ZetaBoards

[Geoffrey]

I'm just gonna go ahead and start this discussion. We'll see how it goes.

I feel like everyone either loves ZB or hates it, honestly. Which side do you fall on?

I do have my issues with the software, mainly in the area of development and maintenance with only having a single developer working on things. But the community support and resource quality more than makes up for it, for me anyways. There are some really talented coders and designers that contribute to the ZB resource pool, which definitely keeps me using the software.

 

[Skyon Archer]

I like ZB. I started over there a looooong time ago on InvisionFree and made the move to Zetaboards when it appeared.

I have written many codes for ZB. It is written well and is a piece of cake to make mods for it with all the ID's and such they have.

All in all, they are the best when it comes to free services. Easy to use and easy to modify.

They suck if your site grows though. No credit is given if you make them a lot of ad revenue. You have to pay to remove ads. You can't get a database backup to move to another host/software.

If you don't mind that they have their ads on your forum, and that your server often has issues, it is a great software.

 

[John]

I'm on the dislike side. I tried a forum, and got stuck on w11, my forum was down just as much as it was up.
I do agree the support board is excellent for ZB.

 

[Geoffrey]

I'm on the dislike side. I tried a forum, and got stuck on w11, my forum was down just as much as it was up.
I do agree the support board is excellent for ZB.

I'm assuming this happened about 2-3 months ago? Those issues have been resolved, and it's not like other hosts don't go through issues similar to that.

 

[Smokey]

I like ZB a lot, as Skyon said though if you grow, it can become a pain. Also their premium service doesn't offer incentives like Jcink's does such as ability to have adult content or complete removal of ads. 🙂 Which is something they really should consider for ZB Premium.

Other than that, it's a really solid free service. 🙂

 

[Geoffrey]

I like ZB a lot, as Skyon said though if you grow, it can become a pain. Also their premium service doesn't offer incentives like Jcink's does such as ability to have adult content or complete removal of ads. 🙂 Which is something they really should consider for ZB Premium.

Other than that, it's a really solid free service. 🙂

ZB's premium service really is a joke. The last addition to it was back in 2009-ish when they added a shoutbox (which is now available for non-premium users).

 

[Cosmic]

Wow, I think I was still using ZetaBoards when they added the shoutbox. That was a long time ago! They must have fired all their devs, or something.

Nonetheless, I ZetaBoards! 😀

 

[Geoffrey]

Wow, I think I was still using ZetaBoards when they added the shoutbox. That was a long time ago! They must have fired all their devs, or something.

Nonetheless, I ZetaBoards! 😀

Nah, they still have the same dev. The single, one-person dev "team" if you can even call it a team. 😛

 

[Smokey]

I like ZB a lot, as Skyon said though if you grow, it can become a pain. Also their premium service doesn't offer incentives like Jcink's does such as ability to have adult content or complete removal of ads. 🙂 Which is something they really should consider for ZB Premium.

Other than that, it's a really solid free service. 🙂

ZB's premium service really is a joke. The last addition to it was back in 2009-ish when they added a shoutbox (which is now available for non-premium users).

Yeah, at least Jcink (who launched their premium service less than 6 months ago!) offer extra features and options for only $10/mo! and they let you have up to 3 boards under 1 premium payment!

 

[VirusZero]

Zetaboards is an ok option... But there are much better ones out there. Like Smokey stated Jcink Forum Hosting is by far a superior option. Even their free option severely bests most hosts by a wide margin. (JFH is the only free forum host that I'm aware of that allows you to grab a copy of your database at any time for free. So at any time you want you can decide to leave and go self-hosted easily.)

Zetaboards doesn't seem like it's had a whole lot of active development as of late. Unlike Jcink where they're working on adding new features and upgrading the service. (Next up to be added is an Alerts system. After that is likely to be an assorted feature pack.)

 

[Alex - Arvixe]

I remember ZetaBoards, never really liked it though. Do they give you the option to export your database for free or even for an additional fee?

That is a limitation of such softwares. Normally once you're established and want to move, you're stuck and have to start over 🙁

 

[Geoffrey]

I remember ZetaBoards, never really liked it though. Do they give you the option to export your database for free or even for an additional fee?

That is a limitation of such softwares. Normally once you're established and want to move, you're stuck and have to start over 🙁

They don't give you access to your database, but you also don't really need it. There's no reason to move - you have access to amazing themes and add on codes/mods, unlimited posts/topics/members on your forum, etc. that you don't get on other software without paying a ton of money.

If you're a casual forum owner doing it as a hobby (you wouldn't be using ZB if you weren't), then there really is no reason to move off of ZetaBoards.

 

[Foxhound]

I loved ZB! That's crazy that you guys had problems with it. I never really ran into any issues. Maybe with a few "user" scripts, but that isn't with ZB itself.

 

[MasterA]

I never actually used Zetaboards. It seems like an okay host but I prefer using forum softwares like Mybb and Phpbb which you can manage the database and files.

 

[Geoffrey]

I never actually used Zetaboards. It seems like an okay host but I prefer using forum softwares like Mybb and Phpbb which you can manage the database and files.

In all my years of using ZB, the few times where I've needed host access I have always found a way around it through a modification or something. 😉

 

[Mikaya]

I used it for a forum of mine a long while back. The user interface is nice, the Admin/Mod controls are easy to get to grips with and there are many free themes that can be installed. It's useful as a first forum software for beginners. The free host servers can be a problem because they can experience downtime and you won't be able to fully access your ZB forum until it's resolved. 😛

 

[Migi]

I ZetaBoards! I tried Jcink few times before and I found it more confusing than ZetaBoards with worse layout. But maybe that's because I'm used to ZB more than Jcink. ZB is ideal for me: I can make it simple or complicated when I want to. Most options are easy to find and customize, but I can also play around a bit more with advanced settings if I want to without being overwhelming. To be able to edit and add codes or themes without accessing files via database is just awesome. Though uploading images/icons one by one can be a pain, I feel at the end of the day it's worth the effort.

I used it few times for fun and enjoyed the simplicity and easy interface very much, as an administrator and member. Never had problem with it being down as well, but maybe I was just lucky.

 

[zane]

At first I didn't like it that much but it grew on me.

 

[Reverie]

I've been using Zetaboards since it first came out. I also used Invisionfree before that.

Zetaboards is definitely a great host - they have had some down times before, and they've gone out of their way to change that and there shouldn't be anything else like that for a long time hopefully. Down time has always been a rare thing for Zetaboards though, it was just that we got DDOS'd like other hosts have been.

The amazing selection of free themes is crazy, when other softwares you'd have to pay around 30 dollars to use such themes. I guess we are kind of spoiled 😛

I also think if you are just making a forum for the fun of it, rather than the hope of making money Zetaboards is a great place. No need to spend a lot of money to have a successful forum.

There are a few features that can be blah-ish, but honestly they are always working to improve it. Plus there is an add-on type thing called Dynamo that another member made and it has made Zetaboards a lot more fun and has some of the same features you would find on other softwares.

I would definitely always give Zetaboards a chance. 🙂

 

[Allenafaith]

I am only a member on one site (I think) that uses ZB. I dont really like it that much because it seems more complicated than MyBB or PhpBB.