Forums

**DomainSpace** · 05-12-2010, 01:03 PM

Looking at creating a forum board like DNforum just not for anything domains - another topic

What platform would you recommend.

phpBB
AEF
XMB
UseBB
MyBB
Phorum
PunBB
SMF
FluxBB

any input would be great

**CureCancer** · 05-12-2010, 01:19 PM

vbulletin is the only option, if you require help with installation and setup and edit to default template I charge a fair price. PM me if you are interested.

**Melly** · 05-12-2010, 01:21 PM

It depends on your budget. If you aren't looking to spend alot of money I would go with phpbb or smf.

For paid I would go with vBulletin just because it has a clean look and is easy to navigate through once you learn how to set things up. I also like IPB but again its a personal choice.

**webcosmo** · 05-15-2010, 09:55 PM

vbulletin is one of the best forum software. best thing is they get you support.

**DomainSpace** · 05-22-2010, 12:37 AM

thanks for your feedback... I was looking at vbulletin because most of the sites I have went to with forums are using it.

Now my next and final question if you don't mind:

If I want to have a forum on to different sites regarding to different things which version of vbulletin allows me create more then one forum.

Vbulletin - 4.0 publishing suite
or
Vbulletin - 4.0 forum license

I'm basically looking at creating a few forums regarding different topics on different domain names.

**s2kinteg916** · 05-22-2010, 07:06 PM

None of them are multiple forum licenses.

You will need 1 license per forum domain.

The suite has a built in CMS system the standard does not.

**james2002** · 05-22-2010, 07:07 PM

vbulletin (paid) or phpbb/smf (free)

**Aleksandar** · 05-22-2010, 08:19 PM

Paid: vBulletin and Invision power board (didn't had a chance to work on it but few people recommended it and few large serbian forums use it so I guess it's good)

Free: SMF

If you're on a $0 budget, start with smf and later when you buy a vBulletin license, convert from smf to vbulletin (yes, there are scripts that do the job, I've converted smf to vbulletin twice about 3-4 years ago and some minor things missed regarding user profiles etc. but nothing that is highly important and it works.. You can find someone to convert it for you, someone with basic php/mysql knowledge will be able to do it)

Of course if you can afford to pay right now, start with vBulletin/IPB

**south** · 05-22-2010, 08:44 PM

Phorum. Very customizable, scalable.

**radioz** · 05-22-2010, 10:36 PM

Vbulletin - 4.0 publishing suite
or
Vbulletin - 4.0 forum license

DNforum uses the full publishing suite. The front page when you go the base (DNforum.com) domain name is part of that suite. There are also some integration design tools included that others probably know more about value wise. One of the biggest things though is that the basic forum software only includes ticketed support for 30 days whereas for $90 more you get ticketed support for the 4.XX product life along with the other things, be they useful or not. My guess is that they are trying to deprocate just buying the forum software alone given that support issue.

**radioz** · 06-02-2010, 09:55 PM

Phorum. Very customizable, scalable.

I put a Phorum forum on my http://www.VintageRadio.com site. I have some questions but for the love of God cannot establish a working log-in account to their forum. If anyone has a working Phorum acct please let me know if you'd be willing to post a question on how to get a forum acct there. Its sort of ashame but I may need to use other software if I can't get into their support system. I guess that this is one of the reasons that we see a lot of vBulletin use. I've never had a log-in issue to a vBulletin forum.

Thanks!

**south** · 06-02-2010, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by radioz

I put a Phorum forum on my http://www.VintageRadio.com site. I have some questions but for the love of God cannot establish a working log-in account to their forum. If anyone has a working Phorum acct please let me know if you'd be willing to post a question on how to get a forum acct there. Its sort of ashame but I may need to use other software if I can't get into their support system. I guess that this is one of the reasons that we see a lot of vBulletin use. I've never had a log-in issue to a vBulletin forum.

Thanks!

I didn't have to do anything special to create an account. Just click "create a new profile" in the top right.

I do have a working account, just logged in to test it. If you need a more specific question asked, let me know.

Your site looks great btw!

