What's the best free/forum software?

[xXInfectedXx]

My opinion is that prophpbb is the best free forum software. The reason is because I don't like worrying about going to the FTP and choosing a domain and all of that confusing stuff! It is so complicated. I also love it because you actually get a half decent domain. What's is the best free/forum software in your opinion?

 

[Arariel]

My forum runs on MyBB, and I love it. Easy to use, and gives me a lot of options as an administrator to better my forum. I've used ProphpBB, and I like it, but it was a little more restrictive, and wasn't beneficial in the long run.

 

[Cam]

I wouldn't really call ProphpBB a forum software. It's a free forum host which hosts phpBB forums. FreeForums.org is similar in that sense, although I believe the phpBB software they offer has been modified a ton.

In regards to the poll, I voted for phpBB. It has always been my favorite free forum software. MODs and stuff can be a pain, but I love the changes that you can make to your forum. There's a lot of potential to make a great forum, even though all the good MODs have been outdated for years.

 

[Bass]

I prefer MyBB. Lots of great plugins and themes, which are also quite easy to install. I've heard that installing mods (and editing stuff in general) in phpBB is quite difficult. Also, ProPHPBB isn't a free forum software; it's a free forum host. There's a difference, and what you mentioned about lack of FTP usage is one of the major differences. It's actually a downside though, as it limits your ability to customize the forum. I don't know how ProPHPBB works exactly, as I made a test forum with it once and left immediately. Honestly, I didn't like it at all. But with IcyBoards, it's impossible to install your own plugins as they only give you FTP access to the image directory. That's why it's always better to go with actual forum software as opposed to forum hosts, although they can be effective for new forum owners to get the hang of things.

 

[Allan]

I have a forum running on ElkArte which is fork of SMF 2.1. That being said it has a lot of great features hard coded and they are always adding new ones.

 

[Geoffrey1]

The list of options is hardly an accurate reflection.

I voted Other for ZetaBoards. See my post in the ZB topic for the reasoning.

 

[Belthazar]

I like MyBB. It has a element of professionalism that really can't have any other competitors. However, PhpBB is decent, it's not great yet, but it can be if the open source community releases more MODs and stuff.

 

[Allan]

I think I am the only one that doesn't like MyBb to use or admin but I like making themes for it though.

 

[alakazam]

I think that the only free forum scripts in this thread's poll are phpBB and MyBB. The others are forum hosting companies that use phpBB. Between the two viable options, I prefer phpBB. You should add ElkArte, SMF, YaBB, FudBB etc.

 

[lucky]

I have used just about every forum script out there, free and paid, and I have to say I love MyBB the most when it comes to free software. It is really easy to customize and the mods for it are just about endless. It is a great choice to really make your community, yours.

 

[Lewis.1]

I'm with Zetaboards. Has everything I need and I'm very familiar with all the tools now.

 

[Ashley11]

Without a doubt, MyBB is the best free forum software around. I think it's been #1 for many years now. PHPBB is an obvious competitor, but PHPBB has a terrible backend. Simple template changes in MyBB become complex in PHPBB and I hate that. I will never use PHPBB again unless they fix their backend to actually represent a time other than the stone age of technology. I feel like they made it in the 80s and only ever bothered to update their graphics as the years past. PHPBB does have good support and mods/themes/etc, but it really can't truly compete with MyBB.

MyBB and PHPBB are the only free forum softwares on my radar. If you're using free software and it's not MyBB or PHPBB, you are using something that isn't even close to being as good.

 

[Tolkin]

MyBB is probably the only modern free forum software out there.

 

[Teg1]

Everyone knows that I support ProBoards as the best free forum host. Their ACP is the easiest to navigate and their software is especially easy to customize. As of late, I've had offers from people who want to pay me to build themes for them. I've been with proBoards since 2004. Though I have tried other software, I still feel that ProBoards is the best.

 

[Mozzie]

I ghave had a few boards, but i have found Zeta to be more friendly and cleaner than some.

 

[KnownSyntax]

I think you should remove phpBB and MyBB, and rename this topic/poll to "what is the best forum service" since it would make better sense (prophpbb runs phpBB, so it's the same thing minus you hosting everything).

 

[Thomasss]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Okay, MyBB is great and all, however for me it's just bulky and horribly outdated, considering they never even put alerts/notifications into the core yet and even SMF has alerts as far as I know.
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I prefer phpBB if they had actual..like good themes. If they had decent themes and it wasn't so dependent on plugins, I think I would go with phpBB.