I love the forum options we have, do you?

a legacy reborn

Well-known member
Just wondering if anyone else if loving just how much variety there is in the forum market now? I know I am loving it because if you think about it we have software for just about whatever type of community we want to start. Not to mention because of the plethora of options to choose from and because there are now 3 big commercial options there will undoubtedly be competition which should lead to improvements across the board. In reality if you go back a couple of years IPB and xF(didn't exist) were not big players and so vB was the only option for anyone who wanted the benefits that come with buying a commercial software(updates/new features, better support, etc.). Now IPB and xF are capable of going toe-to-toe with vB(some might say even better, but I don't want to be biased here) which will allow for this new found competition to increase the functionality of all forum software :). Sorry if there are any grammar errors I wrote this in a hurry.
 
IPB seems like it could work for many sites, but it seems old school now.
vB ... is in such tatters Internet Brands can't even deploy it on their sites.
xF is the only game in town and is being sued by a company with lots of $$$.

I'm not so impressed with the changes, or the "State of Affairs" in forum software.

If Wordpress had a killer forum, I'd probably be happy. But BuddyPress is "bad".

Hopefully after the lawsuit, xenforo can ramp up the game and show the way forward.

I'm interested in how vBulletin 5 turns out ... ie. how long it takes to get to vB 5 gold, and how good it is. If it sucks, vBulletin is doomed. I currently use vBulletin 4 and it is terrible. I myself would never use one of their products again even if it put xF to shame. I won't sell my vB4 license because I don't enjoy causing other's pain.
 
IPB seems like it could work for many sites, but it seems old school now.
vB ... is in such tatters Internet Brands can't even deploy it on their sites.
xF is the only game in town and is being sued by a company with lots of $$$.

I'm not so impressed with the changes.
If Wordpress had a killer forum, I'd probably be happy. But BuddyPress is "bad".

Hopefully after the lawsuit, xenforo can ramp up the game and show the way forward.

I'm interested in vBulletin 5 ... how long it takes to deploy, and how good it is. If it sucks, vBulletin is doomed.
I think that IPB and xF both have their ups and downs and that they both eventually balance out but vB4(currently) is horrible and the frivolous law suit doesn't help.
 
After my experience with vB4, I'm not looking forward to vB5. Not even on my radar.

After Xenforo 1.1 Beta you'd seriously have to impress me.
 
IPB seems like it could work for many sites, but it seems old school now.
vB ... is in such tatters Internet Brands can't even deploy it on their sites.
xF is the only game in town and is being sued by a company with lots of $$$.

I'm not so impressed with the changes.
If Wordpress had a killer forum, I'd probably be happy. But BuddyPress is "bad".

Hopefully after the lawsuit, xenforo can ramp up the game and show the way forward.

I'm interested in vBulletin 5 ... how long it takes to deploy, and how good it is. If it sucks, vBulletin is doomed.

Are those the only ones you know about ? ;)

  • bbPress
  • Beehive Forum
  • BurningBoard
  • Community Server
  • DjangoBB
  • idealBB
  • JForum
  • Jive Forums
  • miniBB
  • MyBB
  • MyProBB
  • phpBB
  • SMF
  • UBB.threads
  • YaBB
Actually .. just look at http://www.forummatrix.org/
 
I think that IPB and xF both have their ups and downs and that they both eventually balance out but vB4(currently) is horrible and the frivolous law suit doesn't help.

(y)

Its nice to see a balanced reply. Dont seem to be many people on here able to do that!

So many IPB haters on here! Still confused as to what DD meant when he said IPB seems old!
 
(y)

Its nice to see a balanced reply. Dont seem to be many people on here able to do that!

So many IPB haters on here! Still confused as to what DD meant when he said IPB seems old!
My only bias is against vB but I think that it is not solely based off of the product itself but rather the lawsuit(product is ok but lawsuit ruins the entire product). I don't understand why people do not like IPB. IMHO IPB and xF are equals and I run a site on both platforms. IPB and xF are the only 2 forum platforms that I can really enjoy using and this is coming from someone who has spent a great deal of time with vB, IPB, xF, phpBB, SMF, MyBB, YaBB, bbPress, and others ;). Long live IPB and xF, looking forward to future friendly competition that can only benefit the customers of both platforms.
 
Are those the only ones you know about ? ;)
No, I am aware of lots of others.


been there before, many times.

  • bbPress
  • Beehive Forum
  • BurningBoard
  • Community Server
  • DjangoBB
  • idealBB
  • JForum
  • Jive Forums
  • miniBB
  • MyBB
  • MyProBB
  • phpBB
  • SMF
  • UBB.threads
  • YaBB
Most of the products on this list is of such poor quality I am not sure I would ever suggest people use these products. I ran a SMF site back in the glory 1.1 days. It actually served me well until it got hacked and my friend deleted it. I was waiting and waiting for TinyPortal to get a bit better, but it never got quite there.
I ran a Community Server board for years and it was OK, but had terrible performance, such that my friend's "super powerful" server was showing signs of buckling under the pressure. I never picked Community Server.
MyBB is "OK" but isn't in the same league as xF and vB - for my needs. phpBB is often a solid choice, but I was surprised by the lack of a relevant CMS and no wiki. The rest of the list well ... isn't much to speak of.

