Has anyone tested phpBB2.2 yet?

New features might make it better than vBulletin

[encyclo]

I was wondering if anyone has been doing any testing with the future phpBB 2.2 branch? I've put up a test forum running a development snapshot (2.1.2), and first impressions are very positive. It makes phpBB 2.0.x look archaic: it has much better forum management, subforums, advanced membership levels, a friend-foe system... The admin side is vastly improved too, and it includes such useful stuff as automatically removing session IDs for known bots, banning IPs, banning email address and username patterns, admin and moderator action logging... There seems a strong emphasis on security, with the memberlist inaccesible to non-members by default and a large number of admin tools to reduce the effect of many current security problems.

I don't have any real experience of running a vBulletin forum and using the admin side, so I was wondering how the two compare in terms of features and usability?

(Note: phpBB 2.2 is due out in 2005, but there is no set release date.)

[vabtz]

given there track record for security problems I would wait for a few releases

[encyclo]

I would wait for a few releases

Sure, I wouldn't dream of going live with a development snapshot, nor probably for a couple of months at least after launch. But, the new features are really quite compelling, and the incentive to upgrade will be strong.

Aside the fact that it's not finished yet, what I was looking for was whether, once stable, phpBB 2.2 is in the same league as, or even out-classes, vBulletin (which is widely considered the best fully-featured BB out there).

[vabtz]

oh I meant a few releases of the finished version

I definitley like the new interface and controls its real sweet. I am married to the old one though because my site is based on its api. I'll have to see the new API before I decide whether or not to use it.

[dvduval]

It looks like a good release. I think they are being a little more careful this time. Yes, there have been security problems, but since I back up everything well, I have NEVER been down for than a few minutes, and I run about 20 forums.

[buksida]

This maybe a silly question but ...

If I wanted to test 2.2 could I just download it, install it into a different folder from my existing forum and edit config.php so it connects to the same database?

Would this messup the DB so it no longer works with 2.0.11? Would it be best to create a new DB just for testing purposes?

[rogerd]

>>Would it be best to create a new DB just for testing purposes?

This is always good practice; you could, perhaps, clone your existing database and install the software in a different folder (or on a different server) for testing.

Running pre-release software on your primary database is a prescription for disaster. Also, major software upgrades often make changes to the database structure, which could cause the existing forum to break.

[encyclo]

I'm not sure the database is compatible, buksida, so you may have to convert it. Even if it is, the 2.1.2 version that I have is an experimental release, and not stable, either in the sense of potential crashes, but also not feature-stable: ie. a future development snapshot or beta release may not have the same features, etc.

I agree with rogerd that it would be a very bad idea to try to run this on a live server - it's just not ready yet. However, if you wanted to test with some of your data you could use an old backup copy of your existing database.