Hi,

I would like to have your opinion on the free Bulleting boards scripts available (YABB, InvisionBoard, simplemachines (SMF) etc..)
I am looking for a bulletin board that I can integrate Google Adsense ads in.. Any comments, suggestions etc would be appreciated. And Your thoughts on Vbulletin and if one should use a free Bulletin Board or purchase one and why ?
Thanks

I prefer vBulletin. It's simple and looks good

Yea vbulletin costs 80$ for a leased license but trust me its worth the money!!

Otherwise sticking to the topic, id suggest phpbb or ipb 1.3

vBulletin, phpbb, ipb have their own advantaged and disadvantages. They differ in their features and prices. But phpbb is free-of-charge. IPB costs nearly 100$. But I'd prefer vBulletin because it's very good in usability.

phpBB is my choice.

http://www.mybboard.com/

Great forum, Has simular featurs as vb.

I would definitely go for vBulletin, the reasons for this being:
1) as commercial software vBulletin is given professional support;
2) you can get all major releases quickly;
3) easy to use;
You can go and compare:
phpBB (http://www.phpbb.com/features.php) feature list
vBulletin (http://www.vbulletin.com/features.php) feature list

I would second http://www.mybboard.com (http://www.mybboard.com/)

Superb software, Rapid response from the support team on the forums and through the IRC channel... Much better then the paid solutions in my opinion ;)

- Easy to use
- Professional looking
- Lots of features
- Frequent updates when security holes are found

Firsf of al SMF then MYBB

I've only used PHPBB and SMF. SMF walks all over PHPBB.

Alright !
I'm gona give SMF a try ;)

Thanks !

SMF but it's default skin is UGGGGGGGGGGGGLY.

I would also consider http://www.mybboard.com/

http://www.punbb.org/ is by far the simpliest and one of the easiest to use forums

I'd give a vote for MyBB as well, this is a really well designed piece of software as free.

Otherwise, don't even think about IPB 1.3, they have stopped support for IPB 1.x and not only this, it has been explained by invision team that invision 1.3 is far way outdated and has a lot of securities issues which they will not fix.

If you're going for a freebie, then definitely SMF all the way, it's spot on.

Don't get me started with reasons why NOT to use phpBB, we'll be here all day...

If you are wanting a free forum rich in features then I would go for MyBB, if you are wanting a free forum which is simple and easy-to-use I would go for XMB.
But if you can fork out for it vBulletin is highly reccommended

I've only used PHPBB and SMF. SMF walks all over PHPBB.

Can someone elaborate? Is it because of security?

Also, I have a test install of yaBB - it is written in PERL. Can someone discuss the advantage/disadvantages of a script written in PERL vs. PHP?

I currently use phpbb but it has many annoyances, seems like for any decent functionality you have to install 3rd party mods. I've got SMF installed for a new site I'm working on, but haven't had time to get into it much. My initial thoughts on SMF is that I will probably be happier with it than phpbb.

I've installed SMF and I added couple of Mods and so far, I'm impressed !

IPB 2.2 all the way. its way better then vb, less server resource eating, very easy to use (vb control panel is way complicative) i currently own 17 IPB lifetime license and 2 vbulletin leased. ipb owns vb when it comes to smoothness, functions, mods and other things but vb has better security i say.

Make your own. (:

But if not, go for vBulletin.

And if you can't afford it, I'd second PunBB.

IPB 2.2 all the way. its way better then vb, less server resource eating.

I'd be interested in seeing your benchmarks.

1. simplemachines.org
2. simplemachines.org
3. phpbb.om

PHPBB is the best for *free* :)

i must say that since I opened this topic, I installed simplemachines.org (SMF), installed it in less than a minute and posted my questions on their forum.. There's always someone replying back within a day or two max !

I loved the mods espacially the one that allows you to place Ads anywhere on your forum with couple of clicks.. I can put Google ads in posts, threads, header, footer, sides etc without knowing any coding or modifying any files.. All is done from the admin section.

So I had my forum setup in 3 days and I advertised it a bit here and there :) For those who would like to see it: www.multimontreal.com (I did not put any ads yet.. Waiting for more people to join) !

So at the end, I am satisfied with SMF although there might be something better out there.. But SMF answers my needs so far...

Nice to hear you used SMF :)

Yeah, it's self-install mod system really is a fantastic idea, it's very flexible and extremely fast software- I personally think it also gives a big threat to the big commercial forums (vB, IPB), the only thing you miss out on is the dedicated support teams on the other end of the phone should you need them.