SMF Forum anyone used it ??

Yeah it's a pretty good piece of software considering it's free. Vbulletin is the daddy though - if you're planning to look professional or start a large community, VB would be the way to go.
 
Yes, it works a treat and is very easy to use and set up.

Currently using the version 2 RC and have little issues with it (sometimes the formatting on the WYSIWYG mucks up but can easily be fixed by turning that mode off).
 
No, not at all. My community makes around 4,500 posts per month which I consider to be reasonably large.

I would probably disagree with daz and say that vBulletin used to be the daddy - however more and more large companies (games companies for example) are starting to use SMF or phpBB instead of vBulletin or making an in-house solution.

I've used vBulletin, SMF, phpBB and YaBB and I would probably say that SMF is my favourite. I haven't used vB version 4 though that's just been released.
 
vidda said:
No, not at all. My community makes around 4,500 posts per month which I consider to be reasonably large.

I would probably disagree with daz and say that vBulletin used to be the daddy - however more and more large companies (games companies for example) are starting to use SMF or phpBB instead of vBulletin or making an in-house solution.

I've used vBulletin, SMF, phpBB and YaBB and I would probably say that SMF is my favourite. I haven't used vB version 4 though that's just been released.
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I have hosting with 1and1 and have a Sql database spare what other resources would I need from my hosting company how much storage would I need for a forum the size of yours? ?
 
vidda said:
I would probably disagree with daz and say that vBulletin used to be the daddy - however more and more large companies (games companies for example) are starting to use SMF or phpBB instead of vBulletin or making an in-house solution.
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I know people have been critical of vbulletin/jelsoft lately but if you look at the biggest 50 forums on the internet... how many of them run VB?

Look at this graph... http://www.big-boards.com/statistics/

VB is still the market leader and will be for some time I think.
 
Invasion said:
I have hosting with 1and1 and have a Sql database spare what other resources would I need from my hosting company how much storage would I need for a forum the size of yours? ?
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It has just under 14k posts at the minute and the MySQL database is currently 43mb. Most plans offer a couple of gigs which should be more than enough for you to start out on.

daz said:
I know people have been critical of vbulletin/jelsoft lately but if you look at the biggest 50 forums on the internet... how many of them run VB?

Look at this graph... http://www.big-boards.com/statistics/

VB is still the market leader and will be for some time I think.
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I did say 'starting to use'. vB was the best for a long time, however the graphs are slightly skewed as a lot of those forums have been online for a long time. Converting to another bb software would cause a lot of hassle and take time to do - if things aren't broken they won't be choosing another solution :)

I don't have any issues with vBulletin, it's the bb that I've used for the longest (~5 years?), however there are plenty more solutions out there that are offering similar products for free. I started using SMF a few months ago (redesign) and haven't looked back.
 
We considered SMF recently but decided against it because the license states it's not for commercial use.
 
vidda said:
Are you sure? I've just had a look at the license (http://www.simplemachines.org/about/license.php) and can't find that condition.

I might be wrong though and fortunately I'm not using it for commercial purposes :)
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Well, it doesn't explicitly state that but this was the paragraph:

This Package, Modified Packages, and derivative works may not be sold or released under any paid license. Copying fees for the transport of this Package, support fees for installation or other services, and hosting fees for hosting the Software may, however, be imposed.
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We were going to implement it as part of a client's website, but ended up with MamboBoard instead which seems a bit shaky but good enough for us.
 
I think I am going to install this today on my 1and1 server is there anything I need to do security wise ?? I am new to all this so I am really not sure what I am talking about , I was thinking somthing along the lines as you do with wordpress when you put in security keys??

any advice much appreciated
 
Basic is good :) well I have it running and now my wife has 34 members already :D
Can anyone tell me -and remember basic is good- how I would add an advert or banner at the top of the forum ??

Thanks
 
Hxc said:
I really don't get why vB is so far ahead of IPB in marketshare... I love IPB.
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Vb is easier on server resources (or at least was when I last used it for a large project). It also had a very nice method of integrating your entire site into their user system long before the other guys did - and it was relatively easy to use.
 
On a reasonably large kayaking community I set up for a friend we run SMF. We started out using phpBB but for some reason or other despite security measures in place, we got a silly amount of spam registrations to the forums.

Could have been coincidence but we changed over to SMF and I migrated everything across and the spam registrations dropped away to almost nothing.

I quite like SMF, it's easy to set up, configure and above all for members of the group, easy to admin for those who haven't got a massive grasp of all things PC. :cool:
 
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