Forum Software

Which is best

[SlyOldDog]

We would like to set up a forum for backpackers and we'd like to use some software which is easy for users, as they will probably not be such regular visitors. By this, I mean that the screen should not be too busy.

We also need to be able to automatically exclude the posting of bad language and urls, to keep site maintenance to a minimum.

Does anyone have any experience of running a forum? Which software is the best for our needs?

Thanks in advance.

[ScottM]

Installed phpBB2 over the past few weeks, I really like it.

Iy has some nice support, bad word censor list...fairly customizable.

In short, it great and it's free!

[chiyo]

Sly Old Dog. I would strongly recommend using hotscripts.com as they seem to have most forum software. Look at the description for each one in their directory listings to see if anyone says "lightweght or clean" etc. and then go to their home page to see it in action. Almost all have a "user" forum so you will see pretty quick haow popular or reliable it is for your uses. I know there were some nice "simple" focus softwares there a few months back. I just didnt need all the 90% of peripheral crud like avatars, and the like, but there were some functions I did want like ability to use postings as includes on other pages and a nice simple user profiles and search. Took an hour or two to go through them but well worth it.

[wruk999]

Have to agree with ScottM,

I have had two instances of phpBB2 running for quite a few months now - its extremely stable, customisable and fast!

Definately worth a look if you have MySQL.

[georgeek]

I researched the Forum s/w market about 4 months ago and the one I eventually selected has been superb for my particular requirements - customizable, very fast and good professional support. It is called ASPPlayground [aspplayground.net].

[Ove]

Have to agree with ScottM

I am running a few of them both big ones and small ones and it works great with them.

Easy to install and friendly admin and its free.

/Ove

[The Contractor]

Well I happen to know some great forum software that has been developed and tuned to the point that it puts all others to shame… it’s called BestBBs and has been developed by our own Brett Tabke – the host of these forums :)

C’mon Brett tell us when you are going to be releasing this for purchase. Any projected release date?

[Brett_Tabke]

Thanks Contractor. No date yet, but rsn (real soon now). Several things to do.

[SlyOldDog]

Thanks for the input everyone. Good to know we can always turn to you for help.

[mikeD]

will it be free Brett like phpbb or will you be charging.

[Giacomo]

Free? Are you kidding. :)

[RoadRash]

vBulletin, i have been using it on my site for two years, amazing software!

[Ove]

About the phpbb we have tried to do the mod_rewrite on that one i will let you know how it works with a html versin of phpbb.

/Ove

[jimh009]

I vote for phpBB2. I just installed it on my site this past week (I get the impression yours and my site probably cater to the same type of visitors as I have a content site about fishing).

Easy to install with built in capabilities to remove those ugly words without you having to always watch out for them.

I highly recommend it - especially since its free!

Jim

[bufferzone]

I use Snitz, I am forced to use ASP because of compagny standards. It is quit well made with a lot of functionality

[rogerd]

BestBBS^TM
The Name Says It All^TM ;)

Brett, you should add the "^TM" to your citation in the footer if that's what you intend to use for the product name...

Slydog, you are looking for a completely static-page solution, not database driven, Discusware isn't bad. It's not SEO-ready out of the box, but a few tweaks make it quite SE friendly. My experience after a year of heavy use that it is rock solid with good support. However, if you are expecting more than a hundred or two posts per day, its archiving seems to be kind of weak. I've got a board that is outgrowing Discus and I'm hanging on waiting for BestBBS. :)

[AmericanBulldog]

This may not be the right place for this post but here goes...

Is there a way to view posts since your last visit, or must you always try and figure out where you were in a thread in WBW?

I have been hanging around for a couple of months and haven't found a way, so if there is, your help would be appreciated. Whenever I drop back in and check recent posts, it shows everything I've already read and on active posts, I have to try and figure out where i was before I go on.

phpBB is great software BTW, easy and quick to install

[hakre]

is it possible to downsize phpbb?, ie removing the icons, replacing navigation images with text and that stuff?

somebody did it already maybe and has practical experience on tuning it?