IPB 2.3.5 ... VB 3.7.2 ... phpBB 3.2 ... MyBB 1.4

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  • MGadAllah
    New Member
    • Jun 2008
    • 5
    • 3.7.x

    IPB 2.3.5 ... VB 3.7.2 ... phpBB 3.2 ... MyBB 1.4

    Hello there,
    Please does there is anyone here can give or tell a review for those forums and why a one may go for one instead of another!?
    I believe that there isn't something called the best forum software, but I mean an opinion or a review by advanced people who knows better then me
  • Chazel
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2007
    • 589
    • 4.0.0

    #2
    This is a vBulletin board, so you're going to find bias in regards to the answers. I can tell you that both IP.Board and vBulletin are far superior to MyBB, so you can rule that out if you want the best-of-the-best.

    Here are demos so you can try out the software for yourself:

    IP.Board - http://www.invisionpower.com/community/board/demo.html
    vBulletin - http://www.vbulletin.com/admindemo.php

    Another thing to take into consideration is the modification community:

    IP.Board - http://resources.invisionpower.com
    vBulletin - http://www.vbulletin.org

    Here's my summary:

    vBulletin pro's:

    -A bit more customizable than IP.Board in regards to usegroups, settings, etc.

    - Large, active modification community

    - Good customer support

    IP.Board pro's:

    - Much more aesthetically pleasing

    - IP.Board 3.0 is already in the works

    - A much more organized ACP

    -----

    vBulletin con's:

    - The look is a bit bland.

    -----

    IP.Board con's:

    - A rather small modification community

    Comment

    • MGadAllah
      New Member
      • Jun 2008
      • 5
      • 3.7.x

      #3
      I've realized that you did not mentioned phpBB3.2 in your reply ... Does this mean that it is not into consideration at all!?
      Actually all I am looking after is which one I can depend on for the long run as I'm investing some money on my websites for the tools I am using, and I do not have special preferences for the software or the acp, but all i am looking after is which one is more stable and secured, which one has really a good support (official & unofficial), and which one has more built-in features, and which one has more MODs.
      I am just do not want to use something and go for live website and then figure it out that it does not fits my needs.
      I understand that there isn't something call best forum software and you are riht about personal opinion, but I mean those are the factors I am looking after, and I am really have zero experience in coding so I will not be able to code anything myself.
      regarding look, I think a good skin can solve the problem, isn't it!?
      Also very important thing I'd like to know is which one is really coded more organized and structured well?
      sure there were some people in my situation, so please let's share our experience to make the best use of it.
      THanks

      Comment

      • Chousho
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 967
        • 3.8.x

        #4
        _Insert required 'personal opinion' slogan here_

        Really, that much is true. It's better to go with what you feel more comfortable. However, I'll go off of what I noticed.


        IPB: the software itself seems pretty robust, and they always seem to be on top of making some new product. However, their treatment of some of their customers puts me off. They are not so open to discussion on other software, and will often delete threads with no reason given, leaving the idea that they delete whatever they don't like. Also, while I didn't see this first hand, there was a quote that I had seen from IPB telling one of their customer's to "simply disappear".

        Stability wise, they seem decent, however nothing outsanding. A popular board I go to that uses IPB will either be down frequently, or run really slow due to the sheer number of people online. Perhaps this has been fixed in the last few months.


        phpBB: When 3 was released, it was a pretty massive upgrade. Before that, phpBB had earned the reputation of being a huge vulnerability if installed. However, it doesn't seem that way now. The board seems to scale pretty well, and is easiler to obtain information on for hacking (modifying) purposes, most likely due to its OSS nature.
        The user interface for both posting and admin is really good since the 3.0 series, as well.
        They seem to be on top of the game when it comes to implementing new UI ideas or going with what seems to be in (tableless designs, etc).

        VB: A disclaimer that I'm a customer, but perhaps that's the sort of outlook you're looking for? I originally chose VB as that's what I was comfortable with using from the boards I came from. As well, our IPB kept getting hacked and I didn't really want anything to do with them at the time. VB has been rock solid in stability for me, but I don't add any plugins, so there's not really much room to mess up.
        The ability to do SQL queries from the admincp is pretty helpful, as well as backing up the DB to a file for saving in the filesystem, or to download.

        My only big gripe with VB is the use of .gif and not .png, but that's due to the time the 3.0 series came out, I suspect. As well, I am not a fan of template updates.


        MyBB: no comment beyond the only information I know of them is that they were a VB copy and paste project at one time. Why use a board that tries to match up to others when you can just have the original?


        *Side Note*
        I find it somewhat ironic that a lot of the popular Linux distros (and BSD) run their forums on VBulletin, as opposed to phpBB.
        Check out Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, and BSDForums

        Comment

        • Mayers
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2004
          • 219
          • 3.6.x

          #5
          Since I run vbulletin on most of my sites I can't give your a great review outside of vB. But you can check on this link below, it allows you to compare. Note the version number is outdated, but 1.2.x is still the current public release.


          Compare Invision Power Board, MyBB, phpBB and vBulletin feature by feature and find your best Forum software!
          Student Zone - A community for students

          Comment

          • Chazel
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2007
            • 589
            • 4.0.0

            #6
            Originally posted by Mayers
            Since I run vbulletin on most of my sites I can't give your a great review outside of vB. But you can check on this link below, it allows you to compare. Note the version number is outdated, but 1.2.x is still the current public release.


            http://www.forummatrix.org/compare/I...hpBB+vBulletin
            That site says that vBulletin doesn't allow archiving.

