Forum Software

vBulletin .

Gets regular updates and security patches. This is what you want when running a forum.

I've been running VB forums now for the past 5 years.
 
seek said:
Although, it largely depends on how busy/important the forum is. If it's relatively small, it's probably worth starting out on a free board (SMF) and then switching to vBulletin when things 'warm up' a bit. vBulletin is easily the best, but it's certainly not worth the money for small boards.
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It will start pretty small. Another thing I want to keep in mind is any DB migration to different forum software.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
It will start pretty small. Another thing I want to keep in mind is any DB migration to different forum software.
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My current board is vBulletin, which I transfered to from SMF. It was a simple task, using vBulletins "ImpEx" script. So if it will be small to begin with then I sugest you do the same. Start out with SMF, and consider vBulletin if/when your forum gets busy.

Also, this will mean vBulletin 4 will be released by the time you switch to it, and will have matured past the buggy early versions.

SMF + TinyPortal is a great combination for a community-based website.
 
I've used Invision and SMF for small to medium sized boards in the past, I've not adminned Invision in almost 3 years now so could not comment on its current state. SMF is nice enough, is easy to skin up and has a nice little community to use for addons/themes to butcher if needed. Could not compare to vBull because I've never had a community large enough to justify.
 
Looking at it in terms of installing and administering, I would say that phpBB is easier to pick up. However, vBulletin is cleaner and simpler to use from a member perspective.

Obviously the fact that vBulletin costs money and phpBB is free plays a large part in the decision making process. If you want to diverge from the default phpBB functions and install modifications to get all the fancy features, then you may be better off with vBulletin as I find it's modifications are better.

If you have the money available, then I would highly recommend vBulletin :)
 
phpBB is fantastic in terms of flexibility and potential. With version 3 though, I've found that the admin side of it can be a bit harder with regards to setting up the initial forums - the permissions and groups can be a pain initially. That said, once it's up and running, I can't complain at all.

The other nice aspect of phpBB is the community, both in terms of coding support and expansion.
 
What the migration path from phpBB to VB like? I don't think it's wise to invest in a community where the size and popularity is unknown, saying that, I do like VB.
 
I've used/administered both vBulletin, and phpBB based forums, and while both of them have their ups and downs, vBulletin wins, but that is then reflected in the price. You get what you pay for.
 
I've always used IPB, tried phpBB quite a few times including the newest release but I don't think it 'feels' as nice as IPB. Never administrated a VB so can't comment.
 
I've had both vbulletin and phpbb boards, I love vB and had spammers galore on the phpbb so it's vB all the way for me.

How is the cost prohibitive, it's only about £50 per year isn't it?
 
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