Thursday Special: Forum Platforms
Thu, Mar 12, 2009
Post filled in: Feature
Discussion boards and forums have become increasingly popular and many platforms have appeared, leaving users wonder which ones are better than the rest of the pack. If you’re the same and want to know a handful of platforms to choose from, this article is for you. Let’s take a look at five forum platforms that stand out.
What you want to ask yourself first is whether you want to have a paid or open source forum. Two paid forums we will be discussing are vBulletin and Invision Power Board. The three open source forums are (in no particular order) PhpBB, MyBB and Simple Machines Forum.
vBulletin is one of the most well known forum platforms because it is very fast, stable, easy to use and customize with lots of features implemented. The installation requires you to manually edit the config file, but except that, no problem. It has everything you could ever want from a forum and then some. Bear in mind that it is possible to get lost in the many options that are present so if you would like something a bit simpler, take a look at the other platforms bellow. The BIG downside to it is the price tag: $180. Byt if you can afford it, you surely can’t go wrong with it.
Invision Power Board is the second paid platform and also very well known. In my opinion it looks better than vBulletin and is easier to install and set up. It’s not as good as vBulletin but it well worth a look.
PhpBB is probably the best known forum platform and with time it expanded into a very good one, especially with PhpBB 3. The third installment offers many improvements like Permissions and User Management, while adding new ones like custom profile fields, friends and foes to name a few. Installation is very easy and also the forum navigation and use. If you want an open source forum platform, this is one of the best, if not THE best in my opinion.
MyBB may not have the straightest install or administration, but provided you know what you want and what you are doing, can become a very very good platform. It has many features found on paid platforms and is very easy to use by your visitors. And thanks to the wide choice of plugins and ease of installation, can become a serious option for your forum.
Simple Machines Forum is in the same boat with MyBB for installation and setting up departments. You have to know your stuff so that you won’t get in trouble. But once you get past that, you will see this gem in action, you’ll be proud. It is the direct competitor to PhpBB and a good thing is the ability to integrate with Joomla, in case you wanted a forum in your CMS.
No matter which platform you choose, make sure you see them all because all of them are very good and deserve even a couple minutes of your time.
I have been working with computers for as long as I can remember. After graduating a technical highschool and college, I am now working in the IT field. 
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