            Comment

            • TylerK10
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2006
              • 421
              • 3.8.x

              #7
              MyBB and phpBB are both free.

              In my opinion, phpBB is out of the question. For reasons already stated in this thread, my vote goes to vBulletin (naturally). Then it's a tie between IPB and MyBB 1.4. MyBB is almost like a free version of vBulletin, and honestly, I fail to see why it's not a lot more popular than it is. IPB is IPB and you have to pay for the license.

              Comment

              • BurnZ3r0
                New Member
                • Jul 2008
                • 1

                #8
                Originally posted by Chousho
                MyBB: no comment beyond the only information I know of them is that they were a VB copy and paste project at one time. Why use a board that tries to match up to others when you can just have the original?

                Oh c'mon. Quit your griping. It was one line of code, and it wasn't a copy and paste job. It has since been removed.

                Every board tries to match up to another because there is always another better or competing against it. If you can't get used to that fact then I don't know why you aren't already blistering off with remarks.

                Comment

                • Milado
                  Senior Member
                  • Mar 2005
                  • 703
                  • 3.8.x

                  #9
                  forummatrix.com
                  Syrian Medical Society - mi la do - My Hacks - vCharset converter - Projects Queue

                  I want to breathe the freedom, and to strew the mounts of nostalgia in your eyes.

                  Comment

                  • Zachery
                    Former vBulletin Support
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 59097

                    #10
                    Originally posted by BurnZ3r0
                    Oh c'mon. Quit your griping. It was one line of code, and it wasn't a copy and paste job. It has since been removed.

                    Every board tries to match up to another because there is always another better or competing against it. If you can't get used to that fact then I don't know why you aren't already blistering off with remarks.
                    I'm sure if it was "one line of code" there wouldn't have been nearly as big of an issue.

                    Comment

                    • MRGTB
                      Senior Member
                      • May 2005
                      • 5454

                      #11
                      IPB - Pro skin looks really good (better than vBulletin's default style). Features are about the same as vBulletin as a whole (just slightly different). It has more official add-on's than vBulletin though (most noticeably the Gallery and Download Manager). IPB3 is on it's way soon though, which could set new standards in paid forum software and turn out to be a vBulletin killer, with XHTML 1.0 Strict, and built in SEO tools by default!

                      vBulletin - Probably the most "secure" and robust board of the bunch, ideal for a large forum. Same features as IPB really as a whole, again slightly different (some features are more powerful though). Lacks official extra major "most wanted" add-on's like a Gallery for instance. vBulletin 4 is planned, but nobody knows much about it yet.

                      phpBB3 - Free forum board, so don't expect the same type of backup service as "IPB or vBulletin", which are not free of course. Doesn't have as many features as all the rest "by far" (but then thats the way they like phpBB3 to be). What new features it does have through are good and the most important ones, like file upload as default now, and being able to save threads and post images in-line in threads. Best free board out there in my opinion! A huge leap forward over phpBB2. Also proving so far to be very secure. Their currently leading the way in todays web standards with XHTML 1.0 Strict as standard now. I'm really impressed by phpBB3, and it's my personal pick of the bunch when you concider it's free!.

                      MyBB - Very powerful free forum board, quite similar features to earlier versions of IPB and vBulletin. Style, look, and feel - let it down though. Not as popular as it should be considering the features it boast for a free forum board. can't put my finger on it, but maybe it's the style, look and feel holding it back! It needs to have that WOW appeal look factor, and it doesn't! MyBB is still a relatively new, and has not been around that long when compared to the other 3.
                      Last edited by MRGTB; Mon 21 Jul '08, 6:52am.

                      Comment

                      • Mayers
                        Senior Member
                        • Jul 2004
                        • 219
                        • 3.6.x

                        #12
                        Originally posted by chaselafon
                        That site says that vBulletin doesn't allow archiving.
                        Based on the info there, Colin Frei is who updates everything there so he would need to update it. Other then that everything seems to be right.
                        Student Zone - A community for students

                        Comment

                        • Colin F
                          Senior Member
                          • May 2004
                          • 17689

                          #13
                          vBulletin doesn't support archiving in the sense meant there. Our 'Archive' is more of a low-fi version of the same data.
                          Best Regards
                          Colin Frei

                          Please don't contact me per PM.

                          Comment

                          • Razasharp
                            Senior Member
                            • Feb 2005
                            • 2789
                            • 3.7.x

                            #14
                            If you're serious about your forum - vb.

                            If not, phpbb.

                            If you want a proper community site (ie with social networking) then you may want to look at PHPFox, Drupal or vb/ipb and way up their sn componants.
                            What's Special About Ruby on Rails?

                            Comment

                            • cheat-master30
                              Senior Member
                              • Jun 2008
                              • 818
                              • 3.8.x

                              #15
                              For me, I'd say choose vBulletin if you are even slightly serious about your forum and how it'll turn out, with Invision coming behind. If you're interested in a topic like webmastering/site design or gaming or something, then vBulletin is pretty much the only choice to compete with the other forums about said topic. MyBB is good for a free piece of forum software, and I really, really don't like phpBB (or SMF, the admin controls were incredibly poorly lacking and the template editing inflexible). Oh, and certainly pick vB if you plan on heavily modifying your forum, since the template editing and product manager is a massive help and time saver.
                              DS Ultimate- A Nintendo DS Forum

                              My Blog (Nintendo, vBulletin and other articles)

                              My Profile and Modifications at vBulletin.org

                              Comment

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