I want to start a forum, but im not sure which one to go for. I have good experience working with phpbb, but im much prefer the layouts of the others, especially vbulletein.

 

Are they all free or how much would it cost to run them? Which has the best features in them and which is the easiest to work your way around and manage.

 

Thanks in advance

bbpress

i take it IPBoard is invision power board

Only 3 choices? Of those 3 I'd use vBulletin if I had to choose, though IPB has always scored top marks with me.

 

Layouts/templates are editable in all of them so you don't always need to go with a generic look, phpBB has the simplest template structure of the three.

 

As for management, phpPP lacks a lot of tools that are already built into vB and IPB, and will need many plugins if you need to do certain things. Other than that forums are forums so anything non software related will need time and input, including moderation and other daily running jobs.

I'm a bit partial to Simple Machines or SMF as it's often referred to. Both Demonoid.com and PhpFreaks.com have SMF boards. I just think it's easier to use and understand. How did it miss the polls!

bbpress

 

I'm normally a phpBB person myself but I've just been checking out bbpress (thanks for the link btw) and it looks pretty good.

Vbulletin is cheap and is used by almost every successful forum

 

but if your after a free one, I use phpbb. can't comment on the rest as i have never used them.

I recommend IPB for the better graphics and more accurate search capabilites.

Demo : free forums

I have to agree about SMF. It's free, integrates easily into WP and is bang-on sturdy. There are two guys who answer questions every day (almost all day long since one's in the UK and the other Western US) about user issues.

 

Have had phpBB hacked so I don't use that one: it's like using Windows - too many folks know how to break into it. Also used IPBoard - it's good, but I'm partial to SMF these days.

I want to start a forum, but im not sure which one to go for. I have good experience working with phpbb, but im much prefer the layouts of the others, especially vbulletein.

 

Are they all free or how much would it cost to run them? Which has the best features in them and which is the easiest to work your way around and manage.

 

Thanks in advance

 

If you are going for Paid version , then vBulletin , IpBoard has vulnerabilities ..

 

Free version , then choose PHPBB , it has more features when compared to SMF , but it is prone to hacking . you have to manage properly ( update regulary ) with the community updates.

 

SMF is less vulnerable , but less in features ..

 

Thanks

 

MyDediServer Support

 

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For free software- SMF. Paid- IPBoard. I've become very comfortable with customizing both and configuration is easy.