What's The Better Forum ...

[Boojum]

I'm preparing to add a forum to my site. It has to be a free one, and there are two of those available via cPanel: Invision and phpBB.

 

So the question: What's the best free forum?

[MikeJ]

While I like Invision a little better than phpBB, phpBB is GPL'd (open source, always will be free), and Invision is no longer free for any version 1.3.1 and beyond.

 

The version of Invision available in cPanel is version 1.2, so that is indeed free (just without any support from the authors). If you aren't concerned about running the latest versions, you are ok. But they have changed their license as of 1.3.1 (and they are in the process of releasing a version 2.0 of their software) to include the following:

The Company, at its discretion, may offer a free trial download of Invision Power Board available on its web site and certain authorized distributors. Use of this free trial is also provided under the terms of this Agreement with the additional notice that no technical support or service for the free trial download will be provided by the Company. Permanent use of the software requires purchasing the license.

 

So take that into account when making a decision.

[karlfranz]

Matt(author of IPB) said IPB will always be free...

[Hockeypuck]

I prefer phpBB, partially because of it being under the GPL, and it being simpler to me. Being a regular user is well refined under phpBB in my opinion, the admin interface is a bit clumsy in some (ok, many) respects but you get used to it.

[TCH-Dick]

Matt(author of IPB) said IPB will always be free...

Free : costing nothing

The Company, at its discretion, may offer a free trial download of Invision Power Board available on its web site and certain authorized distributors. Use of this free trial is also provided under the terms of this Agreement with the additional notice that no technical support or service for the free trial download will be provided by the Company. Permanent use of the software requires purchasing the license.

Free Trial : The licensing of a software program or package to a user for evaluation purposes for a limited period of time

Purchase : To buy/obtain by paying money or its equivalent.

http://www.invisionboard.com/?license

[Allbuffs]

I use invision but to be honest I don't like where they are heading as a company. It will no longer be free for much longer. To top it off I think they charge way to much. IMO vBulletin is more advance as a forum software yet it's much cheaper. Plus they charge for every separate thing. Their gallery $$$, IPdynamic (Portal) not the lite version. will not be free or included with forum license you buy. Subscription manager $$$. Invision Power Top Site List $$$. File Manager $$$. I need to win the lotto to afford all of it. Down the road i will either go with vBulletin or just stick with Invision 1.3

 

Forgot to ad they IPB just aliened the top modding community IBPlanet.com. That left a sour taste in my mouth. What makes a lot of the forums phpbb, invision, and vbulletin great is the community that makes up mods for the forums.

[Prel]

Hi,

I use Invision.

It functions well and it can be configured.

It is an excellent product that TCH offers for us. Thumbs Up

 

Paulo

[menttal]

I use to work with phpbb for 2 years it is free source and great but since march of this year i have been using ipb while teh pricing is not so great, and what they are doing in the future may totally suck....but user friendly and custimization wise it is very nice. There is so much more you can give to your clients or members in the forums that you cant on phpbb. Avatars, guests, teh admin cp in IPB is just far more in depth in my own personal opinion of using both. When i went to a diff host that offered phpbb i setup my forums and was very dissatisfied....luckily someone pointed me to TCH and i love that they offer both to you so you can choose. I say creat 2 forums and play with them urself and see what is more comfortable to you. But for me IPB has an awesome Forum its clean, user friendly and filled with goodies. Rock Sign

[bl4nk]

Invision > phpBB

 

I personally like Invision, it just feels more confortable and powerful in the AdminCP. It's just a pity it went paid and all.

 

I now supportSimple Machines Forum(devs from YaBB SE) as a resualt of them going paid.

[TCH-Don]

I just tried Simple Machine Forum and love it.

www.simplemachines.org

[annie]

I still use IPB because of some features I absolutely need. But I can see going to Simple Machines in the future. phpBB is heading for features I need, but we'll see. A friend is very impressed with the user experience of a Simple Machines forum. It's still young, so I'll wait a while. BUT, I've got an older version of IBP running on another host, and it's horrible. Been meaning to try out Simple Machines on there for ages. I'll get to it some day.

[peachweb]

I just tried Simple Machine Forum and love it.

www.simplemachines.org

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto

[tristatesportbikes]

I have been Running a board using PHPBB for over 2 yeards that has been very heavily Modded and it hasn't skipped a beat with just about 250,000 posts and 2000 members and 50,000 visits a month. It is very robust and the support is wonderful due to the open source. I also have 8 more boards out there and some with mods others without. As an admin of the boards it is a pleasure not having to administer it all that much and allowing the mods to keep up with things.

 

The support forum and add ons are very powerful There are mant sites offering almost anything you can think of to customise you board and being it is all done in php it isn't that hard to mod.

[Head Guru]

IPB all the way.