I need a forum software thingy/program

I badly want to set up a forum

[Maxnpaddy]

Hi,

Have seen many forums on the net, and dearly like to have one myself.

What do you experts recommend for use?

[rogerd]

There are plenty of ideas if you search the site for "forum software", but I'd say the most commonly used here are phpBB (open source) and vBulletin (commercialware). Invision BB, PunBB, and SMF have also been suggested here.

phpBB has had a history of security issues (and the need for frequent patching or upgrades), but it's my impression that this has been less of a problem in the last 12 months. They have a new version (3.0) that is in a fairly stable condition but won't be released as "gold" until one more release candidate cycle.

[Maxnpaddy]

Thanks - yeah, had seen the phpbb one about, and it's free so might go with that type.

What kind of security risks are we talking about. People hacking and destroying the content or do you mean spamming?

[Maxnpaddy]

I installed the php one, and it seems quite cool. Is it easy to get members signing up, or will I struggle in the first few months. See, I guess need a few hundred members posting fast, then I can get some posts going and hopefully it will build up from there.

Is this easy to do as don't want to have an empty forum.

[edited by: Maxnpaddy at 12:25 pm (utc) on July 6, 2007]

[rogerd]

Actually, jump-starting a forum isn't usually easy unless you are lucky enough to have a major source of traffic or a niche that's unique and high-interest.

In most cases, getting a forum going is a lot of grunt work - posting new topics, responding quickly to new members and new posts, killing spam and spammers right away, and attracting new members.

I suggest scanning through the community building library threads. This one would be a good start: [webmasterworld.com...]

[thecoalman]

The security risk depends on the exploit, whatever the case you only need to keep a backup of the database and you can restore it mostly intact, only thing you'll be missing is whatever was posted since your backup.

As far as the risks for phpbb2 if you check the phpbb forums 99% of the "I've been hacked" threads will be the result of a outdated board, usually a very outdated board. Note that phpbb2 went through a massive security audit a few months ago and I haven't seen any "I've been hacked" threads recently but I don't go there that often either. It's just like any other software, you need to keep it up to date and because it is used so widely it's a big target. Get on their upgrade notification letter so you'll know when updates are released, if you keep it up to date you will be relatively safe.

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As far as spam goes phpbb3 uses a pretty hard captcha but it's just a matter of time before the spammers adjust there bots to break it if they haven't already. Check the modifications forum on phpbb if you start getting spammed, the best one for phpbb2 was one that asked a question and I'm sure there will be a similar release for phpbb3.

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Getting members is the hardest part, having a niche that isn't filled yet is preferable but those are few and far between. Once you get a few regulars it will pick up, make sure to have a off-topic, debate...etc forum as that is where the regulars usually spend a lot of their time on many forums.

[Maxnpaddy]

Off-topic debate? You mean a all-subject forum, like a seperate any discussion one?

I bet this will get spammed a lot anyway no? I bet spam is a big problem for forums and the thing is how to stop it.

[thecoalman]

Spam bots are easy to stop, they're stupid and that's the weakness. The question modification I mentioned above has stopped them dead on my forum. I don't even use the image captcha(all but useless anyway) or email verification.

That only leaves human spammers, phbb3 hides the memberlist and othe things from search engines so there's no incentive to simply join. That only leaves spam in posts, they are easy to spot especially on a small forum. Generally they only target large forums where the benefits are better and they are less likely to get caught.

[Maxnpaddy]

Thanks, will look into ways of stopping human spam.