Jcink

[Ravenfreak]

Jcink is definitely my favorite free forum host. They are one of few free forum hosts that allow admins to make database backups of their communities. This means that if you ever wanted to self host, you can! Though since Jcink uses a modified IPB1, you would have to install an older version of whatever software you wish to migrate to and then upgrade. It's not difficult to do, but it can be time consuming. Anyways, if you want to make a forum and don't have the money or knowledge to self host right away I highly recommend using Jcink.

 

[Arantor]

I wouldn't mind Jcink so much if it didn't shove all the custom CSS by default directly into every single page for maximum bandwidth consumption and minimum performance but I'm a bit technical snob like that.

Considering that the base (IPB 1.3) will be 20 this year, I gotta hand it to John for keeping it running at all because PHP has moved so far since those heady days of PHP 4, and the spirit of customisation one can do with the templates, that's pretty neat.

I also wish the immediate community scene around it weren't as toxic as it is (Jcinkanon, anyone?)

 

[Cory]

Jcink is the only current forum software I own a board on and it's semi-successful. I don't mind if it is free software with the lack of benefits that paid software has since I only do what I do on there as a hobby and nothing more. If I was looking to get paid, I'd probably consider a paid software. I thought the Jcink community was in major need of a resource board that provided various codes and skins to Jcink board owners, which is another reason I chose it. Growing up using InvisionFree, I'm also partial to the type of software it is and grew accustomed to it pretty quickly.

Since I know JavaScript, I can modify my board as I please to make it seem more modern. I enjoy helping others do the same with their boards.

In less than 4 years I became the top member poster on the official Jcink support board, this goes to show how much of a post whore I am when it comes to offering people assistance in subjects I'm knowledgeable in.

Overall, I would recommend the software to anyone that just wants something with enough features to build a community for personal use or as a hobby.

 

[Arantor]

I can modify my board as I please to make it seem more modern

Within reason. There are definitely features you *cannot* safely add to Jcink.

For example, notifications of new topics to Discord is theoretically doable solely from the client side, but I really really wouldn't want to do so. Login via Discord (or Facebok or Twitter or whatever) is... let's just say... you could theoretically manage it but it's ridiculously insecure to ever do that to the point where doing so would probably put your actual account at actual risk to implement.

That said, Jcink is certainly a valid tool for getting started, I'm just mindful that it is showing its age, and you are limited with its options in ways newer platforms aren't.

 

[Cory]

Within reason. There are definitely features you *cannot* safely add to Jcink.

Of course, there are always limitations to free forum software, but with my current wants in forum software, Jcink provides everything I could possibly need.

 

[Arantor]

This is why I've always been self-hosted, because then the only limits are what I can implement.

I really should look into building out a hosting service for StoryBB, I just don't want to do it for a day job though.

 

[Aaron]

They're still going strong? I remember using them years ago just for testing. It was pretty cool.

 

[Cory]

They're still going strong?

Most of the forums really do seem mostly inactive, but there are some successful ones across the network with various posts, members, and logins per day. At the end of ZetaBoards, a lot of people started flocking to Jcink as also free forum software that was similar to ZetaBoards.