Picking Forum Software
 

I am looking for different forum software, please make recommendations.

I would like one that is easy to intsall

vBulletin - http://www.vbulletin.com/
phpBB2 - http://www.phpbb.com/

those are 2 i'd recommend. :]

http://www.phpbb.com

no ad's, pretty easy to install, easy to customize, good customer support and FREE!!

BTW needs to be free, I tried PHPBB and I cant even figure out how to install it

I'd go with phpBB; it's free, customizable, open-source, widely used, usually fairly easy to install, and feature-rich. You'll get a lot of support and will find it's basically just a compact version of the powerful vBulletin software used here. The other main alternative is XMB, which I have barely any experience with, but it's free and I've heard it's good. If you're not up for this kind of forum, and just want a simple message board, try Phorum.

Hmm.... I thought that it was pretty easy. Just read the instructions. If you need any more help go to:
http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=12
- This is the offical forum for phpbb installation support.

It's phpbb is quite well written, i think. Trust me... my forum started on Oct. 20th. I'd never seen a line of php code before that day, and was ok at html (didn't know a thing about style sheets though :)) All i knew well was visual basic. Now... as i'm posting this, I'm writing some HUGE mods for phpbb

If you want to see my site, it's: www.feds201.com
-totaly phpbb

If you would like any help, feel free to email me: webmaster@feds201.com

PS: All this is unless you want to spend $$ in which case, vB is good... but, i'm poor so only phpBB for me :)

PPS: I just looked at the website in your profile. b/c it's angelfire, if it's a free site, you might not be able to install phpBB. Not 100% sure though.

Last time I checked, angelfire didnt offer mysql databases... so you're very very limited ...

I use XMB www.xmbforum.com on my team's site www.team696.org/forum/index.php It came pre-installed on my hosting account. It is very easy to work with and full of features although I'm not sure about installation. It does have a couple minor bugs that you have to install fixes for but other than that I think it's great.

I need to know hot to config the Config.php file, I am entering what it asks me!:ahh:

Due to being on a Unix server and not wanting to try and install MySQL or deal with PHP, I found a free forum download, YaBB, that is easy to install and add new features to. The site is http://www.yabbforum.com.

There are two forums that are run at the site. The first is for the full forum download and other miscellaneous stuff. The second one (which is where I seem to live now) is for modifications (Mods) to the forums. Everyone at these sites are very friendly provided you have tried everything to find the answer in the boards previously. (Otherwise, they'll get a bit snippy, but nothing too harsh.)

If you want to see the boards in action, check out mine at http://www.csun.edu/~robodox/YaBB/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi. You'll have to register to view the general categories.

Any questions, email me at robodox@csun.edu.

indieFan

Did you read the install notes / instructions? Do you know what the config.php file is for? The file gives phpBB the info it needs to access the database it uses for the board. I can tell you what all the fields mean, but you'll have to get all the info from your service provider.

dbms - the database type, the most common is "mysql"
dbhost - the hostname of the computer that holds the database, typically it's "localhost" but some providers have the database on a different machine
dbname - the name of the database you (or your service provider) created
dbuser - the name of the user that has read/write permissions on the database
dbpasswd - password for above user
table_prefix - the prefix that phpBB uses for all tables in the database, making it easier to see which tables are for phpBB

Mike

I think mike that matt was talking about the config.php file in XMB rather than phpBB.

I know that the new version of XMB just came out, and so i downloaded it, and looked at it. Personally, I like the file structure and design style of phpBB more. (Yes, i'm using phpbb now, so i'm not independet)

Also, I thought that the support offered on the XMB site was less than that for phpBB.

AND... XMB still requires a MySQL database, so i don't see why you couldn't install phpBB.

I'm currently running XMB 1.6 Majic Lantern Final. It has been working great and I got the bugs worked out. My hosting account has the option to automatically switch over to phpBB 2.0.2. Is it that much better? I don't want to convert right before the season and then have a bunch of problems. Will I lose everything like the threads from before?

One more question, for phpBB 2.0.2, how does it make you the forum admin? For XMB, it's the first person who registers becomes the admin.

Thanks

Well... Take a look at www.feds201.com and decide. I don't know. I mean... all forums do the same thing. The style and way in which they do it may be different, and that's all up to what the admin likes. Personally, I like my style better than the XMB ones i've seen, but as i said, it all what you like.

#2: They have a bunch of converters for other types of foums going into phpBB. (you can find them at: www.phpbb.com ) All transfers should be ok, but i can't say for 100% sureness.

