Why people go for free forum softwares?

[D'Godown]

I always wonder when i see people talking about PhpBB, to be used for their community.
Such piece which is nor good looking, lack features, is known for security holes and actually a pretty lame piece of script.

Why do people go for such things if they want to make a serious growing community, I never like to join a community based on phpbb, Do people like? Or normal people who cant differentiate between phobb and vb take it as they are?

What everybody thinks about it.

[Scott]

There are lots of reasons people use free software. The fact it's free is a big one. If people already have monthly fees, such as hosting, a free piece of software is one less drain - especially since (most) communities won't be generating money at the start.

(One of) the biggest forums out there is phpBB based and they're doing fine for members, so it can't be that bad. I have no problem using phpBB, so I don't see why it should be avoided. Also, don't forget that phpBB isn't the only free forum software out there. There are lots and some offer things the paid ones don't. :)

[D'Godown]

Ofcourse there are lots of reasons, But are you sure it looks and give a professional feel? its better to invest some dollars in getting a propriatary softwareand start building a neat community?

If one is giving time and management resources for a community then why do people settle for things like open source? In the long term I bet everybody likes to change, if the community is a success, But then they cant change because SERP's give a lot traffic to curresnt listed pages.

Its always better to see a proprietary script if somebody is serious about community.

[Scott]

I disagree. Professional feel is purely aesthetic, you don't need to see "Powered by vBulletin" to know it's professional, you tell by how it looks. These looks can be changed in practically any software. I also dislike the vB default skin, I wouldn't call it professional. This is of course personal opinion, professional for me probably isn't professional for you. Not all forums want to be professional. Some want to be more relaxed.

Do you have the same philosophy with other open source products? Are hosting companies that only use Linux unprofessional because they don't buy their operating systems? What about a document typed up in OpenOffice instead of MS Office? Could you tell the difference...I doubt it.

As you might be able to tell, I like open source.

SERPs can be redone. Sure, I'll agree it takes time, but it's only a small argument when it comes to change, especially with the (likely) many benefits.

[Jayso]

You obviously haven't seen phpBB 3 yet ;)

Btw, i believe the default vBulletin and IPB skins are terrible as well :D (SMF, MyBB, and all those are just as bad)

[SoftWareRevue]

I think the fact that the largest forum (http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/index.php) runs phpbb, speaks volumes about the stability, usability, and popularity of "open source" forum software.

As Scott mentioned, a lot may start with a free forum software and then migrate to something paid if they find it doesn't suit their needs. But some just stay there because it does suit them.

[D'Godown]

Yep i know gaia is biggest forum according to big-boards.

Free software like linux are unmachable, But I feel linux is not to attract members, A forum's motive is to keep members stick always, Ofcourse because of little revenues and some emotional part of creators. I cant compare like OS with a niche like bulletin board scripts, We have got so many choices, phpBB still looks lame to me in version3, Yes they gave a lot new features in admin panelnew messenging features, but still it looks much lame.

Jayso, IPB default skin is not at all terrible, and Vbulletin, You can see FU skin, Its the best skin and I have bought this lustrous skin as well from forumthemes as well, I dont think you can see a more beautiful board/skin then this. Yes I know phobb skins are also available, but that still looks cheap with skins. Or maybe its just me who hates phpbb a lot.

But a question next, Will you be starting a forum community with phobb? I guess no if you are really serious about a community.
SMF, I dont know why i feel the font/titles on the index page look so small to me, they look different and not any great, SMF still dont have a fast reply and the way we reply a post gives a bad page structure, a lot of emoticons are in cues, oh no thats not a hard work on aesthetics.

punnbb/mybb are fine, But they too are scary to me, I have seen a beta version script named flex-bb, it looked some better and one script which is not yet available in english is discuz, its a chinese developer and it created magic, I am still waiting to see an english version, Maybe I should help them in translating that to english but my english suck as well :oops:

[ammo]

Another great point is that phpbb has alot more mods. Its alot more customizable because its open source. Sure there are also alot of great mods for VB abd ipb, but there isnt as many as there is for phpbb. People liek to stick to whats free.

Personally I like Vbulletin better as well, but free options are also fantastic.

[seek4job]

I think mybb is one of the best forum I have seen, just like the free version of vBulletin,and is jam-packed with many features, plus the ACP is easy to use.

[mikey1090]

mainly because they are free, and if you check out phpbb.com, their new version 3 skin is quite clean and sleek. i prefer it to the default vb.

As for why go for them, its often websites whose main feature isnt their forum, and they wont get many hits on it. A lot of young people (kids as you may like to call them) get phpbb cos its free, the price of vb is scary to a poor teenager who just wants to chat with some people.

As for that forum, its great to see someone using phpbb with over 6 million (omg thats 10% of the population in my country!!) and im sure phpbb would be proud.

They can just get phpbb, skin it, sort the spam and make it cool.

But still, vbulletin is the industry leader. I bought it a few weeks ago and just said WOW to myself.

Its worth the money!

[KimmiKat]

I was a fan of vB, but after an issue with their support, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm considering dumping my last vB and going to a free board.

Another great point is that phpbb has alot more mods. Its alot more customizable because its open source. Sure there are also alot of great mods for VB abd ipb, but there isnt as many as there is for phpbb. People liek to stick to whats free.

Personally I like Vbulletin better as well, but free options are also fantastic.

[Kwek]

There are some good free bulletin board software out there, comparable to the paid softwares. Such an example is MyBB.

I believe the main reason that people use them is because they cannot afford to purchase expensive software like vBulletin.

I am personally liking MyBB, the features are not lacking and it is easy to modify the theme. Why buy when you can get something as good for free? ;)

[Jan]

It makes sense to me to start with a free forum software these days. Chances are you won't make it big in the forum world unless you have something totally unique (like breeding squirrels in Australia, or breeding koalas in USA :p), so free software is good. If your forum starts to get decently popular, then you can buy one as most free forums are supported for upgrading to paid software :) Do your homework first and you should be right as rain :)

[Kaizen]

People generally like free things and it also occurs to pograms. Most people like the free forum programs because they are easy to hack and mold into what you want them to become. Any good programmer can make php look great.

[vtabletop]

Just like other's here said ,starting with a free software seems a wise option and as your community grows ,you can migrate over to a paid software.If the free software in mention isn't shabby and is getting you results then what's the harm ? Moreover,the phpbb version 3 looks much better than the previous versions.