Forum Index on homepage performs better?

[D'Godown]

I am used to some forums which do have the forum index on their homepage and not useg a portal script like vbadvanced or mkportal etc.

What are the benefits of using a portal addon in a forum? I just seach for forum index link from the portal and almost i am too lazy to look whatelse is it offering.

Is there any features available on portal addon? I still feel it better if a forum do have direct forum listing on home page.

what do you people think?

[Scott]

Portals can be great at introducing new users to the concept, without over loading with a forum index page. It can also give you a chance to explain the purpose of the forum, which might not be immediately obvious.

[SoftWareRevue]

I'd have to go along with Scott. Without a portal page, people might come to FU and expect a lot of Fs and Us. :angel:

OTOH . . . when they go to somewhere like WebHostingTalk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com), they pretty much know they're gonna be talking about web hosting.

[D'Godown]

LOL I never thought it can be like Forums and Universities. Well i will try to read something, But i have bookmarked the address like fu/campus, so no more portal encounters.

EDIT : I suggest a big Enter the forum index on portal page, Because it always took me time to see the link, Or i enter using latest threads then index.