.NET forum software

any recommendations?

[HelenDev]

I'm looking for a .NET forum, open source preferably. It doesn't have to be free necessarily but it should be fully featured and run on the .NET2 framework.

Can anyone recommend anything?

[flyerguy]

Dotnetnuke has a forum module, and is free.

dotnetnuke.com

[Red_Eye]

The asp.net forums use communitysever.org you can get a free express edition

[1010matt]

InstantForum is quite good. Not free though.

[georgeek]

The best is ASPPlayground. Lightning fast, almost any functionality you can think of and you can modify the source if you want. I have used it for a number of clients over that last few years and it gets nothing but good reviews. Several users have over a million posts with no problems.

[ctudorprice]

Dotnetnuke is another option. It now has a forum module. And it is a much better option if you want just a bit more than a forum too.

[ctudorprice]

I use InstantForum and DotNetNuke for different sites. InstantForum is much, much more powerful, costs and is probably overkill for our sites. If I had to do it again, I would opt for DotNetNuke. If you want free, a little simpler, working, expandable and with a future, DotNetNuke is the answer.

[blueheelers]

I second ASPPlayground. I have used it on 2 of my sites. The administration and installation is easy and the look and feel is nice. What separates ASPPG from the others is the support. The developer is always checking the forums and answers questions quickly.

My only complaint on ASPPG is even though it is .NET, it is simply an ASP Classic conversion. There is no project file and no easy way to modify it from in Visual Studio as you would a true ASP.Net web application.

[flyerguy]

My only complaint on ASPPG is even though it is .NET, it is simply an ASP Classic conversion. There is no project file and no easy way to modify it from in Visual Studio as you would a true ASP.Net web application.

This is a good point. If you're going to go .NET at this point, you might as well start off with v2.0. Master pages, theming, postbacks, etc.

Lot's of nice new features, there's no reason to start off with your system already dated a few years.

[HelenDev]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. They'll go into the pot for consideration :)

We've already had a look at communitysever.org and it looks good and multifunctional. Some interesting points about ASPPlayground which may be of consequence, and we'll take a look at Dotnetnuke as well.

[Easy_Coder]

Why can't you just create an empty web project and import the existing ASPPG files thereby creating a new project file? Do you not get the code behind?

[blueheelers]

Why can't you just create an empty web project and import the existing ASPPG files thereby creating a new project file? Do you not get the code behind?

You could import the files into a project, however, it would miss out on the big benefit over ASP in the separation of HTML and code. There is a lot of code in the HTML itself.

Example:

  <tr> 
  <td nowrap valign="top" <%= tableinside %> class="c2"> 
  <p><%= bodyFieldDesc %></p>
 <% If PGDCode = "1" Then pgdSmiley(IsRichTextCapable) %>
  </td>
  <td nowrap valign="top" <%= tableinside %>> 
<% if not IsRichTextCapable then %>
<% if PGDCode = 1 then pgdCodes() %><br>
<% if displayPollInput then rowNumber = "10" else rowNumber = "14"%>
<%= pgdBodyArea(body,rowNumber) %>
<% else %>
<% RTE.renderTextArea(true) %>
<% End If %>
  </td>
  </tr>

We use ASPPG and its great. It has lots of nice features. This converted ASP project was not something mentioned when we bought it and has made it a little more challenging to maintain and modify as needed.

I would still take this over some of the other ASP.Net forums that have compiled DLLS with no source included. We had to modify ASPPG to look in a special table to validate a serial number before the user could create an account. This took some time because of the ASP mess, but it was possible.

Good luck!

[Easy_Coder]

Ah... I see. Its basically not really a .net application but lives in that environment via interop.