Which software for a small community

[davemacc]

I'm in the process of setting up a small community forum for a small group of people.

I haven't run my own forum in years so I have no pfarticular preference in software. I'm planning to use free software and have narrowed my choices to either Nodebb or Elkarte due to their responsive design as most of the people on the forum will be using it on their mobiles on a regular basis.

I'm coming down on the side of Elkarte due to it's similarity to smf. I understand that nodebb uses node.js which I'm not familiar with.
Has anyone any opinions on which one i should choose, or is their any other software I should be consider.
It will be hosted on a shared server but will be private so the server should be able to handle the load easily.

 

[Alpha1]

Check out MyBB and the newcomer CodoForum.

 

[Azareal]

Check out MyBB and the newcomer CodoForum.

https://codoforum.com/documentation/roadmap
Codoforum have quite afew "standard forum features" which they haven't implemented yet like per-forum permissions and what appears to be usergroups.

 

[radu81]

As free software I like elkarte and I'm planning to migrate one smf forum.

 

[davemacc]

Check out MyBB and the newcomer CodoForum.

I looked at MyBB but the fact that it hasn't got a responsive ui design at the minute is a problem. The forum will mainly be used by mobiles.
CodoForum looks interesting, I'll have to have a look into it properly

https://codoforum.com/documentation/roadmap
Codoforum have quite afew "standard forum features" which they haven't implemented yet like per-forum permissions and what appears to be usergroups.

The missing features may be an issue all right. Is it still in beta, the version number seems to be 2.6, or is it 0.2.6?

 

[davemacc]

As free software I like elkarte and I'm planning to migrate one smf forum.

Elkarte is the one that has caught my eye alright, although Nodebb looks good on mobile(not so good on computer screen)
I'll have to have a good look at this CodoForum software, it looks interesting, although I'm not sure about the missing feature's.

 

[Azareal]

I looked at MyBB but the fact that it hasn't got a responsive ui design at the minute is a problem. The forum will mainly be used by mobiles.
CodoForum looks interesting, I'll have to have a look into it properly

The missing features may be an issue all right. Is it still in beta, the version number seems to be 2.6, or is it 0.2.6?

They have a rapid release cycle, so they're bumping up the version number every month or so. Less than that, if I remember correctly.
I'm unsure whether it's actually stable, as I haven't really tested it.

 

[Danielx64]

If you are able to wait a little longer, I'm (hoping) to be releasing something that I been working on with someone else very soon. We don't have a launch date yet but we are looking at about 3 or so weeks

 

[Azareal]

If you are able to wait a little longer, I'm (hoping) to be releasing something that I been working on with someone else very soon. We don't have a launch date yet but we are looking at about 3 or so weeks

What's it like? What sort of features does it have?

 

[davemacc]

They have a rapid release cycle, so they're bumping up the version number every month or so. Less than that, if I remember correctly.
I'm unsure whether it's actually stable, as I haven't really tested it.

I'll have to keep an eye on it and see where it goes, I might try to run it on my raspberry pi, I've gotten it to run as a webserver in the past

If you are able to wait a little longer, I'm (hoping) to be releasing something that I been working on with someone else very soon. We don't have a launch date yet but we are looking at about 3 or so weeks

I'm looking at setting up after Christmas, I'm just trying to get everything lined up and ready to go.

 

[Danielx64]

What's it like? What sort of features does it have?

It's a fork of phpBB BUT it not bloated (in style and code designs), it has a brand new theme that is responsive, the ACP is also responsive. It also has features that is included in phpBB 3.0 but was removed in phpBB 3.1 (theme and template editor for example).

I don't want to give it all away, just a few main points

 

[Azareal]

I'll have to keep an eye on it and see where it goes, I might try to run it on my raspberry pi, I've gotten it to run as a webserver in the past

I'm looking at setting up after Christmas, I'm just trying to get everything lined up and ready to go.

I can't imagine Codoforum being that stable as it was created fairly recently, if I remember correctly.
It's worth looking at, but it's been moving far too fast for me to think that it's a stable platform.

That's my opinion, of course.

 

[XinYenFon]

Since, lots of people talking about future (beta) releases, so I can step in an say take a look at SMF 2.1 Beta 1, its already responsive. Has likes/mentions built-in. Not the mention best security records

You may see some extra features in forks but I'm assuring you with this theme/mod base original software(s) got you'll not limit yourself. I suggest you to take a look at SMF 2.0 & Our Mod site - Theme site. Compare them with other softwares and do your choice. I personally stay away from forks as long as original software lives.

 

[Danielx64]

I personally stay away from forks as long as original software lives.

IMO, not all forks are bad, some are better done than others. Some people decides to fork out a project because they are not happy with the latest version of that software.

May I ask what make you stays away from forks? Is it because it not being original?

 

[XinYenFon]

IMO, not all forks are bad, some are better done than others. Some people decides to fork out a project because they are not happy with the latest version of that software.

May I ask what make you stays away from forks? Is it because it not being original?

Mostly forks change the culture of the software, I'm there because I liked that culture. That's the only reason I'm sticking with original software, oh I didn't mean they are being "copy-cat" with sticking to original. I mean I rather use X software (original - source) if its alive not Y software (fork from X).

 

[davemacc]

Since, lots of people talking about future (beta) releases, so I can step in an say take a look at SMF 2.1 Beta 1, its already responsive.

I did look at SMF and Mybb but had sort of ruled them out as they had no timeline that I could see for release of their final versions of the responsive versions.
I like the look of smf 2.1 beta and have downloaded the beta but am having problems getting it to install.

 

[XinYenFon]

I did look at SMF and Mybb but had sort of ruled them out as they had no timeline that I could see for release of their final versions of the responsive versions.
I like the look of smf 2.1 beta and have downloaded the beta but am having problems getting it to install.

Yes, as team policy we never give a exact date for releases, not lovely I agree but as you can understand, real life™ comes first . Please go to our support forums, our team will gladly help you to resolve your problems

I hope we see you in SMF

 

[Danielx64]

Yes, as team policy we never give a exact date for releases, not lovely I agree but as you can understand, real life™ comes first . Please go to our support forums, our team will gladly help you to resolve your problems

I hope we see you in SMF

Most developers wont give a date when you can expect a new version as anything can change at the last second, something that I found out the hard way.

 

[davemacc]

Yes, as team policy we never give a exact date for releases, not lovely I agree but as you can understand, real life™ comes first . Please go to our support forums, our team will gladly help you to resolve your problems

I hope we see you in SMF

Totally understandable and the lack of release date wasn't a criticism, just an observation. I will be trying out all the software before going live, and will go with the most suitable, wether it's in beta or not.

The problem I had with installation of the beta seems to be a mysql issue rather then an SMF issue, I think I may have locked the database down a bit too much, something I have done in the past.

I'll definitely keep looking into it and if it suits it'll be the software I go with.

 

[davemacc]

Most developers wont give a date when you can expect a new version as anything can change at the last second, something that I found out the hard way.

I work to defined deadlines so can understand that rl can get in the way especially if it is a voluntary os project.

That's the reason my own timeline is so extended, real-life has to be dealt with first and I have a few deadlines approaching fast.