BlackHatClass 27 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I do not like how a forum are starting to become stuff like facebook. They are designed to be a forum, not some random tossed in status updates. Well, why not use forums in a creative way? We've all seen the usual community style places, a bit more interactive forums would be awesome IMO. Godric 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DevilKid 5 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Well every forum software has its pros and cons. There are quite a lot of them out there but I agree, choosing one is one of the tough jobs to do. If you don't want to spend a lot of money at the beginning then I would suggest choosing from MyBB or PhpBB. They both are quite good softwares although I haven't used PhpBB recently. MyBB is very user friendly, it is the easiest software I have used until today and I have been able to design/create templates in it all by myself. From a forum point of view, it is very easy for the users to navigate around the forums. There are however some features which you might not find in MyBB but you will in other paid softwares such as making the user experience better by using jQuery and Javascript. I have not used a lot of paid softwares but from my experience, I think Xenforo is quite a good software to look at if you are willing to spend money for your forum. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Siddharth Ramakrishnan 1 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Well i always use IPB. IPB looks more sexy and it has more SEO Godric 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Collin1000 4 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I do not like how a forum are starting to become stuff like facebook. They are designed to be a forum, not some random tossed in status updates. I'm not sure that it's a bad thing. Facebook is on it's way to be the #1 website on the internet, and is already #1 in terms of time spent. (Sure, Google has the most traffic, but that traffic leaves after a minute.) Social interaction is what spawned the net in the first place, and forums are growing and adapting to what people expect in a website. It just happens to be Facebook-ish. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Amdac 11 Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Well i always use IPB. IPB looks more sexy and it has more SEO I'm going to have to completely disagree with the SEO point. As soon as I read that I did a quick look around this site and the first thing I see is that the alt text of the site's logo is "logo". To verify that it's not just this theme I checked with IPB's own support forum and it's the exact same setup. That's not doing a thing for SEO. I'm not bashing IPB but to claim it's superior in terms of SEO to a platform such as xenforo where SEO is one of the primary factors in it's design, is way off base. Godric 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Administrators Nathan 288 Posted April 1, 2012 Administrators Share Posted April 1, 2012 I'm going to have to completely disagree with the SEO point. As soon as I read that I did a quick look around this site and the first thing I see is that the alt text of the site's logo is "logo". To verify that it's not just this theme I checked with IPB's own support forum and it's the exact same setup. That's not doing a thing for SEO. I'm not bashing IPB but to claim it's superior in terms of SEO to a platform such as xenforo where SEO is one of the primary factors in it's design, is way off base. Ah didn't even notice that, thanks for the heads up fixed now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkGizmo 2 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 IPB is an excellent choice to go with btw. They have very few resources usage and they're security is top-notch as well as offer you a wide variety of features. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
__Darknite 27 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I would say before committing to a particular forum software, try them out and test them. You will get a different view from each person you ask, and everyone will have their own bias. Use the software that works for you. But ultimately the software are really secondary issue when it comes to forums. Starting a community, building it, maintaining it are far far more important in my view. That is the real challenge and it should be the central focus. ChuckTesta and crumblepie 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vaudevillianvet 2 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I usually use MyBB, but most of those forums are beginning to be the same five skins over and over (Like zetaboards ended up, I guess). Anyway, I like how IPB looks and is for the user. I have absolutely 0 experience using it as an admin though judging from this thread, it's pretty good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thomas 59 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I've used most forum software as a user, moderator and administrator and really they all have there pro and cons. You can make most of them do most things with a modification or 2. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Irr 0 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 MyBB is my favorite forum software. It's very user friendly for your members and also for yourself, administrator. The themes are easily customizable and there are many plugins available. If you need a custom plugin, there are people that code them for you for a very cheap price. Also, the MyBB Community is amazing, with many people that are going to help you if you have any problem. MyBB is my far the best choice, in my opinion. And it's free. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChuckTesta 37 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Oh my god... Mybb? I've used that as my first forum software... i hated it with a passion! I switched to Vb and haven't looked back since. My guess is that you haven't tried any other software, Irr. Am i correct? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crumblepie 3 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 I would say before committing to a particular forum software, try them out and test them. You will get a different view from each person you ask, and everyone will have their own bias. Use the software that works for you. But ultimately the software are really secondary issue when it comes to forums. Starting a community, building it, maintaining it are far far more important in my view. That is the real challenge and it should be the central focus. That's good advice. And I want to add that the best way to find out if a forum software is going to work for you is to check out the admin panel. Every person has their own idea of organization, and I find vBulletin's admin panel works the best for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheMightyEddy 5 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 I've written an eBook about this before but I can't find where it went now. xD But for choosing forum software, I would definetely go with the one that has the best features with the best looking skins. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fallace 4 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I'd recommend MyBB, it's easy to use, simple to work and has a ton of good support. Not to mention it's free. IPB is great though, if you can afford it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thomas 59 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 After doing my latest tutorial on MyBB I really dislike it. It's feels very childish, dated and is not very ascetically pleasing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fallace 4 Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Sorry to hear you feel that way, once MyBB 2.0 comes out, I think they'll have fixed many of the current issues. I imagine they'd probably create a better default theme too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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