experience, Xenforo provides everything I need for my community.

 

[Baw$e]

It's not even close. Xenforo has been superior to the others. I wouldn't start a forum with another software at this point. It's the only way to go.

 

[Page]

SMF, then WordPress, IPB and XenForo - I rather use IPB as I been using it since the very early days when 3 came out