I've decided on a kind of site...

[Alucard]

And I would appreciate any helpful advice you lot might be able to provide

I decided, that even though there are quite a few of them out there on the internet, I would like to start a discussion board. Maybe not one limited to one specific subject but kind of an all around kind of forum.

Seeing as this is my first major project, I don't want to invest in a paid forum software. I've heard lots about SMF, MyBB and phpBB. But inspite of this I am rather confused as what to pick. I've heard phpBB is robust, has great themes, but sometimes isn't the easiest to work with. Next with MyBB, it appears that there are loads of plugins and its somewhat easier to use, but it is a pain to install. I would be installing these manually since the idea of an auto installer does not appeal to me.
Lastly, SMF, well I haven't heard too much on this one.

So I guess that leaves the choices really between MyBB and phpBB.

Is there any opinions, without starting a big argument which is better, on what you all think I should use?

 

[Sam1]

Ok well I have worked with SMF and MyBB- so I can offer an opinion on both of those.

SMF: A fantastic forum software- it's absolutely spectacular and is somewhat easier to use than Mybb. However, the SMF development team is very slow and they'll take years to update SMF to 3.0. So for now, SMF is super but in a year oro 6 months time- it'll be out-of-date. I would personally not use SMF for your new forum for that reason AND because there are a heap of SMF haters out there- who, through what is slightly arrogant, won't use your forum because it's on SMF.

MyBB:

Pros:
- Almost as easy to use as SMF. And way easier to create a theme for.
- Fantastically supported.
- Can look awesome depending on what theme you get.
-Paid Modifications are generally cheaper.

Cons:
- You will need some basic knowledge to install themes- unlike a simple upload in SMF.
- If you don't get a premium or custom (i.e. paid) theme, your forum won't look all that good- unless you modify another theme....

As for Phpbb- I haven't used it- well I installed it and then un-installed it and went for SMF:

But generally speaking you can get a reasonable looking forum on PHPBB with a good user experience...

As for your idea of starting a general discussion forum, I would encourage you to think about a few things:

-Are you prepared to spend hours promoting your forum on promotion and other forums and being active there?
-Do you have a little bit of spare cash to run an opening competition? (this may only cost $10)
-Can you afford a non .info domain i.e. a .com, .org or .net?
-Can you afford a premium theme? I think it's very important to get an underused theme for any new forum.(again only $10)
-Are you prepared for disappointment? I know I was disappointed at running my first forum. You just have to get past the fact that forums aren't successes overnight- or even over 3-4 months!
- Are you prepared for the slog of forum ownership? Creating almost all new topics, replying heaps, promoting etc.
- Are you prepared NOT to make much money? Generally speaking forums do not make much cash for their owners.....

Hope this all helps

Sam

 

[Alucard]

Thank You for your input Sam. I have a small part time job, so i will be able to start out with a domain and hosting package. I think I am prepared for the huge undertaking that is involved

 

[xpl0iter]

Sam almost wrote everything that you need to know!

Like Sam said, SMf is good now, but within a few months it will go out of date!
Now for MyBB, I guess you should stick with it. Its actually very easy to use!

PhpBB is complicated imho. I have tried installing it for playing around a little bit. I found it complicated and hated "administering a forum" for a long time!
But then Sam introduced me to MyBB, which was pretty nice.

I have tried SMF also. I still own a forum with SMF on it!

 

[Alucard]

Sam almost wrote everything that you need to know!

Like Sam said, SMf is good now, but within a few months it will go out of date!
Now for MyBB, I guess you should stick with it. Its actually very easy to use!

PhpBB is complicated imho. I have tried installing it for playing around a little bit. I found it complicated and hated "administering a forum" for a long time!
But then Sam introduced me to MyBB, which was pretty nice.

I have tried SMF also. I still own a forum with SMF on it!

I heard from a friend of mine, that user managment is tough in MyBB I just got done with a demo board from the phpBB website. It seems pretty easy to work with. Users and Groups are all on one tab, and it has it so you have many user options for administrators. I have yet to try myBB on a demo as I haven't yet found a way to do this.

The question that came to mind is modifications. I'm guessing, that in phpBB, its sometimes a task. Is it easier to modify MyBB?

 

[Sam1]

Well it can be done through the admin panel for theme modifications I.e. HTML and CSS but for images and the like you'll have to go into cpanel..... For plugins and themes (in mybb) you need to manually install them, but it isn't all that hard- they come with instuctions and you can find support. I think you will get used to mybb over time but phpbb is still a good software. To be honest it doesn't matter which of the two you choose, there is a lot of support for both and you will get answers to your questions should you have any

 

[Alucard]

Sam you have been quite helpful I decided to opt for phpbb. I have eberything pretty much mapped out as far as I want to do except for the hosting service :s

 

[Sam1]

Sam you have been quite helpful I decided to opt for phpbb. I have eberything pretty much mapped out as far as I want to do except for the hosting service :s

No problem Phpbb is a well supported software, so you shouldn't go wrong there As for hosting xpl0iter has a Hostgator reseller account and offers very cheap hosting through blaizinghost.com. Besides him, there are a few people on this forum- have a look under the web hosting section in the marketplace. If you don't trust a smaller provider- there is serversanddomains.com which is pretty good from my experience. Hope this helps

 

[Alucard]

Thank you for the helpful points Sam! I have a local windows system that I've installed WAMP on and have done a trial installation there of phpBB. Install took a moment for me to get right but afterwards its seemed easy enough. Seems I might need to look at the thread that xploiter had pointed to me. I think I am ready to bring this into production! The only thing that troubles me, is I haven't worked out a name for the site.

 

[Sam1]

Thank you for the helpful points Sam! I have a local windows system that I've installed WAMP on and have done a trial installation there of phpBB. Install took a moment for me to get right but afterwards its seemed easy enough. Seems I might need to look at the thread that xploiter had pointed to me. I think I am ready to bring this into production! The only thing that troubles me, is I haven't worked out a name for the site.

Generally what I'd do is spend say 30 minutes at a domain register and with a online thesaurus open and come up with 3-4 possibilities and pick the best. Generally one stands out; I've had Teensin.biz instead of getting a generic teenbizforum.com or forumhoopla.com instead of getting something like promotionboard.com..... You just have to find something different..... Hoopla has the meaning of "sensational promotion" which I thought summed up the forum a lot better than having promotion in the title.

Also you will find a lot of generic domains are already taken, so you're better off being different + you don't want to offend copyrights- say taking the .net when a similar site is on the .com version.

Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing this in fruition