Which forum software has the best Admin Panel?

Cedric · Feb 23, 2023

One of the most important aspects of any forum software - the admin panel. As webmasters, we spend a lot of time working in the admin panel, so it's crucial that it's easy to use, intuitive, and powerful.

With that said, which forum software do you think has the best admin panel? Is there a particular software that stands out to you in terms of its functionality and ease of use? Or maybe there are multiple options that you think are equally good?

Personally, I find that some admin panels can be overwhelming with a lot of options and settings, while others are more user-friendly but lack the customization options that I need. I've also encountered admin panels that are clunky and difficult to navigate. I have always loved the IPB admin panel above anything else. XenForo is not bad, but sometimes can be confusing, especially their permissions setup. phpBB is rather simple but the UI is boring.

So, I'm curious - what are your experiences with various admin panels? Which one(s) do you think are the best, and why? Let's discuss and share our thoughts!

Matt C. · Feb 23, 2023

Its a toss up between IPS and XF.

They have really good admin control panels. Both of them are organized well. You can find what you're looking for.

In terms of easyness, I think IPS has a better permission system, but XF's is far more powerful. Once you figure out how it works, it makes perfect sense.

I think for me XF wins because of the customization aspect. I have tried to use IPS multiple times, but I always switch back to XF.

XF, for me at least, is way easier to customize. The style properties and template system actually makes sense, and you can figure it out pretty quick.

It might just be my stubbornness though. I've used XF for over 10 years and it just comes naturally now.

Sarah · Feb 23, 2023

In regards to free software, i have to say that jCink is up there

Cory · Feb 23, 2023

Jcink is the only forum software I administer at this time and the only one I have used since the closure of Zathyus Networks, so my opinion would be a bit biased.

Strawberry · Feb 23, 2023

It has been a while since I delved into the realms of the admin panel on any forum software. I might go out and try a few demos (if any) and report back.

Back in the day, I did like using vBulletin (3) and I knew the ACP inside out, and I felt like it had the right tools and customisation that was required. PhpBB was good, easy to learn and navigate around, same for MyBB.

Arantor · Feb 24, 2023

*cracks knuckles* Time for a super quick tour. ACP front pages all around.

Attachments should have useful enough names. If anyone wants to see anything more specific, lemme know. Most of these pictures are from last year - so we're talking IPS 4.6(?), XF 2.2, Woltlab whatever version I have (pre licence change eeek)

This is pretty much everything I have installed, but I can always see about adding more if anyone's curious about any other software. I could throw up a picture of Sngine for example.

Cedric · Feb 24, 2023

Arantor said:
*cracks knuckles* Time for a super quick tour. ACP front pages all around.

Attachments should have useful enough names. If anyone wants to see anything more specific, lemme know. Most of these pictures are from last year - so we're talking IPS 4.6(?), XF 2.2, Woltlab whatever version I have (pre licence change eeek)

This is pretty much everything I have installed, but I can always see about adding more if anyone's curious about any other software. I could throw up a picture of Sngine for example.

You're a legend. I really dislike how dull vBulletin looks while IPS being the absolute winner for me.

Arantor · Feb 24, 2023

I must see if I still have my old copy of IPS 3.x kicking around for the comparison shot actually. That might be a more interesting and fairer comparison - vB hasn't evolved theirs since the early 2000s - why would it?

Cedric · Feb 24, 2023

Arantor said:
I must see if I still have my old copy of IPS 3.x kicking around for the comparison shot actually. That might be a more interesting and fairer comparison - vB hasn't evolved theirs since the early 2000s - why would it?

That’d be cool. I’d love to browse on a 3.x forum, screams nostalgia.

Arantor · Feb 24, 2023

If I still have my 3.x code and if I can get it to play nicely (because it is really the same licence as the 4.x), I'll try and do a proper tour. In my IPS case it is a full suite licence I have so I can probably do something quite interesting.

Ravenfreak · Mar 6, 2023

I see vB3 and vB4 didn't really change much style wise. I never used any of the older versions of vB before so I never knew what the old ACP looked like. Flarum looks the best though I'll admit I'm not really a fan of the layout of a Flarum forum as a member. xD

Tracy · Mar 8, 2023

Simply... the one you are used to.
For an IPS admin, they get lost when going to XF or Wotlab.
The same for an XF admin going to IPS or Wotlab.
And woe be to the Wotlab admin that tries to go to either XF or IPS (from my experience).

