Best Free Forum SW?
- Thread starter Netsultants
- Start date
Wildcat Media
Well-known member
Well, I'm digging up this old chestnut of a thread.
I got a chance to finally convert an SMF2 forum over to MyBB. My initial impressions: the engine underneath seems solid and works well. The forum I used is very lightweight, but everything worked nice and snappy.
The themes, on the other hand, are a mess. I am now so spoiled by the clean design of XenForo that MyBB looks like a throwback to vB clutter. I chose an alternate theme and the controls are scattered all over the top and bottom of the forum. Since this is a "freebie" site of mine, I can't afford to take a week to clean up an existing theme.
Plugins are also not very well designed. In this day and age, installing plugins should never be so difficult. At the very least, all plugins should be offered like they usually are for other systems: the default directory tree is stored in the ZIP or GZ file, and all you do is unzip the package into the forum root and it installs where it should. This is hit or miss. To take it further, WordPress lets you install with a single click, and activate with one additional click. I should not have to be guessing as to where files should go (as I did with the theme I used). Doesn't help that the first plugin I installed screwed up the registration system so nobody could register.
So overall, MyBB has a good core, but the user interface is a bit outdated and cluttered, additional themes are lacking, and plugin execution by the developers needs to be standardized and streamlined.
I tried phpBB3 when it came out, and then a couple of years later (phpBB3 is long in the tooth also...it was already three years outdated when first released), and the admin side is a complete and utter trainwreck to me. Even the vB admin clutter is more navigable and understandable.
I have to upgrade a popular site for a client and, unfortunately, I don't think they are going to budget for XF at this time. So I'm more or less stuck with MyBB, as it seems the closest to the archaic (and heavily customized) phpBB2 that I have on there now. As nice and modern as the site is looking under WordPress with the theme I chose and modified, having MyBB attached is going to set it down a notch in appearance. Even the default MyBB theme is not up to the level of the core, but I will probably stick with that since it is the only one that really has somewhat of a professional look to it. I just need to cut the clutter...
I got a chance to finally convert an SMF2 forum over to MyBB. My initial impressions: the engine underneath seems solid and works well. The forum I used is very lightweight, but everything worked nice and snappy.
The themes, on the other hand, are a mess. I am now so spoiled by the clean design of XenForo that MyBB looks like a throwback to vB clutter. I chose an alternate theme and the controls are scattered all over the top and bottom of the forum. Since this is a "freebie" site of mine, I can't afford to take a week to clean up an existing theme.
Plugins are also not very well designed. In this day and age, installing plugins should never be so difficult. At the very least, all plugins should be offered like they usually are for other systems: the default directory tree is stored in the ZIP or GZ file, and all you do is unzip the package into the forum root and it installs where it should. This is hit or miss. To take it further, WordPress lets you install with a single click, and activate with one additional click. I should not have to be guessing as to where files should go (as I did with the theme I used). Doesn't help that the first plugin I installed screwed up the registration system so nobody could register.
So overall, MyBB has a good core, but the user interface is a bit outdated and cluttered, additional themes are lacking, and plugin execution by the developers needs to be standardized and streamlined.
I tried phpBB3 when it came out, and then a couple of years later (phpBB3 is long in the tooth also...it was already three years outdated when first released), and the admin side is a complete and utter trainwreck to me. Even the vB admin clutter is more navigable and understandable.
I have to upgrade a popular site for a client and, unfortunately, I don't think they are going to budget for XF at this time. So I'm more or less stuck with MyBB, as it seems the closest to the archaic (and heavily customized) phpBB2 that I have on there now. As nice and modern as the site is looking under WordPress with the theme I chose and modified, having MyBB attached is going to set it down a notch in appearance. Even the default MyBB theme is not up to the level of the core, but I will probably stick with that since it is the only one that really has somewhat of a professional look to it. I just need to cut the clutter...
DRE
Well-known member
This is a nice looking MyBB board. http://www.thenerdlounge.com/Forum/Thread-Halo-4-Combat-Evolved-Anniversary?pid=639#pid639
DRE
Well-known member
Hmmm. MyBB even has an arcade too. http://mods.mybb.com/view/game-section
DRE
Well-known member
AWWW SNAP!!! It even has Wordpress integration. http://community.mybb.com/thread-40386.html
Okay I've made up my mind. I'm going to get MyBB for someone else's wordpress I created and add it to theirs. If they complain, oh well. I just wanna play around with this! I'm excited. I don't have to worry about buying licenses and stuff.
Okay I've made up my mind. I'm going to get MyBB for someone else's wordpress I created and add it to theirs. If they complain, oh well. I just wanna play around with this! I'm excited. I don't have to worry about buying licenses and stuff.
Marcus
Well-known member
Be careful how much time you put into your free forum software. The paid software is much more improved and you usually can do most things much faster. I'd very much pay some money and then have more time to create content / relationship with your community than to program stuff yourself which is already programmed by paid forum software.
Kim
Well-known member
Because MyBB don't have anything that they want... ie Xenforo
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