#3: Admin. When you go to set up your forums for the first time, you go to: root/install.php (and delete it after :))

There you enter a few things (like you db connection, forum title, and the Admin account (username and pass) )

It will auto-gen the config.php file for you, and if it can't write to the directory because it's read only, it will let you download the config file and let you upload it yourself.
-It went very smooth and easy for me.

If you like the layout of CD, then phpBB is closer to that than XMB.

PS: It also supports many different types of databases. Some are: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MsSQL, MS Access ODBC

Word from the wise (read: he who didnt backup one time):
Always, always, always, always do a complete backup before trying to do any type of data-intensive actions to your forums (ie: converting from one forum system to another, etc)

I'm somewhat of a phpBB expert, I've installed and modified countless numbers of forums for people. Do not even bother with those other forums, aside from VBulletin, it is the best forum out there. YaBB, Phorum, and others cannot even compare to the power of phpBB. If you need any help with it, email me, or contact me on the support team of: http://www.phpbbhacks.com/

I can help you out with any problems you may encounter.

Well don't forget invisionboard. It was fairly easy to install and I had a few problems installing it but that was because of my stupidity. Oddly enough my zip program got rid of all the folders.:ahh: www.invisionboard.com

there's also Ikonboard.

Upgraded my XMB 1.6 to 1.8 today. Went pretty smoothly actually. Then I tried to install a calendar and I almost lost everything. Luckily, I had backed up the database before that happened (thanks Brandon;)) and all is well now.

Anyway, you all can check it out at www.team696.org/forum/index.php

Don't register if you're never going to come back, but if you all could just browse around and make sure nothing is goofed up that would be great. Let me know if you see something wrong.

Thanks,
sanddrag

I'm a fan of phpBB2. Team 245 uses it on its forum. Very sleek/fast forum software.

We scrapped our old Ikonboard 3, because it was slow and I like PHP better than Perl. The admin panel in Ikonboard 3 is insanely powerful though...Thats one thing I miss. Ah well..

Ya. I know that's one thing they will be working on for phpBB 3

Yes, I must admit I really don't like the panel for phpBB.

I know that there are many things that the defalut version on phpBB misses. BUT... I was looking at next version 2.1 (or 2.2 ??) and it will be A LOT better. Many of the things that phpBB misses that for example vB has, phpBB will have in it's next version. Hopefully, the next major version of phpBB should be out sometime in the late first quarter of 2003. :)

PS: When you say that the admin panal in phpBB isn't good, what is it missing? - The only thing i can think of is how you have to look up members. (But... you can install a mod that takes you to the admin panal whenever you click on a link in the member profile)

PPS: If you every want to see what vB admin panal looks like / have a test forum go to: http://www.vbulletin.com/admindemo/ (But... it's only version 2)

PPPS: I know i said that phpBB is going to be a lot like vB now, but... vB three with all it's 'extra' options will surpass what phpBB will be. :(

I wrote my own from the ground up. Mostly for fun. :)

I need to be able to install it on my Mac OS 9 Server

If you are willing to pay then i would recomend Vbulletin.
Otherwise i would say OpenBB http://prolixmedia.com

Custom made forum :) The best way to go.

Chris

Why reinvent the wheel?

I personally prefer Invision Boards. For some reason it just feels... snappier.

But when you get down to it, most forums are equal...

Hell yes.

Invision board is awesome. Matt, you're running your own server, right? So you'll need to configure apache to allow PHP (go to the httpd.conf file--it's probably in /etc/httpd--and delete the #'s in front of the php modules in the Load_Module and Add_Module sets) and install mysql, which you can do fairly easily these days. Invision board is great. Tons of skins and hacks. I've got a coupla them running. The only problem is you can't configure it from your server or anything on your LAN, but I'm fairly sure no messageboard can do that, because just about all of them are built for people who FTP them up.

Like I said, I have a coupla messageboards hosted on the server I just set up. They're not exactly developed, but they give you everything an expensive version of vBulletin gives you in a much-easier-to-configure form and for FREE.

EDIT:
MattK, what the hell are you running on an OS9 server? Chuck Shotton's MacHTTP?

--Petey

I've always wondered why people buy vBulletin.

It was understandable when there were no good free options around... but that isn't a valid excuse anymore.

Our team used to use vbulletin. However after receiving a nasty cease and desist letter from the vbulletin law firm for not re-registering (though we had) we have decided that an e-mail list works just as good as the forum for our team.


