Considering
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What would you say are the major benefits of xenforo over other forum software?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Dragonfruit
Well-known member
This is primarily why I went with Xenforo, because after testing all options, I found Xenforo to be the easiest to adapt to, with the most easiest learning curve. I'm not saying that it's going to be the same for you. You'll have to demo them and see what fits for you.
Considering
New member
Thanks for your opinion
I have experience administrating XF and found it fairly simple to adapt to
TPerry
Well-known member
Woltlab for many is a very viable alternative. It comes with 2 more 1st party add-ons than XF does (Blog and Calendar). It is a little more expensive.
TPerry
Well-known member
IPS may now on their forums as that's where they've pushed support... but back when I ran it, the user forums were sorely lacking in support when compared to XF.
TPerry
Well-known member
No... it's why my pipe site was on SMF 2.1.4 and is now on XenForo. And it gets no use.. but I simply did not like SMF in comparison from an admin standpoint nor a user standpoint.
Custom templating is easier in XF. Modifying (without touching the default template) is easier in XF.
You have prefixes in XF and not in SMF. You have custom fields in XF and not SMF. You have a decent
reactions in XF and not SMF. You have more quality 3rd party add-ons in XF and not SMF.You have better spam prevention in XF than in SMF. You have better moderation abilities in XF than SMF.
SMF is still stuck in the mid 2000's in many ways.
Considering
New member
In what ways would you call SMF retro?
Also can you add other custom reactions in SMF like XF?
Considering
New member
I’ve seen some forums run on Woltlab and it looks pretty good. Have you used Woltlab at any point? How does the ACP and moderation panel compare and does that justify the price?
TPerry
Well-known member
I had to use an add-on to GET reactions in SMF... and it had a bug in it. Not to mention, that add-on stated that for reactions, it ONLY support
GIF style images.I wish I had my SMF site still up as I could easily show you.
To me, as an end user... it's more a "tweaked" vB 3.x/4.x era look and interface feeling.
Of the free offerings as an overall "forum" feeling for the user, it's probably the better choice.
TPerry
Well-known member
I have a 4.x license and ran a Linux site on it... At the same time I was running IPS 4.3 on another site and XF.
You can easily see which script I settled on.
IPB is very enterprise focused - both in pricing + feature set. E.g if it’s a must have for yku to be able to link your community to a business CRM system, then IPB is probably the way to go. It’s a good platform, but I generally prefer XF and find it easier to use. I run sites across both IPB and XF and will probably end up consolidating on XF.
XF is on the whole fairly intuitive, and easy to customise.
I haven’t used Wotlab recently, or any of the free alternatives.
One thing I’d suggest - set up a demo, and play about with the ACP and feature set. If you’re just looking to create a new community, then XF is a good option. If you have a specific feature in mind that’s a “must have”, then you’ll probably need to review each platform to see how well it supports that feature.
MySiteGuy
Well-known member
Its nowhere near as active as this forum is.
Suzanne O
Well-known member
Think of how easy things are to get a forum up on your server.
IPS is one of the worst because of having to pay for things every 6 months.
The fact is if you're a fan of that forum always have other forums using other software.
pick up 5 or 6 urls and sign them up with different software.
It's what i do.
Suzanne O
Well-known member
Yeah but you're also a fan of the whole ips software.
that's what i'm getting out of you here.
Those two threads where you bagged the xf staff doesn't look good.
you might think they're unhelpful or petty but look at your attitude. you're a customer.
Suzanne O
Well-known member
That particular software is hopeless at giving support. Doesn't stop you from using their software.
Davyc
Well-known member
Then XF is a good bet as it covers both. If you want a more advanced article system then @Bob is the best out there, you can see it in action on:
XenAddons - XenForo Add-ons & Custom Development
XenForo Add-ons Development, Support and Custom Development
xenaddons.com
On my Spiritual site (the link is in my signature) I've just used the built in article option of XF to push my articles out there.
I've demoed Woltlab and it's a nice system, but not so easy to customise as XF and I like getting my hands dirty lol. Feel free to visit any of my sites linked in my signature, they all use XF. Good luck to you regardless of where you lay your hat, we need more people opening forum sites.
Ricsca
Well-known member
@aussiefooty leaving out that vbulletin is now really inconvenient to use...
Vbulletin costs $249
Xenforo $160
Where do you find VB cheaper?
Vbulletin costs $249
Xenforo $160
Where do you find VB cheaper?
Suzanne O
Well-known member
It's actually ok to use but can be difficult to fill out.
I love using the software but it's not as easy to use like what xenforo is.
with vbulletin you have to fill out a lot of forms and then have to upload via your ftp.
vbcloud is a godsend as they deal with all the upgrades similar to xf cloud.
Forsaken
Well-known member
I had to test IPB a while back to see about integration with a custom CRM... And that site is now using XenForo.
If you can get by with Zapier (which is fine for basic integrations) then you may be okay, but if you're going to be requiring custom development you are hands down better off going with XenForo.
Literally for the additional cost of running IPB, I can hire a developer to do custom integrations or addons.
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