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Best Free Forum Software

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I think phpBB is the best when talking about free forum software, but i like vBulletin more but it's not free... :)
 
For free forums there are three biggies(I have tried out all of these in the past few months . I've included my personal experience with them in here):

1. PhpBB:
-very large user base and lots of developers , theme arists , etc.
-very large database of modifications , themes , developer resources , etc.
-Good with security , stability and usability(I have seem some really really massive forums too use it)
-Arguably Most popular of the three
-The newest version(3.06) has really improved a lot and it works beyond my expectations . Now runs with quick reply , and multiple captcha(including reCaptcha) systems , universal user reporting database system , etc. and lots more right out of the box . I currently use this and am highly satisfied .
-Modification installation is to be done manually using ftp and editing of files might be required for certain modifications(unless you are using their automod installer that is also available on their website)

2. SMF
-large user base with many modifications and themes available .
-Lays very high significance on security .
-Large forums like Prize live too use it without many hick ups , so stability is never an issue .
-Oldest of the 3 forums in this list afaik
-mod installation is as simple as browse and install

3. MyBB
-has an uncanny familiarity with vBulletin , some people used to call it the free version of vBulletin
-newest of the 3 listed here .
-mod installation is really very simple .
-the forum is really very light and loads fairly very quickly .
-Lots of hooks and easy to develop(Lots of hooks can sometimes cause security risks if not handled properly)
-Gaining popularity really quickly.
-if you are good with php , this forum provides you all the things you need to customize it to your hearts pleasure . But remember , each customization if not done properly can leave the door open for hackers , so you must be careful with modifications .

There are many-many other free forum systems , but the three above are arguably the most notable of them .

Best Regards,
Aloycasmir
 
For free forums there are three biggies(I have tried out all of these in the past few months . I've included my personal experience with them in here):

1. PhpBB:
-very large user base and lots of developers , theme arists , etc.
-very large database of modifications , themes , developer resources , etc.
-Good with security , stability and usability(I have seem some really really massive forums too use it)
-Arguably Most popular of the three
-The newest version(3.06) has really improved a lot and it works beyond my expectations . Now runs with quick reply , and multiple captcha(including reCaptcha) systems , universal user reporting database system , etc. and lots more right out of the box . I currently use this and am highly satisfied .
-Modification installation is to be done manually using ftp and editing of files might be required for certain modifications(unless you are using their automod installer that is also available on their website)

2. SMF
-large user base with many modifications and themes available .
-Lays very high significance on security .
-Large forums like Prize live too use it without many hick ups , so stability is never an issue .
-Oldest of the 3 forums in this list afaik
-mod installation is as simple as browse and install

3. MyBB
-has an uncanny familiarity with vBulletin , some people used to call it the free version of vBulletin
-newest of the 3 listed here .
-mod installation is really very simple .
-the forum is really very light and loads fairly very quickly .
-Lots of hooks and easy to develop(Lots of hooks can sometimes cause security risks if not handled properly)
-Gaining popularity really quickly.
-if you are good with php , this forum provides you all the things you need to customize it to your hearts pleasure . But remember , each customization if not done properly can leave the door open for hackers , so you must be careful with modifications .

There are many-many other free forum systems , but the three above are arguably the most notable of them .

Best Regards,
Aloycasmir

Absolutely right. Im agree with you. :cool2:
 
Hey cs squad , those weren't in serial order , they were in the order of number of forums(just an estimate) .
For me , the order would be same as your own :)
 
What I like about PHPBB is that most hosts with an auto-installer support it, so you know that a good number of places you go won't have the headache of learning, for instance, a new operating system.
 
MyBB definitely.
Although, Richard has designed a forum script that's looking promising.
 
phpbb is still free.
since it is a very famous forum script, if it really become a non-free script, all of use will know.

it will be a big havoc and the news will be mention around if it had become like vbulletin.
the news will be as havoc as Sun Microsystem along with MySQL and OpenOffice was bought over by Oracle.
 
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