I know this has been discussed many times before, but as always, people's opinions change and software gets updated frequently and so I would like to know which in your opinion is the BEST and MOST customizable FREE Forum Software?

I currently use Burning Board for some of my forums, but I was looking towards something else better.

Thanks.

phpbb is the way to go.

I used to recommend Ikonboard but the original developer Matt left.

Originally posted by klisis
phpbb is the way to go.

I used to recommend Ikonboard but the original developer Matt left.

Is PhpBB2 out yet? What is the url of the site?

Thanks.

You know if you type in phpbb in yahoo or MS search engine, the result comes up. :rolleyes:

Anyway, it's phpbb.com

Phpbb2 RC4 is the lated version, I think.

And if you want to view phpbb2 PC4 , the URL is http://phpbb.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/

Thanks.

I just went to phpbbhacks.com and got it from there.

YaBB SE (http://yabb.info/) seems very efficient and slick, and is a breeze to install.

http://www.ibforums.com looks very promising. :)

UBB, iB, phpBB, XMB, OpenBB, wBB...I have tried them all, but my vote goes to phpBB2. Simply put, it's awesome. I'm using RC2 right now and although there are a few tiny bugs with logging in, I've experienced no problems.

Although it seems to me that the more advanced a board script gets, the more complicated it is to install.

Originally posted by xnet
http://www.ibforums.com looks very promising. :)

Can't get their test forum to load for me.
Anyone having this problem?

What do you guys think of burning board vs. yabb?

Thanks.

www.xmbforum.com

XMB rules!
phpBB = ok

Let me look up some url's, I know some other good & nice looking ones... ;)

Damn! That's right... my pc crashed yesterday, had to format c: and I lost my entire "Favorites" list... :bawling:


Sorry folks :(

The test board has been down since IBForums moved servers. You can see the latest demo of IBF at http://www.ibforums.com/forums/.

Originally posted by mantra


Can't get their test forum to load for me.
Anyone having this problem?

What do you guys think of burning board vs. yabb?

Thanks.

Snitz is slick....if you are on a windows box. (It runs on ASP)

OpenBB or phpBB2

Yeah! I forgot that one! OpenBB looks nice & is very easy to use. :)
Some bugs in it still, though. :(

dont forget burning board! Version 1.1.1 was awesome, unfortunately they are talking about charging for version 2, totaly lame.

Anyways, If you want to learn more about forums...

EVENTUALY, when people sign up and start posting, this will be the place to go...

http://www.forum-forum.com

Also you can post/browse through the forum directories, to find more forums or list yours!

Unforutunately there isnt much there yet, but I would like to try to encourage people to register, and post their forum URLs.

If you know any awesome forums, plz help build the database and post them!

Thankyou,

Hope you will consider helping Forum-Forum get started.

HI!
I would say that burning booard is one of the best. Why do you want to change it in the first place... :)

have a great day

Regards
Amar

Originally posted by bobcares
HI!
I would say that burning booard is one of the best. Why do you want to change it in the first place... :)

have a great day

Regards
Amar

I guess I will stick with Burning Board. I wanted to try something that has many hacks and templates/graphics available. I thought phpbb2 would be nice to try. But I am really satisfied with Burning Board.

Of the free software, I have to say phpBB is my pick.

there are tons of hacks of burning board at www.wbbhacks.com.

Originally posted by Timothy
Of the free software, I have to say phpBB is my pick.

That is my favorite site for WBB hacks ;) They are great.

Yup there are a ton of hacks, and most of them are fairly easy to install. With all the hacks available there you can make Burning Board about as good as vBulletin, too bad they can't make a hack so that gZip Compression can be used.

Will http://www.phpbb.com/ always be free? Is this the sort of thing were once you download it, you keep it? No worrys about getting an e-mail that says.. BTW-we are now switching to bieng subscription based..LOL=)
Thanks

phpBB is released under an open source license, and just like Linux, will always remain free. It also just happens to be one of the best forums out there at the moment. When version 2 hits final, I think many people will have to think carefully before paying for vBulletin. :)

Originally posted by fcsnc
YaBB SE (http://yabb.info/) seems very efficient and slick, and is a breeze to install.

YaBB SE is awesome its easy to intall, administrate etc. and u can download colour template and heaps of board hacks and mods

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

IMNSHO this is the best forum by far, maybe cause I'm one of the developers, but that only gives me more right :)

FUDforum, is by far the best free forum from all that I have seen. I have reviewed many forum packages and found them all inferior and poorly designed, so I went out and made my own, it's been in development for quite some time now.... anyway, it has more features that all the mainstream forums like vbulletin, phpbb2, openbb and so on... I've tried to design everything sensibly, so that things work and make sense :)

take a look and try it out, it's free, and distributed under GPL

http://fud.prohost.org

Guys, ibforums is looking very slick. An acquaintance of mine is running a private beta and it's really as fast as they say it is...almost tempted to switch to ibforums from xmb for one of my boards.

Also, I think devbb (http://www.mybboard.com/) is better than xmb; more features-rich. It's by the original developers of devbb, so that's a plus.

Originally posted by hackie
IMNSHO this is the best forum by far, maybe cause I'm one of the developers, but that only gives me more right :)

FUDforum, is by far the best free forum from all that I have seen. I have reviewed many forum packages and found them all inferior and poorly designed, so I went out and made my own, it's been in development for quite some time now.... anyway, it has more features that all the mainstream forums like vbulletin, phpbb2, openbb and so on... I've tried to design everything sensibly, so that things work and make sense :)

take a look and try it out, it's free, and distributed under GPL

http://fud.prohost.org
err you own fudforum:rolleyes:

I'm a big fan of phpBB2. I moderate a board running it and it's very easy to use.

Burning Board looks interesting though.. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Originally posted by inogenius
Yup there are a ton of hacks, and most of them are fairly easy to install. With all the hacks available there you can make Burning Board about as good as vBulletin, too bad they can't make a hack so that gZip Compression can be used.

Just wanted to clarify that GZIP compression is turned on by default in Burning Board if your host supports it.

Does anyone know how long the "English Site" of burning board will be down.

I have tried to access it for around a month now and it is still down :(

Cheers,

phpBB2 is an excellent free forum..

By the way, there is quite a bit of free forum info at Forumdirectory.net (http://www.forumdirectory.net) that you might find useful.



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Xsnames.com (http://www.xsnames.com)

Talking About Domains

If anyone wants a copy of Burning Board, I have wbb_b45e and wbb1.1.0e. Haven't been keeping up with the releases since I primarily use phpBB 2 now. But PM me if you want 'em.

You can directly download it from here -> http://woltlab.de/dl/wbb1.1.1e.zip

Cheers matey ;)