Which Forum Software Is The Best?

[zappaDPJ]

The best forum software has yet to be written but I live in hope

 

[XinYenFon]

The best forum software obviously the one I`m writing

 

[fixer]

can someone pull the stats from the profile fields here on TAZ so we can see what boards are owned the most @Sandman

 

[zappaDPJ]

@Sandman

He's not just any old Sandman, he's The Sandman

 

[we_are_borg]

Would not be accurate... as some may run more than 1 site on their indicated scripts.

You can set more then one script you use.

 

[we_are_borg]

Not the same thing.... I used to run myBB x 2, WBB, IPS and Xenforo x 2. But if you look at my stats, all you see is myBB, IPS, WBB, XF. There is a missing site running XF and myBB since it does not allow you to designate quantity - unless it's a recent addition since I added my script used to my profile.

Would be interesting to have something like that, but then we need to enter more then forums only.

 

[we_are_borg]

Uhhhh.... it's fairly simple to programmatically filter through an array using only specific criteria, so that really has no bearing.... unless you mean that stuff like WordPress, etc needs to be entered.... but that was not what the request was for
- boards typically indicating forums.

Yes but the next question is going to be how many run product X.

 

[Paul M]

Would not be accurate... as some may run more than 1 site on their indicated scripts.

It would also be inaccurate because people probably dont keep it up to date.

I hadnt looked at mine for years until last month.

 

[Paul M]

The vote choices are also really generic.

Taking "vbulletin" for example, VB3 is fantastic, but VB5 ...... not so much

 

[fixer]

Yes but the next question is going to be how many run product X.

thats what this thread should be because few will vote against what they own

 

[Maddox]

This is one of those questions that will never have a decisive answer. You may as well ask what is the best car? There will be a multitude of answers but never really the one you are wanting pinned down. Every forum software has advantages and disadvantages, from price, features, usability and support. Some will go for a free version because they can't afford a paid version. Some who go for a paid version may need features that are incorporated into the core, meaning there is less to be paid out on potentially risky add-ons, all in one place and easy to manage. Some will want a basic feature set and will be happy to engage with whatever falls into their price range, as well as ongoing renewals for support and downloads. Also, there is the server features someone is using and whether they measure up to what is required. So many different facets to take in that make it impossible to say that 'this is the best'. There have been similar threads asking the same question and the answer is always the same; multifaceted.

 

[we_are_borg]

I dont think the poll is interesting in this case. The question should have been what board software do you run on your site and why do you use it, if you have multiple sites please talk about all of your site.

 

[Ramses]

In my opinion vB3/vB4 was the market leader for a very long time and the best forum software in this universe. Today, Xenforo and IPB share the lead. Both are able to create stunning forums. IPB has more default features and is easier to administrate and to customize, at least for me. Xenforo is in the lead by newest software architecture I think (my measurement tool for this is the opinion of Digitalpoint , the software he uses must be the leader ) . There is a larger add-on community active at Xenforo and the price of the software is lower. On the other hand, IPB as a company is in the business since many, many years which gives me a long term perspective being able to use their software for the next 10 years. Xenforo is a young company based mainly upon two persons, in the last years I've seen too many one ore two men companies vanish because of personal life issues. And because there's nothing more I hate than changing my forum software, finally I go for IPB.

 

[Giant]

To be honest I've always liked MyBB it's been my favorite forum software for years.
Easy to modify templates, moderate the forum etc.

Free = MyBB
Paid = XenForo

 

[gConverter]

It depends on your website. If you only use forum I think the best choice is stand-alone forum softwares:

• Free: phpBB
  
• Paid: XenForo

In case your website is not based on forum only and you run WordPress, the best choice will be:

• bbPress (light forum)
• wpForo (full-fledged community)

Also, another good criteria is the GC-Rank provided by our company. It depends on number of From/To migrations for each forum software. Here are some examples of popular forum software GC-Ranks. The full list is available here: https://gconverters.com/statistics/

• phpBB - 6
  
• XenForo - 6
  
• vBulletin - 5
• SMF - 3

 

[we_are_borg]

One thing I do wish... IPB was the 3.x line. IPS refers to the newer 4.x branch (name change by developers). IPB (3.x line) is nowhere near what XenForo 1.x was nor 2.x and the difference between it and 4.x IPS is like night and day.
It can get rather confusing when people continue to refer to IPS as IPB.

It was always IPS Invision Powered Services from 2002 its what the company is called. The product is IP.Suite or IP.Blog, IP.Gallery etc if you only want to address one.

 

[Alpha1]

Also, another good criteria is the GC-Rank provided by our company. It depends on number of From/To migrations for each forum software. Here are some examples of popular forum software GC-Ranks. The full list is available here: https://gconverters.com/statistics/

What is the time span of these rankings? If there is no time limit, then it will look very different than statistics of the last 12 months. Take vbulletin for example which was great many years ago, but not doing well.

 

[gConverter]

What is the time span of these rankings? If there is no time limit, then it will look very different than statistics of the last 12 months. Take vbulletin for example which was great many years ago, but not doing well.

These data were collected during last 365 days. It's being updated everyday with each migration project. The time span 365 days. The recent migration projects are listed on right sidebar.

 

[Alpha1]

Weird that there is such a vast discrepancy between your vbulletin import statistics


And Digitalpoint Cookie search for Commercial Forum Software Migrations:

https://tools.digitalpoint.com/cookie-search

 

[we_are_borg]

If they do not track the same domains you will get different results.