What was the first software you ever used?

[Cedric]

Going back in time,

What was the first software you ever used for your blog, site or forum? How did you end up using it and what was your experience with it?

I think the very first forum I ever setup was a phpBB forum, named Gamers Kingdom. It must be somewhat in 2002-2003 if I recall correctly. I didn’t know what I was doing and mainly copied an already existing forum. It wasn’t a great success either, but sadly I don’t know much about it anymore. It used the default phpBB style and was hosted for free by some phpBB forum host.

 

[Cory]

InvisionFree. I asked on a Yu-Gi-Oh vBulletin message board how message boards were created and I was recommended various forum software’s and InvisionFree seemed easiest to use at the time, so I went with it. My first forum happened to be a Yu-Gi-Oh forum and as I started learning more about message boards I abandoned my Yu-Gi-Oh board and created a resource board.

 

[Nomad]

I created a blog on Blogspot probably in 2007. I started using WordPress in 2013

 

[capnsquarepants]

I used IPB 1.3.1 and then the free 2.0 "trial" at first. Then continued on to Invisionfree.

 

[Xilia]

Invisionfree. I then tried out proboards, hated it, and went back to IF. After IF, I went to Jcink.

 

[Arantor]

My very first website was all hand-coded HTML back in 1998. First time I brought in a server scripting language was in 2001 porting that same site to what we'd now call ASP Classic, and building a custom CMS for my own use on it. Ported that thing to PHP in 2003.

First time I ended up using an off-the-shelf package for anything was 2006 with PunBB before migrating it to SMF a few months later, where I never really looked back.

 

[Kale]

I used to use free forum hosts for like phpBB2 way back. I did the same for phpBB3, MyBB, InvisionFree, and Jcink. I never did much with them outside of a forum I made with ZetaBoards which was the one that took off slightly.

 

[Kyng]

Bravenet (back in 2004)... but this was really basic. Not too surprising, since BraveNet wasn't specifically forum software: it was an all-in-one solution that had (very simple) forums as one of its modules .

The first proper forum software I used was Aimoo, but even that was quite dated by 2004 standards - so, I switched to InvisionFree after a couple of months, and never looked back.

 

[Kale]

The first proper forum software I used was Aimoo, but even that was quite dated by 2004 standards - so, I switched to InvisionFree after a couple of months, and never looked back.

Actually they are still a thing apparently.

Free Forum & Free Message Board - Create Free Forum in Seconds

Create a free forum & free message board in seconds. Aimoo provides the most fast and simple way to fully customize your free forum skin, upload images & videos with unlimited disk space.

www.aimoo.com

Looks pretty dated though!

 

[Cedric]

Actually they are still a thing apparently.

Free Forum & Free Message Board - Create Free Forum in Seconds

Create a free forum & free message board in seconds. Aimoo provides the most fast and simple way to fully customize your free forum skin, upload images & videos with unlimited disk space.

www.aimoo.com

Looks pretty dated though!

I always wonder if those forum owners hosted by some outdated / crappy forum software even know they can get much better then what they have now.

 

[Cory]

Aimoo's support forum's theme looks like a low-grade general discussion forum theme. That's weird that such forum software can exist for so long and is not even remotely kept up to date with today's standards.

 

[Cedric]

Aimoo's support forum's theme looks like a low-grade general discussion forum theme. That's weird that such forum software can exist for so long and is not even remotely kept up to date with today's standards.

Internet's big though.

 

[Webster]

First forum I was ever on was phpBB-based; most of the forums I've been on over the years have either been Proboards-based or (when it existed) Zetaboards/Invision based (ZB had an Invision-like board platform of their own back in the day).

 

[Cory]

Internet's big though.

Beyond comprehension, I'm sure.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I briefly used PhpBB1. I don't even think I launched a live forum with it.

After that, PhpBB2 in its very early days to almost version 3 before I left it.

I also remember the old BBS but never ran one. Saw it ran by someone else though.

 

[Arantor]

Aimoo's support forum's theme looks like a low-grade general discussion forum theme. That's weird that such forum software can exist for so long and is not even remotely kept up to date with today's standards.

Much of that applies for Jcink; despite John's improvements, most of the guts is still what amounts to InvisionPower Board 1.3, the last version before the script went paid-only best part of 20 years ago.

 

[Cory]

Much of that applies for Jcink; despite John's improvements, most of the guts is still what amounts to InvisionPower Board 1.3, the last version before the script went paid-only best part of 20 years ago.

It doesn't seem like John actively adds new features or refines current ones that often, so I definitely understand where you're coming from.

 

[Cedric]

It doesn't seem like John actively adds new features or refines current ones that often, so I definitely understand where you're coming from.

Might also be because he’s the only one working on it if I recall correctly.

 

[Cory]

Might also be because he’s the only one working on it if I recall correctly.

Pretty much, there's only him and Crystal as the staff members, and I never even seen Crystal on much if at all. He must have similar views that Brandon did in terms of running the software, they prefer to work as a one-man job.

 

[Cedric]

Pretty much, there's only him and Crystal as the staff members, and I never even seen Crystal on much if at all. He must have similar views that Brandon did in terms of running the software, they prefer to work as a one-man job.

I’m surprised he didn’t offer you a job considering everything you’ve done for him and Jcink.