Article
The Top 5 Forum Softwares
by Darkman | posted April 09, 2007
(0 votes) | 1734 views
A discussion about the top 5 Forums Softwares and which one to choose.
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Forum softwares are one of the most popular web applications. There are lots of Forum softwares available, both small and big. If you are running a website like Digital Point, where Forums are the main part, you have to go for bigger and better softwares.
On the other hand, if you are using them as Support Forums for your product or something like that, you shall go for smaller ones.
Here, we'll see the pros and cons of the top 5 forums softwares. This is no countdown.
1) vBulletin
vBulletin can be called as the kind of forum softwares. It is the oldest among forum softwares. So naturally it has the largest number of Hacks and Styles. An owned license of vBulletin costs $160 and even most of the styles cost around $30 to $50. So that makes many new forums choose free softwares.
vBulletin, apart from their site, has a large number of support sites, fan sites etc… Its hack vBSEO is a very popular Search Engine Optimization hack.
2) Invision Power Board
Invision Power Board is the most popular paid software, next to vBulletin. Personally i feel IPB is more professional than vBulletin. A standard license costs $150. IPB too has a lot of Themes and Hacks.
Unlike vBulletin, you can get a remotely hosted IPB for free at Invision Free or at IPB Free.
3) phpBB
phpBB can be called as "A Poor man's vBulletin". Its very similar to vBulletin in look and functionality. It is a free software. Among the free softwares, phpBB has the largest number of Mods and Styles.
There are lots of free phpBB hosts available. In fact, you can start your own phpBB hosting site for free using this script.
Lately a lot of phpBB users have swiched over to other softwares like SMF and MyBB, due to poor support and very slow development.
4) Simple Machines
I would personally recommend SMF, if you are looking for a free Forum software. It is a pretty new software, but has gained a lot of popularity in a short span of time. Its development has shaken the forum world.
It doesn't have a big database of Themes or Mods compared to phpBB, but has a lot of good themes and very nice mods. SMF is pretty different from the above three softwares in many respects. First of all, it has a different and unique default theme.
Second is that it does not use .tpl files for the template system. All the codes are hardcoded into the PHP files, which makes it easy for designers to customize their site. But it makes the life of an ordinary forumer, a little tough.
SMF too has some free hosts like SMF for Free. Again, you can start your own SMF host using this script. but it costs $80 for an owned license.
5) MyBB
MyBB is a very new software. It is a pretty good free alternative to vBulletin. It has some great feature which, even the paid ones don't have.
I have not used MyBB at all. So i don't have much to say about it.
It doesn't have too many themes/mods either. There are some free MyBB hosts available like Create MyBB.
You can choose among these 5 softwares if you are running a community based website. If you are wanting a simpler forum, you have to go with something else. We'll see about the others in another article.
On the other hand, if you are using them as Support Forums for your product or something like that, you shall go for smaller ones.
Here, we'll see the pros and cons of the top 5 forums softwares. This is no countdown.
1) vBulletin
vBulletin can be called as the kind of forum softwares. It is the oldest among forum softwares. So naturally it has the largest number of Hacks and Styles. An owned license of vBulletin costs $160 and even most of the styles cost around $30 to $50. So that makes many new forums choose free softwares.
vBulletin, apart from their site, has a large number of support sites, fan sites etc… Its hack vBSEO is a very popular Search Engine Optimization hack.
2) Invision Power Board
Invision Power Board is the most popular paid software, next to vBulletin. Personally i feel IPB is more professional than vBulletin. A standard license costs $150. IPB too has a lot of Themes and Hacks.
Unlike vBulletin, you can get a remotely hosted IPB for free at Invision Free or at IPB Free.
3) phpBB
phpBB can be called as "A Poor man's vBulletin". Its very similar to vBulletin in look and functionality. It is a free software. Among the free softwares, phpBB has the largest number of Mods and Styles.
There are lots of free phpBB hosts available. In fact, you can start your own phpBB hosting site for free using this script.
Lately a lot of phpBB users have swiched over to other softwares like SMF and MyBB, due to poor support and very slow development.
4) Simple Machines
I would personally recommend SMF, if you are looking for a free Forum software. It is a pretty new software, but has gained a lot of popularity in a short span of time. Its development has shaken the forum world.
It doesn't have a big database of Themes or Mods compared to phpBB, but has a lot of good themes and very nice mods. SMF is pretty different from the above three softwares in many respects. First of all, it has a different and unique default theme.
Second is that it does not use .tpl files for the template system. All the codes are hardcoded into the PHP files, which makes it easy for designers to customize their site. But it makes the life of an ordinary forumer, a little tough.
SMF too has some free hosts like SMF for Free. Again, you can start your own SMF host using this script. but it costs $80 for an owned license.
5) MyBB
MyBB is a very new software. It is a pretty good free alternative to vBulletin. It has some great feature which, even the paid ones don't have.
I have not used MyBB at all. So i don't have much to say about it.
It doesn't have too many themes/mods either. There are some free MyBB hosts available like Create MyBB.
You can choose among these 5 softwares if you are running a community based website. If you are wanting a simpler forum, you have to go with something else. We'll see about the others in another article.
