Good Forum Software?

[Poppy Design]

Hello

Can anybody recommend good, easy to use/set -up forum software at a reasonable price for small commercial use?

many thanks
Joanne

 

[DuaneJackson]

phpbb is easy to set up and it's free: www.phpbb.com

 

[BlackBerryUK]

i agree..its the best

 

[falconinternetlimited]

We use PHPBB - It's good! We also provide a free setup service if you choose to host through us. We can also install keyword Mods etc for you too.

Thanks a lot,

Rupert

 

[Rob Holmes]

PHPBB is one of the most hacked if not THE most hacked forum software around.

If you are going to use it then be sure to cost in with your client a regular check for updates etc - and then keep it updated (good additional sale)

Rob

 

[DuaneJackson]

What Rob says is very true, Joanne,

If Ruperts (Falcon Internet) hosting offer includes the maintenance (ie: installing fixes and upgrades) then I'd strongly suggest you go for it. You really don't want the hassle of having to do that yourself, and you definetley don't want the embarasment of it getting hacked.

 

My personal "free" favourite forum software is MyBB:
http://www.mybboard.com/

Although paid it would have to be Vbulletin & Invision.

 

[andysv1k]

Im about to start my second forum and i would say VBulletin all the way.

Ok, you have to pay for it, but its worth the money.

I wont even bother looking around for any other software for the new forum.

Andy.

 

[falconinternetlimited]

As a follow-up, indeed it is a very good point that Rob and Duane bring up with regards to PHPBB / hacking and upgrades.

I would balance the reasoning and say that we work with our clients to ensure they get the best service for their needs. For example, we won't upgrade for the sake of it. Rather we ensure that the upgrades offer something of value (i.e hack fixes) rather than upgrading for the sake of it. As with all things there can be teething problems with new releases and sometimes it is better to wait until more stability in a product is visible, rather than upgrading for the sake of it, where there might not be conceivable benefit.

Regards,

Rupert

 

[Ozzy]

This forum used to run on phpBB, and was hacked twice taking this forum offline each time. It was also a pain having to keep up with the regular updates.
This is why I opted to leave phpBB and these forums now run on vBulletin. You have to pay a very small fee for it, but it is better supported.

My advice, go for vBulletin.

 

[easyasit]

there is also invisionplus, not bad provides a template. If u can live with the ads lol

 

[Poppy Design]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

Hacking? is this a regular thing that happens to forums?

Depending on budget - will look at VBulletin too

thanks
Joanne

 

[Rob Holmes]

Hacking? is this a regular thing that happens to forums?

Generally it depaned on the forum e.g. you may well find alot more attempts on forums like 'clan' sites (they have rivals who try to hack each other) - UKBF had some issues last year - I guess because of it's profile - other ways hackers search for hackable sites are by simply searching on google for a term thats used on a page in a vulnerable version of a script.

You should be ok so long as it's kept up to date and that your client understands that it's a 3rd party script and any hacks are not your responsibility and any time taken to fix is billable.

Then you can also sell backups - the rate of backups dependent on how much data your client is willing to lose in the event of a catastrophe

Rob

 

[Ravenfire]

I can highly recommend vBulletin. I have used phpBB, Invision and vBulletin and as well as being very stable I also find vBulletin the easiest to make changes to as well.

 

[eroombidder]

We use WowBB on our site. I get challenged by these things very easily, and WOW just seems to sit there and work. It also comes with a few nice templates so I don't feel the need to play around with it (much to everyone's relief, because i usually break things...).

Al

 

[Bouldr]

Ozzy, did you look at using punbb at all? I have seen it around many new sites recently - what's your opinion of it?