I thought that this old chesnut had to be in somewhere. Since the last discussion of this, there has been a lot of changes in the forum world. I am familiar with XMB, PHPBB, OpenBB, but I'm always interested to know if there are any others worth checking up on the horizon.

Discuss!

I Love Ikonboard (never change love it to bits) but if I was no longer allowed to use it, Invision board would be second because its simliar to ikonboard (same maker). But Mind it is very common now :(

What's BBclone?

Sorry K, I meant OpenBB NOT BBclone, all these BB's getting me confused.

Rob

Invision has been rated the best free one, its just as fast as vb maybe even faster loads of features and very nice to skin.

Best free board I would have to say Invision Board also.

I use phpBB on all of my sites. I find it easy to use, for the most part, once you get the hang of it. There are lots of hacks for it (I started and run the first phpBB hacks website and the largested phpBB related downloads site on the net).

At the same token, I feel that... as long as you use one of the several decent choices that are available, it is the forum administrator that will make the difference as far as the site being a success or not.

I would go with invisionboard on this one ;)

invision board. with the upcoming 1.2 releasing in a few days, nothing can beat it.

Invision Power Board

i used to use phpBB but Invision Power Board has many more features and is much easier to use.

Also i easily added the some of the code to my site enabling me to have when used are logged into my forums they are logged in the main site
http://www.gamesvalley.net/

didn't take me long at all
- Steve

Patrick...love your site...great work ! I especially i adore that ribbit logo:)

One must describe what is meant by "Free".

If you mean 100% free, as in "no pay for support", "no pay for removal of 'powered by'" etc, than phpBB is the #1, hands down.

There are other forums out there that are _catching_up_ to the solid set of features that phpBB has, but they are all restricted in some way, in the relm of "free". ;)


Next to phorum, phpBB is the longest standing Open-Source, GPL'ed BB on the internet. They were recently nominated for the "Webby Awards" (the only BB to be nominated) and their lead developer (Paul S. Owen) was recently Nominated for the 'ActiveState Active Awards 2003' (again, the only BB to be nominated). That's two of the most sought-after awards in the industry. Speaks quite a bit, eh ;)

On SourceForge they are very often in the Top 10% of downloads, and are typically in the Top 5% of most viewed site. That combined with over 1,777,000+ downloads in the apps two year history, I feel, speaks for itself. :D

hey John... long time no... chat (yeah..chat :p)

Seeing John got his 20 lines of fame for phpBB its my turn :p

myBB (url in signature) is another forum script powered by PHP and MySQL. It is not currently released yet but the release should be within a month. When we were creating myBB we were after speed, whilst maintaining a high standard of customisation for users.

As the software is not yet released i cannot provide you with the exact statistics but we are running myBB at http://msgplus.mybboard.com with over 20,000 users. The forums are currently running on a 500mhz which handles the load very well with about 500 users online. (they will soon be moved to a new 1.7ghz). On the forums there, there are also over 40,000 posts.

Btw, myBB is completely free...no strings attached (it wont be under the GNU GPL License).

If you want to test myBB head over to the forums and give it a good run through the features and participate as much as you can and you could end up in the 3rd and final round of beta testing :)

:D

Chris :)

Hey Chris,

Yeah, I was just checking it out! Looks like you got a good start on things!

Keep pounding away at it man!! Never done with these darn BB's <sigh>


On a _personal_ note: I think placing it under no license is something you'll regret down-the-road ;)

Anway, yeah, awesome too see the HotScript forums back online!!! Dang, I remember being here when the old ones had just started up... should be fun!!! :D

I've used a lot of them and personally would go with Invision Board. phpBB 2.2 looks to add a slew of features and I am not sure of the time frame of that release but it should also be very solid. I'm a big vBulletin fan and will stay with them but if you want one at no cost then you can't go wrong with Invision Board or phpBB in my opinion. For what Invision has done in a short amount of time has been impressive.

Invision Power Board 1.2 will beat even a paid board when it's released. ;)

If you haven't already, check out the feature list: http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?showtopic=65782.

You can even register your board and receive phone, live chat (IRC), forum, and ticket support. :)

Well, paid doesn't neccessarily mean better.

Originally posted by Damian
Patrick...love your site...great work ! I especially i adore that ribbit logo:)

Thanks. :)

Well, I think that Invision looks a bit nicer and has so many more features, but I always have and always will prefer phpBB. I think there are too many features on IPB that I would never use.

