Picking The Right Forum Software

When starting an online community, its extremly important to pick which software will suit your needs. The first question that should come to mind is, do I want my community freely hosted, or on a paid host. I won't go into detail on that matter in this guide, so don't be afraid to do some Google research on the topic. Once you have that figured, you are faced with the choices of software. Heres a quick run down of the most widely used software, and the positvies and negatives of each.

»Invision Power Board
-Advanced moderation functions
-Easy content sharing via RSS
-Community-focused user profiles
-Powerful customization options
-Flexible permission system
-Extensible with components
-Comprehensive administration area
---------------------------------
-Costs the most of all the software
-Can be hard for new admins to use

»vBulletin
-Scalable solution - database server and web servers can reside on separate machines.
-MySQL back-end database
-vBulletin can be run on any machine that can support PHP and MySQL (Solaris, BSD, Linux, Windows, Mac)
-Written in PHP which makes for a fast and efficient product
-Admin Control Panel
-Moderator Control Panel
-User Control Panel
---------------------------------
-Can also be hard for new admins to use
-Alot of features come installed that won't be used

»phpBB
-Completly open source and free
-Lots of premade MODs and customizations
-Huge support community to back you up
-Thousands of open source skins
---------------------------------
-MODs may be hard for new admins to install
-Security patchs can be slow (although 99% of the time its fast)

»MyBB
-MyBB makes use of AJAX to enhance its features
-MyBB's inline moderation makes management easier
-Extensive permissions allow for complete control
---------------------------------
-Can be hard for a new admin to update
-Is not widely used, smaller support
-Security patches the slowest

»SMF
-The Package Installer allows easy installation of mods & themes
-Great support forums
-Huge database of mods & themes
-Easy to administrate
---------------------------------
-Could be considered "unorganized" for some people
-May be confusing at first

Overall, its up the end user to decide. I also only covered forum software, so if you're looking for imageboards software or the like, i'd ask around a few admin forums. If you insist on asking me, if you have the money purchase IPB, if not then use phpBB. Those are the two best in my opinion, however don't take my word for it. IPB offers a live demo, and i'm sure you can sample the others as well. Try before you buy, and you might also want to check this wiki page.

Nice thread. I'd quite like to use IPB for my forums, I must say. I think it's come on greatly in the past few years, and offers some very competitive features.

Hello there. This is a good thread although I kind of have to argue the negative point of myBB - 'Security patches the slowest'. I would not really agree with this as they are quite fast. Not sure when you last used it but I think that the security patches and general updates are a lot more common that both SMF or phpBB.

Another comment I would argue about the negatives of myBB - 'Is not widely used, smaller support'. I also disagree with this really. Over the past year or two it has really picked up people using it. Out of the free software for forums I would say myBB is now the biggest. phpBB and SMF kind of lacked with the updates and themes and in between that time myBB really came out of it's shell and showed itself for what it is. It might still be the youngest but I would not say that it is not just as big as the other software's.

Also, another thing I kind of disagree with is the comment about SMF having loads of themes and plugin's. As this may be true. I found that there are hardly and decent plugin's or themes available to the SMF network for free. There are a decent amount of themes that are decent, but mostly are paid. I do not know much about the plugin's for SMF really but I feel SMF lacks the resources of the other free software's.

No mention of Xenforo?

He might not have tried it. Xenforo is a good software although I find it is almost too social based for me. I think social networks and forums should be kept separate otherwise only one will survive. Just my view on it

Too social based? It's forum software - it's supposed to be social!!!

Anyway, for potential forum owners who are considering commercial software, you might like to give Xenforo a look too:
http://xenforo.com/

Cheers,
Shaun

I know forums are social but I mean like to social networked based for me. I know it is a huge form of promotion if it is done right but I find it more based on a social network than on a forum and I don't like that really.

Why is it so important to pick the right one from the start? You can just convert from any of the scripts mentioned above to another whenever you want. There are plenty of admins who have failed to choose a script that suits their needs at the beginning.

On an unrelated note, I cannot believe SMF is still widely-used, while other scripts which are far superior are not even known by most forum admins...

This coming from someone who supports CreateAForum and YaBB? LOL.

I don't support CreateAForum. I have never used them, and can't express my personal opinion. They have good reviews though, so I suppose they must provide quality service, but probably just for people who want to run a small community and cannot afford hosting expenses...

As for YaBB, I think it is a really awesome free script, just as good a PhpBB. Just you wait till I get start my community!