Which one is better.. Phpbb, Vbulletin or Smf? [Archive]

Scott

12-10-2006, 03:42 PM

Vb's major con is obviously the fact you need to pay for it. However, it does offer a lot more in comparison to the other two, particularly because it's commercial. I'm not sure you can compare it with the others.

I did a comparison between phpBB and SMF 51 weeks ago (coincidence?) which you can read here (http://www.forumuniversity.com/campus/showpost.php?p=2719&postcount=36). I may do a 1 year on comparison if I remember, since things will likely have changed.

CrispyMacBacon

12-10-2006, 07:13 PM

Interesting.. thank you, I will read your review :)

SoftWareRevue

12-10-2006, 09:42 PM

I use all three. And vB is, far more advanced with features, ease of use, and configuration. The administration control panel seems light years ahead. But like Scott said, since it's a paid board, it's rather unfair to compare it with the free boards (except when you're trying to justify spending the money). :)

When comparing the the other two, Scott's comparison review is a good place to start. I'd simply expand on trying them out. Kick 'em around a bit and see which one makes more sense to you.

Nothing wrong with using the free software. There are some major sites that do. It's more about, what works best for you.

Good luck!

bear

12-11-2006, 07:10 PM

Let's not forget the technical expertise of your member base either. VB is about the easiest to use from a member POV (IMHO), with PHPBB then SMF in that order.
This came to light for me when I was using IPB instead of VB. The community I was developing was mostly computer newbies and older folks, and no one would sign up or post (if they did manage to sign up). After a few weeks of this, we ran a simple survey, and nearly all of them came back with "can't figure out how to use it". Switched to VB, invited them back, and they began participating. New survey told us VB was easier for them.

May not matter with the board you're starting, but for mine it absolutely did. Try it from a member's point of view.
Is it clear they should register to participate?
Is it easy to see what to do in order to post?
Is it easy to find out how to respond?
Are the buttons easily deciphered, or are they ambiguous?

Just my thoughts on it, based on my experience.
Good luck with the new board!

adb22791

12-12-2006, 11:32 PM

I think SMF's development cycle is way too long for it to be used on a live site. While PHPBB 3 may be years in coming, SMF will have their latest and only supported version in RC, which is very very buggy.

PHPBB is probably the best free board out there. It is the most skinnable, and has probably the largest userbase and a great number of mods.

If your looking to "up the ante" then try vBulletin. It's advances over PHPBB are great, and it's nice to have a support staff you can bug when things break (I haven't used vBulletin support in over a year now though).

Alex

okgo

12-13-2006, 02:58 PM

I am very surprised that nobody has mentioned IPB ( Invision Power Board). The latest release, 2.2 has much improved overall quality of their software. Not to mention that it has gallery and blog plugins which VB does not (that im aware of). I do think VB remains to be the #1 choice among professional webmasters simply because hype. IPB > VB > PHPBB > SMF

Scott

12-13-2006, 03:15 PM

I've always been an IPB fan (2.2 is purdy!), but I was leaving this conversation to the free software. And IPB vs. vB discussion would be best put elsewhere ;)

And welcome to FU! :fuheart:

adb22791

12-13-2006, 04:05 PM

I've had the *wonderful* opportunity to work with IPB over the past few weeks and have not been impressed. IPB's admin panel is more confusing than vbulletin's (at least after playing with it for an hour vBulletin's will start to make some sense), and IPB runs much slower than vBulletin. Not to mention IPB support staff will close threads from people they disagree with, and the vBulletin skin - while not exactly pretty - is much nicer than IPB.

Personally, if you are going to spend the money, I would suggest going for vBulletin.

Alex

SoftWareRevue

12-13-2006, 04:07 PM

I am very surprised that nobody has mentioned IPB ...I think the only reason it wasn't mentioned is because the thread starter asked for a comparison between phpBB, vB, and SMF.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

:wavey:

adb22791

12-13-2006, 04:53 PM

I think the only reason it wasn't mentioned is because the thread starter asked for a comparison between phpBB, vB, and SMF.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

:wavey:

There's a reason FU runs vB. :evilb:

Alex

CD Burnt

12-13-2006, 08:22 PM

hmmm. there's a suggestion that they are a "sponsor" of FU.

what kinda deal y'all got going with vbulletin and burst?

Scott

12-14-2006, 05:29 AM

CrispyMacBacon

12-14-2006, 08:28 AM

What is "IPB"?

Scott

12-14-2006, 09:41 AM

Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionpower.com), probably vB's main competitor. It is also commercial, unlike the other two mentioned above.

TheDPQ

12-14-2006, 10:54 AM

Whatever you choose, don't choose phpbb 2. I had to work on once for a month and i cried myself to sleep every night. Its gets the job done as far as having a forum up (and its free) but as an admin its very very limiting with the horrible admin control panel.