After my experience with vB4, I'm not looking forward to vB5. Not even on my radar. After Xenforo 1.1 Beta you'd seriously have to impress me.
Basically feel the same.

I don't know that much about IPB.
When you have the speed and organized feel of xenforo ... it seems like most forum packages feel old and slow.
I ask people here alot why they didn't like IPB.
No one gives a great answer ... other that ... "things just don't work".
I've kinda heard that alot.
I think if xF didn't work for me, I'd probably use IPB. I'm 99% sure I'd never go back to vBulletin, unless vB5 was a dream. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a night at the Holiday Inn to know "that ain't bloddy likely".
 
Yep, the forum market is ok, but I don't know if its overwhelming great...

PHPBB is probably the only free forum software I would use, purely because its the most supported and worked on the market.

If VB built a ground breaking, current product as their VB5, then they could recover. If not... they're doomed.

IPB has very much played side by side with VB, chasing it or trying to get ahead of it. Still, an outdated forum software that is extremely server intensive.

XF... It's the best forum product on the market because its new, fresh and innovative, however; it lacks functionality at the moment as well as official XF products that majority users want from a forum company.

Either way you go, you're going to make sacrifices with your choice. They all have there issues uniquely.

Its actually quite hard to even fit XF against VB and IPB right now, even though as a forum product it smacks them senseless, its not even close to the products and functionality many want. People have to be patient if they choose XF now. I made that choice, to be patient and await mods and official XF products... some don't have that flexibility because their site is a business or they don't want to sacrifice something at this point.

I tend to agree with other comments, the majority of those other forums mentioned are a waste of time and space to even install and become involved within.
 
Just wondering if anyone else if loving just how much variety there is in the forum market now? I know I am loving it because if you think about it we have software for just about whatever type of community we want to start. Not to mention because of the plethora of options to choose from and because there are now 3 big commercial options there will undoubtedly be competition which should lead to improvements across the board. In reality if you go back a couple of years IPB and xF(didn't exist) were not big players and so vB was the only option for anyone who wanted the benefits that come with buying a commercial software(updates/new features, better support, etc.). Now IPB and xF are capable of going toe-to-toe with vB(some might say even better, but I don't want to be biased here) which will allow for this new found competition to increase the functionality of all forum software :). Sorry if there are any grammar errors I wrote this in a hurry.

Nice post...
On a side note, on your Wordpress site http://www.alegacyreborn.com/
What font face and settings are you using on the headers?
i.e. - 'Registration Required'
 
No, I am aware of lots of others.



been there before, many times.


Most of the products on this list is of such poor quality I am not sure I would ever suggest people use these products. I ran a SMF site back in the glory 1.1 days. It actually served me well until it got hacked and my friend deleted it. I was waiting and waiting for TinyPortal to get a bit better, but it never got quite there.
I ran a Community Server board for years and it was OK, but had terrible performance, such that my friend's "super powerful" server was showing signs of buckling under the pressure. I never picked Community Server.
MyBB is "OK" but isn't in the same league as xF and vB - for my needs. phpBB is often a solid choice, but I was surprised by the lack of a relevant CMS and no wiki. The rest of the list well ... isn't much to speak of.


Basically feel the same.

I don't know that much about IPB.
When you have the speed and organized feel of xenforo ... it seems like most forum packages feel old and slow.
I ask people here alot why they didn't like IPB.
No one gives a great answer ... other that ... "things just don't work".
I've kinda heard that alot.
I think if xF didn't work for me, I'd probably use IPB. I'm 99% sure I'd never go back to vBulletin, unless vB5 was a dream. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a night at the Holiday Inn to know "that ain't bloddy likely".
I was a noob last year so vB4 was like training wheels for me as I had never had a site before. After moving to Xenforo, the ride has been pretty easy other than a horribly inconvenient vB4 to XF1.1. import process that I'm still going through. There are still lots of things that vB4 does better. When vBulletin advertises it as the most powerful forum software out there, I still believe em. But got damn it's still slower than Xenforo and as I have really slow internet at home and my members complain about how slow the site's running, I'm more than willing to sacrifice power for speed. They all love how fast the site's running which lets me know I made the right decision. I'm loving it too.
 
If VB built a ground breaking, current product as their VB5, then they could recover. If not... they're doomed.
I don't see how they can do that, really. I am looking at what they have accomplished in 2 years since they got the software off the hands of the original team. They have more developers, more resources, more QA, and somehow a software solution every time I try doesn't work.

I could not upgrade my forum, they did the CLI, does not work for me either. Fine. I workaround, I open the forum. Blank. Fine, I solve that. I find some display bugs. Something not aligned correctly. Something not working. Performance is not great. Aaaaarrggh.

So annoying. I ran away.
 
It will be an interesting surprise if vB5 turns out to be SaaS (there were rumors about that). Then they can charge either by kilobyte, megabyte transfered or even better, by post :) That would be an awesome show to see (the way they sell the idea). Actually, they might go the Infopop way and charge by member. Just the comments in the forums is worth having a license.

... but as not to derail the thread ... I don't really see myself having a lot of options, pretty much once you reach XenForo the other options somehow start fading away.
 
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