Well i just wanted to know the opinion of my fellow mates. What do you think. Please reply with reason not just VB because its cool.

I like IPB because its just more advanced but the security features are not so good and it can be hacked easily. It also has lots of mods and also it is cheap as Vbulletin is much better but i just dont know why but it dont seem right to me. I like IPB have a lot of experience in it. PhpBB i just hate because it is hard to install mods in it.

Well this is my opinion whats yours.

As to the difficulties installing Mods for phpbb, have you tried using the easymod from their download site? Using it simplifies the process a lot.

And the phpbb version three is soon to be released, apparently. That will be quite an improvement.

First of all, it's been a while since i have used those systems and I don't know what has changed in their latest versions (so sorry If what I write has been fixed).

You'll find that the support offered to vbulletin users from the official site is superb and better than the one offered for ipb users... Plus, I think that the plugin system (and maybe the admin system) on vbulletin is easier ...As for IPB, people, especially newbies like me, don't and can't have the luxury to change the codes and mods each time the forum has an upgrade...

Still, I think that ipb fora usually feel a bit more professional and "tidy" than those of of vb.

Overall, I prefer Vbulletin or maybe phpbb which is ...(the magic word) free... You know that modding phpbb you can have anything the other two have... If I was in your place, I would search other fora too for more opinions, try both forums in trial-versions (especially the admin section) and then decide...

Oh, something that you should never forget, in the end, it doesn't matter what board you have. If your forum is full of junk, with uninteresting users, idiotic threads, submenus, categories....you will probably fail...Care about your community more than you care for what board you'll use.

Let me start by saying, I have used every single one of these. I prefer vBulletin better than IPB and PhpBB by far. The reason being that simply, the security is a lot better and let me say the modifications and skins.

There is lots of modifications available for licenced customers on the dedicated modification and skins website, vBulletin.org.

IPB I have found the normal skin looks a lot nicer than the normal vBulletin theme, but don't judge a book by it's cover. I also agree that IPB looks a bit more professional.

The AJAX in vBulletin is much better than in IPB, but nevertheless a javascript overload is not the best in the world.

Have a good day!

-Tom

I think phpbb is better, cuz of the possibilitys, and it's easy to use or modify

Two Most Popular Paid Forums (I've used both IPB and vBulletin, and administrated an IPB forum):

IPB: I like IPB because of all those lovely features you get with it, AND it looks GREAT! It's very well organised, and has all the features you can expect from a proper forum. When I think of a REAL, full forum, I usually think of IPB. But the fact that it costs money (and that you can't get free versions anymore) really lets it down. Their admin control panel has many excellent features.

vBulletin: I really don't understand it. I'm sure it's good, but it has some dodgy work throughout, like a Mercedes Benz with cheap fabric seats. It's quite neat though. But it's also very slow. Their cookies also seem a bit less reliable than IPB's, judging by my comparison between trap17's IPB forums (where I am always logged in), and many vBulletin forums I've used (which log me out at high frequencies). Oh, and the name "Jelsoft" (the developer of vBulletin) makes me want to vomit. Their admin control panel is quite good, although I'd probably be reaching for an Embag before I made it there...

Two Most Popular Free Forums: (I've used both SMF and phpBB, and administrated an SMF forum)

phpBB: very fast, much faster than IPB and vBulletin, as well as SMF. Seems to be based on vBulletin, as the URLs seem quite similar and so are the icons. It has the neat layout of vBulletin without the emetic developer's name. Very well done on basic features (has all of them and at a great quality), though it misses out on many of the advanced features. It's also insecure and easily hacked. But I like it and I'm seriously considering migrating to it, it's based on the "simple is best" principle.

SMF: this is the one I'm most familiar with and I have it installed on my website. I find it slightly slower than phpBB, but it has some great features. I must say I like it, and its features list is longer than phpBB's. It's quite a good copy of IPB if you don't want to fork out the cash for it. It's very well laid out and has a great statistics center.

All of these forums have their merits, though I prefer IPB more than anything else. However you may wish to consider vBulletin if you, like most people, are immune to its emetic developer's name and are willing to give them money, more money than any of the other three I have mentioned here. SMF is certainly a good alternative, as it has many advanced features and is quite neat and simple. If you just want a quality, basic forum (emphasis on quality), you should then consider phpBB. It's not that bad now that I've considered it.

This post has been edited by detportal: Jan 18 2007, 03:57 AM

I like IPB way more mostly because it seems alot easier to use than any other forum software. The only problem I have with it now concerns my host I think. The problem is that I cannot use any custom skins because I get an error like this:

I don't know what causes that error but I think it is that IPB won't create a cacheid file because I can't find it in the directory when I look for it.

But I still have to say IPB FTW!

Vbulletin isn't advanced enough enless you are good at coding and mods. I don't see many forums using it either which poits out it's major flaw.

i have used phpbb, phpbb plus and smf heavily modded. had problems with mods in phpbb, too even i have used the easy installer. after some script-writing it worked at the end. then i heard about phpbb plus with many mods installed and tried this one. have used it for a long time with a portal mod and all installed. worked well to that point when i tried to install cash mod with arcade mod. screwed up everything and instead of installing the backup, i installed smf with tinyportal mod. works great as a cms and the forum is integrated perfectly. cant tell you about the other ones but for me smf is the best one

I really liked IPB, but now that new versions arent free I like yabb2 the best. Has the same features as any other paid forum.