Netsultants
Active member
Thanks... I'll check them out.
Not sure what dir. I'm going to go yet.
Not sure what dir. I'm going to go yet.
Best Free Forum SW?
- Thread starter Netsultants
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Craigr
Active member
Started with Easyboards (i think), then phpBB 1, Burning Board 1.0.1, vBulletin 2, then Xenforo.
Burning Board Lite is pretty decent although basic : http://www.woltlab.com/wbblite/
Burning Board Lite is pretty decent although basic : http://www.woltlab.com/wbblite/
jasetaro
Well-known member
At the moment, MyBB... My only real complaint with is the lack of really good styles for it, that said there's good development team and active add-on community behind it.
phpBB isn't awful, but the current version, 3.0.8, is getting very long in the tooth... Personally, I'd stay away.
phpBB isn't awful, but the current version, 3.0.8, is getting very long in the tooth... Personally, I'd stay away.
Dragapult
Well-known member
vB Lite was never freeware, it was intended to be used only to test out the server requirements. The modern vB server tests accomplish the same thing.
I would recommend MyBB as well. It is the best free software in my opinion.
Wildcat Media
Well-known member
Exactly. There is a lot I do like about SMF, and even stuck where it is, it is still decent forum software that has a lot of promise. My issue is with long-term plans. I've seen a few years of promises to continue with development, and yet we're still on the same basic version we've had for (like you say) probably five years now. That is stalled development, no matter what they're telling us. Nudging up the release candidate version number isn't development--it's playing whack-a-mole with random bugs and security fixes. Yes, it's sad--they had great momentum, and the splintered development team derailed it.
I really wanted to see them succeed with it.Exactly. There is a lot I do like about SMF, and even stuck where it is, it is still decent forum software that has a lot of promise. My issue is with long-term plans. I've seen a few years of promises to continue with development, and yet we're still on the same basic version we've had for (like you say) probably five years now. That is stalled development, no matter what they're telling us. Nudging up the release candidate version number isn't development--it's playing whack-a-mole with random bugs and security fixes. Yes, it's sad--they had great momentum, and the splintered development team derailed it.
Smf is over and done with. It is very outdated, the mamoth of the forums
Kim
Well-known member
Exactly. There is a lot I do like about SMF, and even stuck where it is, it is still decent forum software that has a lot of promise. My issue is with long-term plans. I've seen a few years of promises to continue with development, and yet we're still on the same basic version we've had for (like you say) probably five years now. That is stalled development, no matter what they're telling us. Nudging up the release candidate version number isn't development--it's playing whack-a-mole with random bugs and security fixes. Yes, it's sad--they had great momentum, and the splintered development team derailed it.
Yeah.. and there in lies the problem with "free" it often ends that way, when there is little to no motivation to keep the project moving forward unfortunately.
It is a shame as SMF was a very sound, simple and clean forum solution...it reminded me of Invision 1.3 a bit, which was a great release and there are still many of them on the net.
Kim
Well-known member
That's really good to hear
I always thought it was a great product for what it was, good to hear it will be moving forward.
Robbo
Well-known member
I'm a beta tester for SMF and can tell you (dunno if I should) that the main reason 2.0 hasn't been released as gold is because of licensing problems going from ltd (or whatever it was) to NPO. I basically learnt PHP on SMF (good and bad for a few reasons) and have been invited to discuss 3.0 with the developers but have since deleted my account from those boards as I don't have time for it and don't see anything produced for a while yet. However I will say that SMF 3.0 will be the best free solution as long as development doesn't drag on like 2.0. It will be like XenForo, from the ground up however they are creating their own framework first, that is the last I saw anyway.
And I would like to add I hate everything about phpBB. I started on it and the code was terrible, UI was worse and the security was even worse (at the time). I still can't stand their UI... any of it.
And I would like to add I hate everything about phpBB. I started on it and the code was terrible, UI was worse and the security was even worse (at the time). I still can't stand their UI... any of it.
Netsultants
Active member
Robbo, Have you seen 3.0? Any ideas of time frame for 2.0 or 3.0?
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