I've just been spoiled by VB to much and with 3.6 its only getting worse. ;) IPB is supposed to be really nice as well. Don't know much about SMF

adb22791

12-14-2006, 04:22 PM

I'm going to disagree with you on a number of points alex (and throw IPB into this discussion :blush:). I'm not sure which version of the ACP you saw in IPB, but since 2.1 it's been transfromed and is much easier to use. Never noticed slowness in IPB compared to vB, they're both fast enough to handle major sites. I've also never heard anyone call vB's default skin nice, but then again I dislike all default skins. I will agree with you that IPB's support isn't always great (although I try my best to help by chipping in on the support forum) and their development process is deeply lacking structure. It's still excellent software, and without it, vB would likely still be in the dark ages.

Touche! I wish I could check out the IPB 2.2 demo, but it seems to be full. The last time I used IPB was 2.1.x, so the admin panel may have changed (hopefully for the better).

I think we can agree to disagree and say that it really is mostly personal preference. I know vBulletin well, and prefer to use it on my own forums, but in reality the content makes much more of a different than the software.

Alex

SoftWareRevue

12-14-2006, 06:10 PM

... I think we can agree to disagree and say that it really is mostly personal preference...

There is no best forum software. There is only the forum software that's best for you. :discuss:

SoftWareRevue

12-14-2006, 06:15 PM

... and throw IPB into this discussion ...I'm actually glad that this thread included IPB. It makes it more balanced with the two free and the two paid options. :fu:

Scott

12-14-2006, 06:44 PM

Touche! I wish I could check out the IPB 2.2 demo, but it seems to be full. The last time I used IPB was 2.1.x, so the admin panel may have changed (hopefully for the better).

I think we can agree to disagree and say that it really is mostly personal preference. I know vBulletin well, and prefer to use it on my own forums, but in reality the content makes much more of a different than the software.

Alex6 hours is pretty poor time for a demo, even if you do manage to get one. I'll second personal preference. They both seem to be taking things from each other so eventually, maybe they'll be the same :nuts:

There is no best forum software. There is only the forum software that's best for you. :discuss::notworthy

okgo

12-15-2006, 01:31 AM

The admin panel did change w/ 2.2 and I have to admit; it is nice!

screenshot here : http://blog.mattmecham.com/blogimages/ipb22acp.jpg

IPB > VB > PHPBB > SMF >

CrispyMacBacon

12-16-2006, 03:55 PM

Hmm.. will I have troubles to convert a over 100k messages phpbb in a smf, vb or ipb?

And what about all my mods? Will I have to do them all again?

Scott

12-16-2006, 04:00 PM

Yes, if you switch software you'll need to use a converter to get them in the correct format for whichever you want to use. It'd probably be a good idea to check out which have converters before you make your mind up.

All your mods will be gone I'm afraid.

Scott

12-16-2006, 06:59 PM

I wish I could check out the IPB 2.2 demo, but it seems to be full.
Open now :)

CrispyMacBacon

12-17-2006, 10:58 AM

Thank you very much for your informations, guys!

And now the last question: which one of the four boards (IPB, Vbulletin, Phpbb, SMF) is less resource intensive?

adb22791

12-17-2006, 11:44 AM

Hmm.. will I have troubles to convert a over 100k messages phpbb in a smf, vb or ipb?

And what about all my mods? Will I have to do them all again?

I have used vBulletin's Impex converter extensively and it will be no problem to convert 100,000 messages. I am not sure how IPB's works, but vB's definitely works.

Alex

Scott

12-17-2006, 12:16 PM

And now the last question: which one of the four boards (IPB, Vbulletin, Phpbb, SMF) is less resource intensive?I'm not too sure how best to measure this. You will find that phpBB and vB are used to power some of the largest (http://www.big-boards.com) forums on the web. The first IPB board on the list is at 53 and SMF at 449. This might help you somewhat, I don't know...

adb22791

12-17-2006, 01:26 PM

I'm not too sure how best to measure this. You will find that phpBB and vB are used to power some of the largest (http://www.big-boards.com) forums on the web. The first IPB board on the list is at 53 and SMF at 449. This might help you somewhat, I don't know...

Interestingly enough, the first board in the list is phpBB... but then again, it's probably modified so greatly that you wouldn't even be able to tell it looking at the source.

Alex

CrispyMacBacon

12-17-2006, 02:21 PM

Yes, gaiaonline.com is very modified. Take a look here: http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=135383 (this guy, Lanzer, is the developer of gaiaonline.com, the #1 at big-boards.com)

At big-boards.com, there are definitely more vbulletins than phpbbs..

Scott

12-17-2006, 03:04 PM

I'm not sure if that really means anything. All of the big players should be able to handle a fairly large forum. I would be more inclined in one of the commercial ones though.

Christian

12-17-2006, 04:34 PM

Agreed Scott. Just because more people use vBulletin doesn't necessarily mean it's the best for everyone.