It's honestly what you get used to. Many are intimidated by the amount of options in XF, and quickly get lost. In my case, with IPS, I quickly go frustrated with the LACK of options that I was used to in XF.

TwitchisMental · Mar 9, 2023

I have always liked the simplicity of the MyBB ACP. So that would be my number one.

XenForo and PHPBB both have a good ACP as-well. They both have more depth and can get you lost at times as a new admin though.

SMF is kind of middle of the ground. It is easy enough to navigate, but could be better.

Haven't touched any others enough to give an honest opinion.

Arantor · Mar 9, 2023

TwitchisMental said:
SMF is kind of middle of the ground. It is easy enough to navigate, but could be better.

Examples? (I have my own list of what I'd change, I'm curious what others think)

I should add, I'd used phpBB before SMF and I found SMF leagues ahead of phpBB, back in the SMF 1.x days, it's gotten muddled a little since 2.0 though

TwitchisMental · Mar 10, 2023

Arantor said:
Examples? (I have my own list of what I'd change, I'm curious what others think)

I should add, I'd used phpBB before SMF and I found SMF leagues ahead of phpBB, back in the SMF 1.x days, it's gotten muddled a little since 2.0 though

It isn't anything serious. By default I find it to be pretty simple to use haha.

I think of it like this, look at the default view in Windows XP Control Panel. Icon based and straight to the point. However, I always ended up using the detailed mode.

I think having an "advanced mode" or "details mode" would be nice addition to the SMF ACP. In this mode have a side menu, have the descriptions of the options displayed underneath the setting title instead of via a pop up window when hovering the ? , similar to MyBB.

My bigger wish for improvement with the SMF ACP is a better built in theme/template editor. The one it has currently can get the job done. Heck it even has a nice preview option. However the editor itself is just a basic text editor. No thrills, no extras, just a plain ole text editor haha.

Where as MyBB for example, has a built in editor that simplifies everything enough where anyone could do basic color edits with ease. Then it has the "advanced editor" which is like your typical text editor.

Then the template editor section of MyBB has everything broken down into various smaller sections. This just honestly makes making edits to various templates a lot easier. Xenforo has a very similar system as-well last I checked. I personally years ago learned how to make themes for MyBB a lot faster than I did SMF due to simplicity of the MyBB theme editor.

Now one could argue, you can just use Notepad++ and do everything locally, but i'd argue that most people would like an easy way to do themes from within the software itself.

Hope that all makes sense

.

Arantor · Mar 10, 2023

TwitchisMental said:
However, I always ended up using the detailed mode.

I'd point out the journey made in going from 2.0 to 2.1 - the front page didn't show everything, and there was no easy way to expand that, hence the display of all top level items on that front page, with the menu (which was introduced as a dropdown in 2.0; 2.1 is a clear evolution of that). Many things are available from one 'click' through the menus but I'd definitely call for flattening that structure, as well as moving items between pages.

TwitchisMental said:
In this mode have a side menu, have the descriptions of the options displayed underneath the setting title instead of via a pop up window when hovering the ? , similar to MyBB.

They would likely need to be rewritten, some of them are far too big to do this. See SimpleDesk for a great example of how this is a bad idea.

TwitchisMental said:
My bigger wish for improvement with the SMF ACP is a better built in theme/template editor. The one it has currently can get the job done. Heck it even has a nice preview option. However the editor itself is just a basic text editor. No thrills, no extras, just a plain ole text editor haha.

The fact it works at all is a minor miracle, the fact it is capable of even splitting templates into separate editor windows is also a minor miracle.

But I've been campaigning for years to stop using raw PHP and move to a real template language where there can be all sorts of safety features; it's currently possible to hard-break your forum through the ACP and not be able to fix it without FTP. Doing it locally is encouraged so that you must by definition have a way to fix it if you break it.

Fait · Mar 11, 2023

PHPBB is a classic one for me.
I like Xenforo though.

ladyquack · Apr 25, 2023

I've only ever used SMF and Jcink, and while I do like Jcink's ACP, I think I honestly prefer SMF's.

Tyrsson · Apr 30, 2023

Well, as far as theme editors go... If by chance you're deploying from github via a cloud providers github action (which I highly recommend) you can always just open the needed file and hit the period key on your keyboard

Reverie · Apr 30, 2023

I remember going from Invisionfree to Zetaboards.... Zetaboards was AMAZING. Now I've liked Xenforo but it took me time to navigate. MyBB was pretty easy to navigate as well.

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