Which forum software would you recommend?

[raindog308]

I'm thinking of starting a forum...what are people's recommendations for comparing the different forum options?

I'm looking at vbulletin, Invision power board, phpBB, and maybe UBB.threads. The fact that phpBB is free is not a big deciding factor - software quality outweighs saving the bucks.

My first idea was vbulletin, but a lot of the reviews for the 4.x series are mixed. But I personally have never adminned it and from a user perspective, the 4.x forums I participate in seem fine.

Some specifics:

Me

• I've never run a forum before. I did read "Managing Online Forumes" by Patrick O'Keefe and of course have used forums for years.
• I am a professional PHP/MySQL programmer and former Linux sysadmin, so tech-wise I'm pretty savvy.
• I'm not a web designer but am reasonably familiar with Photoshop, html, etc.

The Forum

• The forum will discuss an emerging consumer technology trend that is not presently covered elsewhere that I know of.
• I hope to sell ads eventually though I expect that won't happen until the site grows. I will probably use AdSense in the meantime. The site isn't really about making money per se, but of course opportunities to offset monthly costs are welcome.
• I plan to host the site on a VPS, probably a beefy highperformance system from linode or 6sync, both of which I have experience with.
• I expect the site will have some static content as well - reviews, advice, etc. I don't know if that argues for vbulletin's CMS suite, though honestly I haven't read very good reviews about it. I would not have a problem putting this on Wordpress or something to run alongside.
• I'd like to have the potential to scale to a large community. Whether that happens is another matter :-)

Requirements

• Runs on linux/php/mysql. I could consider postgres but I think these all are mysql-based. I would be curious to know about MyISAM vs. InnoDB requirements, as that helps in VPS sizing.
• Either apache or nginx for webserver (nginx is nice but not vital)
• Must support seo-friendly URLs
• The ability to obtain a quality visual template is a big plus because that is not my personal strength - tweaking is one thing but I'd rather not do it from scratch. I don't need something super-fancy and definitely not high-graphic, just reasonably different so the site stands out. I'll be placing a logo, etc.
• Needs good mods, though at this point I have no idea which I'll need. I know that makes it hard, but I'm sure I will want to customize things and yet until I get going I'm not sure what.
• I really don't want to be in a situation where there's a new trend and now my forum software doesn't have a mod or feature...e.g., a year from now everyone is using the next Facebook and wants to login with it or whatever. So I don't want to use some obscure forum software that doesn't have active development or a strong community (or both :-)
• I like viewing some vb sites on my iphone, so the ability to support/skin the site automatically for mobile devices is something I'd like
• I do not neeed handholding support...relying on forums for support is probably fine for me.

[wwwcontrol]

This is not an easy decision, you have to do a lot of research before you find what fits you best.My tip is that you don't use phpbb, i will not say anything against since a lot of members would disagree, but i would never use phpbb myself...good luck!

[C0ldf1re]

Paid-for. Use vBulletin, it's the best.

Free. Try MyBB. Reliable and friendly.

[archer]

I'll second that recommendation for MyBB. I've been using it for a few of my sites for a couple of years now without any issues. Plus the plugins and any custom mods are super easy to implement.

[handsonweb]

It seems like you've approached this decision in a logical manner and actually did a little research (unlike most). Personally, I've used phpBB and vBulletin and I've found vBulletin to be better for both the people in the forums and also the server (less overhead etc). The downfall is the recurring yearly fee, but at the end of the day it's worth the price. While I like phpBB and still have a forum active using it, most everything else has swapped to vBulletin.

[CountryBoy]

Hating to sound like a stuck record, but another vote for MyBB here.
It was used at a forum I previously moderated at, which subsequently switched to vB. Lots of functionality and quite easy to migrate the content across.

[cipl123]

Hello,

As per my experience I am aware about one free software with name "MY BB". If you want more information on it or any other paid software then please visit below link:

http://www.forum-software.org/