I think phpBB is the simplest to use and easiest to maintain, and anything you want it to do which it doesn't already, there is almost certainly a hack for it...I use Patricks site. :)

I think for free: Invision and phpBB are good
for pay the best of all, even if it was free vBulletin, i find it great, when i used it in macosx.com forum and here.

Originally posted by amailer
I think for free: Invision and phpBB are good
for pay the best of all, even if it was free vBulletin, i find it great, when i used it in macosx.com forum and here.

Yep, I agree that vBulletin is the greatest paid system out there, but for somethings I still prefer phpBB...I'm not sure why.

I say Invision Power Board.

I love it, I wub it, I like it, I think it, I see it, I hear it... :wacko:

Originally posted by Chris Boulton
As the software is not yet released i cannot provide you with the exact statistics but we are running myBB at http://msgplus.mybboard.com with over 20,000 users. The forums are currently running on a 500mhz which handles the load very well with about 500 users online. (they will soon be moved to a new 1.7ghz). On the forums there, there are also over 40,000 posts.

It's a cool system, it can stand my spam all day long. :D

iPB is the best by a long shot, the look, the feel, the speed - its all there.

If you got the money though, invest in vBulletin :) I was lucky enough to win mine in an online contest :D

WIN! ahh i never win anythng

Originally posted by amailer
WIN! ahh i never win anythng
lol I never did either, but when I won that I was super-duper happy :D

CoUrSe, but i don't win anything! not once in my life have i won...i think...

Originally posted by TheGreatOne
I Love Ikonboard (never change love it to bits) but if I was no longer allowed to use it, Invision board would be second because its simliar to ikonboard (same maker). But Mind it is very common now :(
hmm, thats strange, why would you use Ikonboard, when Invision is programed by the same person, and its much much newer, and in PHP? After Matt left Jeg(jeg bought ikonboard form Matt), Matt started Invision, and with PHP, its faster, more stable, uses much less resources, including saving lots of bandwidth, and HD space. And the features are many more than Ikonboard. Just wait for 1.2 to be realeased on June 15th. :D

Read this Interveiw with Matt Mecham... http://www.sitepoint.com/article/911

Invision all the way. :)

I prefer OpenBB, since I have an OpenBB host, where I host over 600 boards, and about 150,000 members combined. This has got to be the most server and bandwidth friendly software out there. Loads peak at about 1.2, and bandwidth is just awesome, using under 15/GB right now. OpenBB doen't have all the features yet, but it will.

I used to be a diehard phpBB user, then the community got that "I'm better then you are" attitude, and it was pretty upsetting, since then, I've been with OpenBB.

Invision is a great board, two thumbs up definitly, however for people with really no coding skills, it's very hard to skin and hack it. But then again, it's very easy to install.

iKonboard is old news, was great before all these other boards came out, and ruled the BB world.

myBB looks like it's going to be a big hit, good luck to you on that!

vB is proably the best board on the net, best features, and support, but the price is just out of hand. How can someone change so much for something written with free software? That just boggles my mind.

Just my thoughts

Thanks for the comments on myBB, Michael, some day i hope it will be... just have to get it finished :D

I say Invision Power Board.

It's the best discussion board and it's free. :)

OpenBB - I don't like all the templates in de MySql database. Just give me some HTML pages :)

PhpBB - Don't like the default layout and I'm so bad in design

Invision - Very cool board with those smilies, so that will be my choice...

I would have to agree with the ones saying Invision Power Board!
That piece of software is truly the best! Well, i am not saying
that Vbulletin is bad, and yes, it has some features that IB lacks
but considering that you get an unlimited free trial there is little
doubt in my opinion!

Anyway, nice new board! :)

I still like Ikonboard :P Really. Ok i know it strains the server. but try it. Looks a brillaint hacks and all those smilies which PeTAR Likes. It has tons of modding places etc. www.swarf.co.uk for example :). I have one problem with invisionboard! Alot of people use it and i like to be different, SOmne thing different to the people :)

Ikonboard is Perl and Invision Power Board is PHP...

How can you compare the two?

What. PHP does not rule the world. Have you ever tried Ikonboard?

Originally posted by TheGreatOne
What. PHP does not rule the world. Have you ever tried Ikonboard?