**radioz** · 06-02-2010, 11:17 PM

I didn't have to do anything special to create an account. Just click "create a new profile" in the top right.

I do have a working account, just logged in to test it. If you need a more specific question asked, let me know.

Yeah, that should work. I've tried twice and entered a replacement code that I got via email. That is the only email that I have received other than a note about a support question in this regard that is unanswered. I just tried a third time with the same results. The new account request is accepted with an invitation to log in. When I try that then (or later), I get 'That username/password was not found or is inactive. Please try again.' When I try to register again with the same data, I get 'The name you entered is already registered by another user. If you are that user, please login. Otherwise, please use another name.'

I also have a couple of other problems. Phorum suggests making a new 'MyTemplate' for modification. This new template does not show on my 'Default Forum Settings'. Also, once I left the 'Emerald' template, there is no way to go back to it. I can get back to the 'Classic' template that I do want to (and am using) but even that is problematic. The system 'wants' to use the 'Lightweight' template no matter what and the 'Emerald' template always leads to the 'Lightweight' template. Selecting the 'Classic' template often leads to the 'Lightweight' template. I believe that the forum is working but I cannot get a l;og-in bridge from Geodesic Solutions classified ads software to work.

I am probably going to have to dump Phorum if I can't use the forum. I used Phorum since the log-in bridge was available but with that not working, there is no advantage there. Its ironic that I am happy with the software and the installation, on the whole, was easy. It certainly isn't easy to modify for us HTML/css but not php people. I don't know why they advertise that most things are written in baisc HTML since they really aren't. Still, as it is, it works well on the surface, at least.

I guess if the above (minus the first 'Yeah' sentence (and possibly the third paragraph)) of the above could be posted under 'Can't Log-In To Support Forums - Posted By Third Party' or something to that effect, that would possibly be helpful. I can at least read the forum.

Thanks for your comments about the site! Hopefully it will be used once its up. Its my first significant site with anything more than simple HTML programming. I am moving in this direction and away from domaining. Evey year this becomes a tougher and tougher business with more and more people buying and selling mediocre names for higher and higher prices mostly making the registrars and auction sites rich. The good news, as with many of us, is that I have collected some good domains. Now its time to use some of them!

Best Wishes,

Jon Hall

**Loco.m** · 10-21-2010, 09:44 PM

I would also suggest going with vBulletin. I've used it for years and know it pretty well.
I've tried a few other platforms and always came back to vbulletin, adding vbseo to it will help make it unstoppable

**Tia Wood** · 10-21-2010, 09:50 PM

vBulletin is highly recommended and worth the purchase price.

**gawnd** · 10-22-2010, 11:49 AM

Is there a good selection of paid and/or free themes available for vbulletin?

I've been with SMF for a long time now, but think I need to move the more lively ones over to vbulletin.

**Tia Wood** · 10-22-2010, 05:55 PM

Yes.

**tekz999** · 10-22-2010, 07:44 PM

never phpbb, i tried, and it is so gay for mass management. vbulletin all the way.

**draggar** · 10-22-2010, 09:43 PM

I used to use phpBB in the past but customization wasn't too easy - neither was installing add-ons.

SMF is great for that, it's easy to customize and install add-ons (and there are tons out there).

Both are free so they don't have many of the features that vBulliten has (like spam attack prevention) but as long as you don't make the forum the splash page or put it in an obvious folder like /forum, /smf, /forums, etc.. it should cut down some.

I've never used vBulliten, though so I can't make a recommendation on it.

**syncvb** · 10-23-2010, 08:58 AM

While vBulletin was the best forum software sometime ago,it's gone weird and buggy since it hit version 4.0.
If you don't believe you can visit any "forum Admin" forums and majority of "admins" will advise you to avoid it.After a lot of weighing pros and cons,i have decided to go with IPB for my new forum which will be live in a few days.
VB was best when there were great developers.They have left VB and started a new company called Xenforo.Their forum software is still in beta but highly promising.I also have a copy of it.Just visit Xenforo.com
Also note that VB alone is not worthy and you will need vbSEO if you want great traffic.It makes it very costly and other softwares are much cheaper.