TheDoctor - 8:37 pm on Dec 13, 2004 (gmt 0)

avoid forums where the [must-have] features must be applied as hacks.

This is why I don't use phpBB - I'd have to hack it to get features i think are essential for me. Some of the hacks are well-known and available from the phpBB site, but I don't want to be playing around with code each time I upgrade.

I use WebBBS, despite there not having been a major update in two years now (there are occasional sightings of the not-Yeti - version 6 - so I'm soemtimes hopeful in that direction). It has a search-engine friendly URL option as standard, the ability for users to subscribe as standard and the ability to flag individual users for premoderation as standard. If phpBB had these as standard I'd have jumped ship, since phpBB has a lot of nice-to-haves, but I'm not going to go backwards.

Other people have other needs. You've got to be aware of what's available and how it matches the nature of your forum. There is no simple "best".