I have. :D

Didn't like it. :p

PHP is the best! thats all i can say

People are of the assumption that because vBulletin costs more that it is inherently better.

Last year we spent six months and actually tested EVERY forum application, more than 250 in all, in various test catagories including what you mentioned load handling and stability. In this test, we loaded the forums on test servers that automatically posted identical messages on the forums until the forums couldn't handle it anymore.

vBulletin wasn't able to handle but 1/5th of the load of phpBB2 before it started becoming unstable. phpBB2 outlasted the MySQL database server!

In code performance tests, they were close but phpBB2 had the faster code execution.

In pre-installed features, vBulletin clearly won that catagory but phpBB2 has more mods readily available that allow it to both equal and surpass the features and capabilities of vBulletin after installation. This fact waters down any value vBulletin might have in having pre-installed features and the cost difference is definitely not worth it on this item alone.

In security tests, we found 78 ways to break the system that could be used against any vBulletin installation. While this was low by comparison against some of the others such as IkonBoard with more than 1900 vulnerabilities, it didn't come close to phpBB2 which ranked only 9 and were easily closable.

In ease of installation, phpBB2 also won the competition with an installation time under 30 seconds.

In code flexibility, licensing, and ability to customize, there was no contest ... phpBB2 won hands down.

Overall, phpBB2 and vBulletin were very close in the scores but phpBB2 definitely won when looking at all the testing areas.

The idea that vBulletin is so much better is actually a misconception based upon the bad assumption of it's price difference. People have the inclination to believe that because something is expensive, it must be better ... especially against something that is FREE. Well gladly that isn't always true .... the best bang for the buck goes to phpBB2.

The top three forums we tested in order are:

Gold: phpBB2
Silver: vBulletin
Bronze: InvisionBoard (kind of an irony)


The worst forum we tested with the consistent lowest scores:

IkonBoard

Incidentally we also went through this whole debate about a year ago when the scores were first released. At the time most people thought vBulletin was far superior to phpBB2 and that it couldn't possibly be that close. As more and more people tried phpBB2, we had tons of comments coming back to us from previous vBulletin users how shocked they were that phpBB2 and vBulletin were actually so similiar. At the time, we actually allowed vBulletin on here so it was a free choice to try it and we had member after member praising phpBB2 and freaking out because they had spent all that money of vBulletin for nothing.

Today, just talk to any of our members here about phpBB2 and they'll all pretty much tell you the same.
That says it all ;)
EDIT: Found it at http://www.u69.us/viewtopic.php?t=3649

Who are you quoting?

your quote says they tested 250 forums, and only reviewed 2 of them, and put IPB as the last one, which was not compared at all. Which is ironic to me.

There is no best or worst; It really depends on what you need. I use XMB and find it to be the easiest to modify, and its looks are different from other boards... yet XMB uses quite a few more queries than the competition(Invision Board, for example) If you want to modify a board a lot, I think XMB is the best.

Invision Board is an excellent BB; it has superb performance, looks the business, can be modified exensively and has a large range of options available to administrators. I think it is most suited to a company who wants something professional without paying any money.

I have heard good and bad things about phpbb; it was the first BB I ever used, but its biggest advantage is the quick install. Very easy. It also looks good and has a wide variety of themes available to suit any user, though I have heard that its performance is not up to par with other BB's, though I am not sure. phpBB is probably best for a beginner wanting a good looking board with minimal time and effort involved.

vBulletin is excellent in terms of features and looks, yet it costs quite a bit and its performance is apparently not that good. Although for sheer power and functionality it comes out on top. I think vBulletin would suit a comapany that wants a BB that is very professional and has exceptional support, and is also willing to fork out a bit of cash.

As for most of the other boards mentioned, I have never used them(Ikonboard, myBB, openBB etc) and am not sure what they are like, but I will try them in the future...

I used to use PHPBB .... but once I found out about Invision Board.. I was hooked on Invision ever since.

It's so easy to skin..... I'm a true loser at skinning... but I actually made my own skin with Invision.. I was amazed.

I use Invision Power Board and like it a lot!

It's fast as vBulletin (maybe faster) and installation is a snap! Cheers to the staff behind IPB!

IPP is very nice one.

XMB is my fav is fast easy and u got alot of hacks to it also you can add "skins" to give your members options for a layout.