Which free forum software is your favorite?

Discussion in 'Community Forum Software' started by Nick, Mar 7, 2009.

?

Which free forum software do you prefer?

  1. MyBB

    1 vote(s)
    1.9%
  2. PhpBB

    26 vote(s)
    50.0%
  3. SMF

    15 vote(s)
    28.8%
  4. Other

    10 vote(s)
    19.2%
  1. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2008
    Messages:
    7,444
    Likes Received:
    219
    Everybody's gotta have one of these threads sometime or another.

    Make your choice in the poll and feel free to elaborate in a reply :)
     
  2. kev

    kev Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2009
    Messages:
    1,224
    Likes Received:
    61
    Right now, mybb is my favorite free forum software.

    I have used phpbb and smf in the past. But I stopped using phpbb because of security issues and stopped using SMF due to a lack of change.
     
  3. PBNJ

    PBNJ Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2009
    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    8
    For free forums I seem to be mostly on phpBB forums.

    I prefer vBulletin forums to the free forums.

    -Raymond
     
  4. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2008
    Messages:
    7,444
    Likes Received:
    219
    MyBB is my favorite free script.

    PhpBB never appealed to me; I've tried it and for whatever reason, automatically hated it.
    SMF isn't so bad, but I am not too fond of its design, and it seems to have less built-in functionality than other scripts.
    With MyBB, I cannot find much to complain about. It's design is okay, and it's features aren't bad. Although they could implement quite a bit more, it's enough to please me. :)
     
  5. Tyler

    Tyler The Badministrator

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2007
    Messages:
    3,079
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    First Name:
    Tyler
    MyBB, hands down.

    Any forum I run now uses vBulletin. But MyBB is really the best alternative to vBulletin, even over IPB in my opinion. I also like the community there.
     
  6. islesv

    islesv Novice

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2009
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    2
    I had tried SMF in the past, but its plugin system annoys me - sometimes incompatible plugins mess up the PHP files. I've switched to MyBB almost a year ago, and I had been contented since. :)
     
  7. Crank

    Crank Novice

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2009
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    You are absolutely correct. I still like it though. I am just stubborn I guess. I am newly getting into VB now so lets see.
     
  8. Ashley

    Ashley Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    Messages:
    699
    Likes Received:
    130
    I've always used PHPBB as that is the easiest forum software for me to wrok with. I won't go with any other one at the moment. Maybe when I get more experience with forum owning I'll go for something more advanced... but not now.
     
  9. Bonbref

    Bonbref Newcomer

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2009
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    I believe phpbb is free and is highly recommended on other boards.
    Demo : forum hosting
     
  10. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2008
    Messages:
    7,444
    Likes Received:
    219
    Yes, PhpBB is free but I would recommend self-hosting the forum if you're serious about it. I don't think Forumotion gives up the database if you ever decide to switch later on, which means you will have to start from scratch.
     
  11. Justin S.

    Justin S. Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2008
    Messages:
    206
    Likes Received:
    30
    Location:
    Central Ohio
    I think it's obvious that MyBB is my choice, based on my position on the MyBB team. Despite this, I still feel there is little reason for me to think otherwise. SMF is just a mess in general, and phpBB3, though it does look pretty good, is not really as well designed as it first appears.
     
  12. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2007
    Messages:
    5,422
    Likes Received:
    86
    While I primarily use commercial-grade (paid) software, I will say that MyBB is indeed my favorite free script.
     
  13. Rafael

    Rafael Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2008
    Messages:
    56
    Likes Received:
    1
    The first forum I made was using YaBB.

    Sticking to my roots :}
     
  14. lordtopcat

    lordtopcat Adept

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2009
    Messages:
    134
    Likes Received:
    2
    First Name:
    Jamie
    I used to stand by phpBB religiously, nothing could beat up. Until phpBB 3 came out, which completely disappointed me, so I went on the hunt for other software. I came across vb (but this isn't about paid software :p) and also MyBB. I wasn't too impressed with MyBB, but that all changed upon the release of MyBB 1.4, that all changed :)

    So MyBB is my favourite free forum software.
     
  15. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2007
    Messages:
    5,422
    Likes Received:
    86
    Oh wow! I haven't used that script in years. :speachless:
     
  16. Tyler

    Tyler The Badministrator

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2007
    Messages:
    3,079
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    First Name:
    Tyler
    MyBB seems to be the favorite here. I wonder why they don't have a larger community.
     
  17. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2007
    Messages:
    5,422
    Likes Received:
    86
    That's a good question. Look at the strong following that phpBB has. Then again, it has been around a bit longer.
     
  18. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2008
    Messages:
    7,444
    Likes Received:
    219
    I never really understood, either. Almost everywhere I go, MyBB seems to be the alternative-of-choice yet phpBB seems to always be in the lead. I guess PhpBB is the most popular and since a large margin of free-script users are teenagers and kids, they don't take the time to research other solutions; they just use the first one they come across, which apparently is phpBB.
     
  19. Tyler

    Tyler The Badministrator

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2007
    Messages:
    3,079
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    First Name:
    Tyler
    And most free create-a-forum-in-5-seconds-or-less sites use phpBB (some Invision). A quick Google search for "create a free forum" will probably give you some form of one of them, not MyBB.
     
  20. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2007
    Messages:
    5,422
    Likes Received:
    86
    And the free forum hosts that are using IPB are using the older, buggy release (due to license restrictions).
     

Share This Page