Internet Forum Software

Gimpymoo · 2 Oct 2013 at 14:47

We are in the process of setting up a new gaming clan.

Truth be told, I under estimated the work involved but it is fun.

Regarding the website, we do not have the time and I personally do not have the knowledge to build our own forum software/front end from scratch with the features we desire.

I have been looking at the following:

Vbulletin 5 Connect
Invision Power IP.Board
XenForo
Wordpress
phpBB

Wordpress/phpBB
Although I like the ease of Wordpress and phpBB for personal/small sites, looking forward, I do not think they would last long term with the goals I currently have for the site.

vBulletin 5 Connect
This does seem to be a "total package" and very featurefull but I have doubts as to if it has lost its way since 4.0. If anyone is using it, could they share their thoughts.

If purchasing a VB 5 license, you get 4.0 anyway so that is an option.

Invision Power IP.Board
From what I can tell, it is purely a forum discussion tool, can you build a site with it?

XenForo
I like the look of this.
Seems a cleaner style than the current vBulletin. Again though, anyone using it?

Any feedback appreciated.

Licenses are not cheap so need as much help as I can get.

Thank you.

Gimpymoo · 2 Oct 2013 at 17:39

The site will be more of a hub with a forum attached to it.

For an example:

http://www.edge-gamers.com/

That is not what our site will be like but gives a rough idea of what we want.

I do like the idea of "front page" articles being a forum post. Makes discussions/Archiving easier I feel.

Gimpymoo · 2 Oct 2013 at 18:03

Hyburnate said:
Pretty sure if you buy vB5 you can use your licence for 4. That's what I'd do. Drop their CS a message

That is the case.

Is vB5 feature incomplete compared to 4?

Gimpymoo · 2 Oct 2013 at 19:30

Would you say there is anything better on the market at the moment?

Gimpymoo · 3 Oct 2013 at 15:49

I think it is between vB and XenForo but I think vB edges it, need to do a little more research I think.

The "building a site around XenForo" does seem weak compared to vB although the forum part does seem solid.

Thanks.

Gimpymoo · 4 Oct 2013 at 03:38

Does XF have much "Frontpage" capability compared to IPB?

Gimpymoo · 5 Nov 2013 at 12:04

I went with Invision Power suite in the end.

You can get a "pay monthly" licence for $10 which I thought is great value.

http://www.invisionpower.com/cloud-pricing

Is perfect for the interim as only a small group of us working on the site at the moment.

Once the site is up and running and with hopefully large amount of traffic, we will switch to a licensed copy.

Good customer service from IP so far too.

Will post the site when I have something decent to show

Gimpymoo · 17 Jun 2014 at 12:17

Update, just incase someone else is in the same position.

Have been tinkering with IPB suite for a while now and here my thoughts and future plans.

Overall, I like IPB as a forum, it is functional with good admin/management tools. At times though, some of the feature seem overly complex.

HOWEVER, to use IPB as a total suite and the get the most out of it, does require the ability to make your own scripts which while I am sure many can, I cannot. Sure, you could "hire" someone to do that for you but the cost can spiral or try to use a mish mash of paid scripts which may/may not work.

So, the idea of using IPB as a complete package for the whole site, seems to be out the Window.

I am going to attempt to try using Wordpress as a front end with IPB for the forum. I may even try Xenforo in the future too.

Many knock Wordpress but as a basic front end, in my opinion, it is decent and has LOTS of community support.

One HUGE positive about IPB I have to say, is their official support are EXCELLENT. Quick to respond with accurate and helpful replies. User to user support on their forum is also good with some great community members but if you encounter any niche problem, you will find it more IPB seems to be more niche meaning user to user support can be difficult to find in anywhere other than their own forum.

I do agree that when looking at a forum, PHPBB while practical is showing its age.

I just need to see how much I can integrate IPB with Wordpress regarding user account etc.

Gimpymoo · 18 Jun 2014 at 14:21

~Mike~ said:
http://www.enjin.com/

From a brief perusal, it looks "OK" for what it is?

Anyone used it?

Seems restrictive though.

Gimpymoo · 18 Jun 2014 at 15:35

Looking in a bit more detail, although I can see the benefits of Enjin for some, it reminds me of My Space for some reason....

Gimpymoo · 18 Jun 2014 at 15:36

uniQ said:
I dislike enjin with a passion. From OP I would choose IP then Xenforo. vB lost it's way after 3.0. The lead developers of vB created Xenforo.

For free BBs I like myBB the most.

Has stated in my update a few posts up, the plan now is to stick with IP for the forum but just have something else to use as a front end. The question is, what? I am **** at coding of any description and although IP.content is awesome, it is way beyond me.