Forum software recommendations

[cnjim]

We're planning a new project that may involve a community forum so interested in what everyone recommends for forum platforms nowadays.

I'm from the old school where phpBB was the best free software, vBulletin was the only paid choice and Invision Power Board was the new kid on the block! I see UKBF use Invision Community (as it's called now) so we're looking at that as a possible solution. Are there any other suggestions that are self hosted and not attached to any social media (we don't want to use Facebook Groups or similar)?

 

[fisicx]

This forum use XenFora

You use whichever one is best suited to your needs. There is no best. Do you really need a forum? There are plenty of other platforms you could consider For example:

Circle: The modern community platform for creators

Bring together your discussions, memberships, and content. Integrate a thriving community wherever your audience is, all under your own brand.

circle.so

 

[cnjim]

Thanks for your reply.

This forum use XenFora

That shows how out of the loop I am on forum software! We'll look at XenFora as an option too

Do you really need a forum?

That remains to be seen but I definitely want to give it a try. I'd prefer self hosted with open code (allowing us to modify or install modifications) but will give circle.so a look.

 

[Smithco]

V-bulletin sucks. I have two forums on SMF. One attached to our main site that's about 8 years old and one as a stand-alone site on a niche subject that dates from about 15 years ago. Both still going strong. SMF is painless and easy to play about with.

I'm not sure what this site uses, but whatever it is it seems OK if a tad slow (but that could be the hosting or my connection). There isn't much here that seems difficult to me as a new user apart from no emoticons and quotes don't seem obvious but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

 

[Solve My Problem]

Friends run https://zroadster.org/ which is using https://xenforo.com/

 

[WebDesires]

This forum uses XenForo - shocked its not open source and you have to pay for it! Don't see anything special about this sites forum, very unimpressed.

And like you the speed is horrendous sporadically - even more reason not to pay or use this software...

In the past I have used SMF too, very nice well rounded forum software, it was good 10 years ago so I imagine its even better today.

 

[makeusvisible]

I hope this comment adds some value, as I have been involved in forums several times, in both the setup and running of, and I have seen some success, and some major fails.

Whilst I'm using a forum to say this, the sorry fact is that forums, are a declining breed, and social media has very much taken their place. Facebook groups in particular have totally eradicated thousands upon thousands of forums.

Whilst I'm not an advocate that Facebook groups are as good as a well-structured forum, it is a bit of a VHS v BETAMAX scenario, where the best solution doesn't always win out.

Building a new forum very much relies on the fact that you're giving people an online repository to voice their opinion, brainstorm or ask, and in 2021 there are very few topics of conversation that can't be had in a suitable Facebook group.

A new forum relies on an instant volume of membership in order to grow and become useful, which is where the challenge lies.

If I were looking to start a forum, and wanted to avoid traditional social media such as Facebook, the best solution is Discord. It has all the benefits which people like about social media, but also has the same structural benefits of a traditional forum. It doesn't very much depend on the userbase and umberally topic of the forum though.

Good luck.

 

[gpietersz]

There is a very wide choice of both traditional forums and other community software.

Discourse is probably the most popular, but you might find a few others that take a different approach (e.g. Talkyard and Forem) There are also some Q & A type forums (i.e. if you want to focus on asking and answering questions) and a lot of the old ones like phpBB and Simple Machines are still around.

 

[Ian J]

This forum uses XenForo - shocked its not open source and you have to pay for it! Don't see anything special about this sites forum, very unimpressed.

Xenforo was started by ex vbulletin staff and at the time the new kid on the block was supposedly far more secure than vbulletin but that was a few years ago and I'm years out of date now

 

[Ian J]

Friends run https://zroadster.org/ which is using https://xenforo.com/

Thanks for that as I drive a Z4 and the forum is interesting