Out of the list of board you provided, I wouldn't choose any of them. Then again, bias. :P

phpBB: Isn't an option for me, I wouldn't even consider it. Not sure why but they have been developing version 3- it seems like -forever. I also had a very bad experience with getting hacked on a fully patched board. I don't like how it lacks feature that other popular boards have. While they might have a nice selection of hacks, the less work I have to do the better.

SMF: It's been sometime since I used it last, but from what I can remember, the ACP design/setup wasn't all that great. I can't remember much off the top of my head.

vBulletin: Out of the three, this would more than likely be my choice. While the ACP design/style/setup isn't impressive, it's pretty powerful. I don't know if I'm into all of the AJAX, but it's not a bad thing either. As it stands, I wouldn't need many hacks installed as it has a lot of features I would need/want.

I don't think we can really answer your question "Which one is better....?." I believe that's something you will have to answer for yourself. It's a matter of which has the features you are looking for and which you find easier to use. It's not which is best for me, it's which is best for you. I hope this helps you. :)

CrispyMacBacon

12-17-2006, 05:44 PM

Yes Christian, this really helped me :)
Thanks!

Webmaster7

12-21-2006, 11:07 AM

When I joined Forum University, almost one year ago, I was using phpBB. Got hacked. Got tired. Moved to VBulletin.

Better admin and user panel, but, the rankings I had with the search engine friendly archive I had with phpBB, that Google loved, were lost forever.

I've seen forums ranking very well with VB, but I could never get the old rankings I had with phpBB.

Maybe it's not just the software, and Google didn't liked my migration, and crawling thousands of new pages (for Google they were new).

Frets

12-23-2006, 08:49 PM

The last time I tried smf I liked it, The client liked it (although educating her was a trip) We didn't have any security issues.

I run phpbb1 inside xoops because you need it for the engine.
I don't have a public forum which would be completely unmanagable in xoops without serious hacking, of which I really don't want to sacrafice what little of my life I have left.

CrispyMacBacon

12-26-2006, 06:48 PM

So Phpbb has more security issues than VB or SMF or IPB?

And what about spam? My phpbb is always spammed.. are those other forums better against spammers?

adb22791

12-26-2006, 07:45 PM

So Phpbb has more security issues than VB or SMF or IPB?

No, that is a common misconception. phpBB is no less secure than vBulletin because it's open source. However, some 3rd party apps (like phpNuke - yuck) open up security holes in phpBB with their horrid coding. A phpBB installation with a few hacks from phpbb.com or another trusted site will be just as secure as vBulletin.

On a side note, last time I used SMF they asked me to chmod everything to 777. That is an extreme security risk, and is one of the reasons I have not even looked at SMF in recent years. Telling your users to chmod their entire directory and all files to 777 is ridiculous.

And what about spam? My phpbb is always spammed.. are those other forums better against spammers?

Do you have image verification enabled? That is just one way you can fight spammers with phpBB. You should also require users to activate their accounts via email. vBulletin is probably one of the most effective in fighting spam, however. In vBulletin, you can make the default usergroup members are put in when they join very restrictive, not allowing them to post links, etc. This makes most of their spam useless. But of course, you want users to be able to post with links if they aren't spammers, so you create a usergroup that allows users to post links and create a promotion, so users are automatically "promoted" (moved) to this usergroup after, say, 5 posts.

Alex

Frets

12-28-2006, 08:47 AM

I just installed smf on a new host.

It went very smooth. no need to 777 everything.
Along with it I installed mk portal. after several php nuke post nuke and various other portals (xoops) from a managerial side I'm liking mk portal. I've yet to seriously mod the portal yet. I don't think I'll find the versatility I do in xoops.

smf still makes you muck it up in the css it'll most likely never be an ibf All I want is matching portal and forums layout.
I suspect I'll spend much time trying to accomplish that.

D'Godown

03-05-2007, 10:39 PM

vB ofcourse for technical/professional communities is best and for social/entertainment communities IPB is best option.

I never knew IPB 2.2 has different ACP, Just too lazy to upgrade my boards, But i found IPB 2.1.7's admin CP the best of all breeds, so easy, fast and fun to work with.

phpbb and smf are in different niche, anybody can use them anytime, and physically there maybe 1000s time more phpbb installs then vB or IPB.

Jayso

03-10-2007, 09:24 AM

phpBB is good for web programmers ;)

D'Godown

03-14-2007, 02:38 AM

phpBB is good for web programmers ;)

How?:S

Kwek

03-19-2007, 09:18 AM

The major disadvantage of vBulletin is that it is very expensive. Other than that, I would say it is the best in terms of features and security. They also have a huge modifications database and there are many awesome skins for vBulletin.

I would say that for free boards SMF is much better than PHPBB2. Not so sure about PHPBB3 though, lets wait till it's fully released. SMF provides a better interface and in my opinion, much easier to use. PHPBB has a complex administrator control panel. They make simple functions so complicated.