Pierson
Team Coordinator
Bellarmine Prep Robotics #360
The Revolution

Are there any HTML forums that work with attachments? Our web host dosn't have PHP or MySQL. It does have ASP and Access, though.

We had a forum with BbBoards, but the popups where to much to handle.

I don't think so.

It might be beneficial to register a lycos.co.uk account and just host on there. Use Invisionboard (www.invisionboard.com).

--Petey

*cough* phpBB (www.phpbb.com). No, sorry. I really don't want this to turn into another logn pointelss debate, just couldn't help. :D

There are quite a few good BB options out there on the net (some free, some not). I'd say look around and play with the demos for each one so that you can find the best ond for your needs.

Jack

use vbulletin, its more customizable

There are ASP borads w/ Access Db's... Don't know of any off the top of my head though. *Google*

As for vB, yes, it's a great piece of software. However, even though it's pretty cheep, it still costs $$. But, if you don't want to take the time to hack your free board (which makes upgrades a pain), then it's a great choice.

160 is cheap?

wow.

For me, no :) (That's why I use phpBB)... However, to run a large community such as CD, it's worth it's value.

At the time of purchase, vBulletin seemed far more superior to phpBB. I don't believe phpBB2 was out when we purchased it. We may have went with phpBB2, if it were out. But, with the limited choices, $160 isn't really that much, and $30/yr for upgrades.. thats like $0.08/day. I can float a dime a day for the code.

My point.

I do like the look of phpBB. I've never administered one of their boards, but I love IVB. I'll check out phpBB sometime.

--Petey

phpBB is very cool.

It's a "newer" BB, but very cool. However, the current version 2.0.4 lacks some things that other older boards (like vB) have. However, most of the things it lacks can be made up with some hacks that have been made for it.

However, the next major version of phpBB (2.2), i think, will really bring it way up and a lot closer to some other BBs. When will 2.2 be out? No one's going to say, but my guess is Set/Oct. 2003. Yeah, that's a little ways away, but when it does get released, i think it will be very similar to vB2. (Minus a few of the bloated features that vB2 has)

I don't really know. Everyone has their "favorite." Which one is better? It all depends on your needs. Heck, I even know of BBs which run off of files instead of a db. Personally, I like phpBB, and vB. (No real admin usage on vB, just end user from CD & a few other forums)

Jack

I just installed my first phpBB, and I must say I'm disappointed.

Though I absolutely love the look, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as User friendly, customizable, or powerful as IVB. It doesn't have quick skin imports, can't be easily modified through the HTML documents from the admin CP, or have the permissions edited forum-by-forum with the same degree of performance that IVB possesses.

I do like the look, but I find IVB to be superior. Have you checked out the new version? It's very, very nice.

--Petey

Have you checked out XMB? It has all the features you said phpBB was lacking. It is easy to install, free, ad-free, and can work on a large or small scale. It is very user friendly for the member, guest, or admin. It doesn't have quite as techy a look as phpBB right off the start but you can customize it if you know a little bit about that stuff. Check out my XMB boards by clicking the link in my sig.

I'll check it out. I'm always on the lookout for cool new tech.

In the meantime, I suggest you check out IVB at www.invisionboard.com

--Petey

Personally, I prefer phpBB over IVB. I use two other forums, one running phpBB, and one running IVB, and I must say, I don't really care for IVB.

Well, as I've said, the use on phpBB may be good, and it may have a better default skin, but it's just simply not as easy or as powerful to administrate.

--Petey

Our team uses ikonboard, (www.ikonboard.com)

We use the SQL database, but it has the option to use a flat file or DBM, so you're fine even if you don't have a DB. It's easy to install (comes with a setup app)

http://forums.harker-robotics.org/

clean-looking, really customizable for full site integration :)

Urrgh. I hate ikonboard. I tried to install it for a while--it's so much harder than anything else ever. It's like trying to...geez, I can't even come up with an appropriate analogy for the unrequited asinine-ness of it all.

I don't know if it's gotten easier--this was almost a year ago. But boy, it was a $@#$@#$@#$@#$@# then.

--Petey

it has - alot. i remember how bad it was before, (used iB2 way back when,) but the latest versions of iB3 are alot easier to work with/install.

I just installed Photo Gallery and Calendar hacks for XMB 1.8. They are both really cool. The gallery works fine for viewers but the uploaders get strange errors that don't seem to have any effect on the function of the gallery. I'm sure there is a fix out there somewhere though. The Calendar is totally awesome with no bugs or problems whatsoever.

The free boards are getting better.:cool: