Tyler
12-27-2005, 06:44 PM
During my online venture today, I came across MyBB (http://www.mybboard.com/). The first thing to hit my mind was "wow, brilliant design, certainly a step up from vB, I hope the actual forums are this nice". I was very glad that there was not a sight of a table on the homepage, just pure XHTML. Although I wish they did use XHTML Strict and not Transitional :)
Browsing around the site for a bit, didn't do anything for me. I was too anxious to see the actual BB. I finally clicked (http://community.mybboard.com/) it. I was very impressed at first. Having a look around more, I realized how much it was based on vB - a big huge thumbs up by me since I'm a vB groupie. They certainly know how appeal one on the visual aspect of things. I had to download it, try it out for my self and more importantly - view the code.
The code was clean by my standards - well commented and organized well. The file structure however I think needs to be improved. It took me a few seconds to figure out where they hid the config.php file at. But, once again it didn't fail me. I was simply amazed at the ACP. From what I could tell, it used IPB's basic organization, and vB's splash page. When you begin to use it yourself, you realize how vB inspired it is. For me, this is a plus but I would assume for some they would consider it a con.
Pros
Extremely visually pleasing. I was simply amazed by the default skin. Although it didn't quite make it through the validation it was pretty close! As I said before, I wished it used Strict and not Transitional, but it was not that big of a deal to me.
Organization. I loved how the ACP was organized and the user control panel. The developers certainly know how to organize a BB. And I know I certainly love an organized BB ;)
Staff. Just looking at the community, you notice how well behaved and helpful their staff members are. They are willing to go to "that extra mile" for you. Support is always the number one thing for me.
RSS. I'm a sucker, I just love how it handles the RSS output, so much power and control.
Forum permission management. When you first pick up a BB - I love how you instantly know what things to do. vB's permission system failed to amaze me, sure there was advance options but sometimes simplicity wins the race. I was so glad to see MyBB using a system such as phpBB's permissions.
Free. From my experience so far, MyBB is nowhere in the league of its free competitors. It's in vB's league. How can you go wrong with free!
Cons
Heavily inspired. As I said it's heavily inspired by vB and its competition. Just by looking at it, you can tell its vB based. It's really depends on how you see it. I don't see it as a problem. What vB does, they do better (most of the time).
Missing few "small" features. I noticed that there are a few features that the others have that MyBB doesn't. A prime example is a paid subscriptions. IPB and vB both has it, but MyBB shows no evidence of integrating it. Although one member claims he has made a hack that is almost debuted for release.
Direct Rip. There is a fine line between "heavily inspired" and a rip. The archive (http://community.mybboard.net/archive/index.php) is a prime example of this. Comparing it to vB's, they are identical.
Small community. MyBB has a small userbase, normally that's not a problem. But with staff as dedicated as theirs, you normally get the same speed support with the larger BBs. But, their hack database is rather small, same with styles.
No plugin system. You still have to install any hacks the old fashion way. I found no evidence of a hook system similar to vB or EasyMOD for phpBB. Edit - Seems I passed it up - there is indeed one :)
Summary: If you're looking for a free BB - I would highly recommend you download it and give it a whirl. If you're using a paid BB such as vB, I would still download it and give it a try. You may like it so much you may ditch vB and go after it. It is very very nice, but it's missing a few features that your paid BB might have.
Try it today (http://www.mybboard.com/downloads.php)!
Browsing around the site for a bit, didn't do anything for me. I was too anxious to see the actual BB. I finally clicked (http://community.mybboard.com/) it. I was very impressed at first. Having a look around more, I realized how much it was based on vB - a big huge thumbs up by me since I'm a vB groupie. They certainly know how appeal one on the visual aspect of things. I had to download it, try it out for my self and more importantly - view the code.
The code was clean by my standards - well commented and organized well. The file structure however I think needs to be improved. It took me a few seconds to figure out where they hid the config.php file at. But, once again it didn't fail me. I was simply amazed at the ACP. From what I could tell, it used IPB's basic organization, and vB's splash page. When you begin to use it yourself, you realize how vB inspired it is. For me, this is a plus but I would assume for some they would consider it a con.
Pros
Extremely visually pleasing. I was simply amazed by the default skin. Although it didn't quite make it through the validation it was pretty close! As I said before, I wished it used Strict and not Transitional, but it was not that big of a deal to me.
Organization. I loved how the ACP was organized and the user control panel. The developers certainly know how to organize a BB. And I know I certainly love an organized BB ;)
Staff. Just looking at the community, you notice how well behaved and helpful their staff members are. They are willing to go to "that extra mile" for you. Support is always the number one thing for me.
RSS. I'm a sucker, I just love how it handles the RSS output, so much power and control.
Forum permission management. When you first pick up a BB - I love how you instantly know what things to do. vB's permission system failed to amaze me, sure there was advance options but sometimes simplicity wins the race. I was so glad to see MyBB using a system such as phpBB's permissions.
Free. From my experience so far, MyBB is nowhere in the league of its free competitors. It's in vB's league. How can you go wrong with free!
Cons
Heavily inspired. As I said it's heavily inspired by vB and its competition. Just by looking at it, you can tell its vB based. It's really depends on how you see it. I don't see it as a problem. What vB does, they do better (most of the time).
Missing few "small" features. I noticed that there are a few features that the others have that MyBB doesn't. A prime example is a paid subscriptions. IPB and vB both has it, but MyBB shows no evidence of integrating it. Although one member claims he has made a hack that is almost debuted for release.
Direct Rip. There is a fine line between "heavily inspired" and a rip. The archive (http://community.mybboard.net/archive/index.php) is a prime example of this. Comparing it to vB's, they are identical.
Small community. MyBB has a small userbase, normally that's not a problem. But with staff as dedicated as theirs, you normally get the same speed support with the larger BBs. But, their hack database is rather small, same with styles.
No plugin system. You still have to install any hacks the old fashion way. I found no evidence of a hook system similar to vB or EasyMOD for phpBB. Edit - Seems I passed it up - there is indeed one :)
Summary: If you're looking for a free BB - I would highly recommend you download it and give it a whirl. If you're using a paid BB such as vB, I would still download it and give it a try. You may like it so much you may ditch vB and go after it. It is very very nice, but it's missing a few features that your paid BB might have.
Try it today (http://www.mybboard.com/downloads.php)!