The best forum system?

[xnoddyx1]

for me its Yabb 2.3.1

 

[zubair12]

vBulletin is the best forums system.....

 

[fzlaja]

Simple Machines Forum...

 

[chisao10]

So, if we were only talking about the free ones....which would you suggest?
SMF?
I have never used a forum, but I want one. I want to be able to skin it how I want, or at least give it my own header image that matches my site's header and choose a color scheme.

Also, which ones are really newbie friendly. I'll be able to learn it, I just don't want to have to spend a year to do it.

 

[Smith6612]

So, if we were only talking about the free ones....which would you suggest?
SMF?
I have never used a forum, but I want one. I want to be able to skin it how I want, or at least give it my own header image that matches my site's header and choose a color scheme.

Also, which ones are really newbie friendly. I'll be able to learn it, I just don't want to have to spend a year to do it.

SMF has been the first and only free forum software that I've used. Now, I know that I have experience in computers and things like that, but it should be pretty easy to pick up on. It's also pretty powerful when it comes down to it.

 

[chisao10]

SMF has been the first and only free forum software that I've used. Now, I know that I have experience in computers and things like that, but it should be pretty easy to pick up on. It's also pretty powerful when it comes down to it.

Thanks...I have a pretty good working knowledge of computers too. I'm actually in school for that. I have a pretty limited knowledge of php and MySQL. That's why I was asking. I just wanted something simple to start with.
So SMF is what I'll try out first. If I get used to it, I may try to move on to vBulletin later. I like how the layout is for that one.

 

[mifuyu]

I think it's vB. ^^

 

[freedompeace]

vBulletin ftw. Its the most expensive, because its the best.

 

[redivy]

I had used to think that IPB was the best (very recently, in fact), but I have now realized that vBulletin is very feature-rich, and provides many things that IPB 2.3 or 3.0 provide. The only thing that I do not like quite as much, is that it isn't as slick as the Invision Power Board software.

 

[csyrpeng]

who can tell me how to use ?

 

[zapzack]

I'm for IPB.. The only reason it's my favorite is because of the way it looks and how it functions.. Just as redivy put it, slick. If only I could afford it.. heh

 

[themerful]

IPB why? I may cost, but it is worth it. Much nicer in design (and security).
Second is SMF because it is open source and has lots of themes/addons.

 

[masheen]

IPB imo is the best!

 

[Brandon]

I'm a proud vBulletin owner/user.

 

[lhyman]

Re: The best forumsystem?

I'm not really all that into editing forums, but I used SMF. I found it flexible and easy to use. I found it quite easy to edit and there was a lot of help on hand.

I will always use this forum probably ...

Viper

Hear! Hear!

I agree with you 100%

I am running it here:

http://mrmad.no-ip.org

 

[Monawco]

phpbb3 because its free and opensource. But I wouldnt argue that VB is good too, but I just hate the licensing thing.
Demo : free forums

 

[sajid213]

i use a vBulletin for my forums. but if i were to choose a free board, i would choose myBB

 

[Elesarr]

I think ultimately the "best forum software" is what meets your needs

Personally I have been using SMF for literally years. It is stable, flexible, has all the features of many non-free systems via their mods/plug-in design including several options to have an actual portal, blogging system, etc.

SMF allows you to chose what you want to use and not install anything you don't: IMHO that is the best type of forum software

Cheers!

 

[rebellion]

I LOVE IPB.... My cat's *** is better looking than vBulletin... And, for the free (poor), I would choose MyBB.... It's ACP resembles MyBB a bit...

 

[jmcgowan]

Sadly enough, the best forum system I've ever seen has never been offered for public use, because it never got finished. If you visit playevo.com and check out their forums, it's incredibly easy to understand, simple, and nice to look at. It's based on a CMS called geneone. Like I said though, it never got finished and polished, so it was never offered to the public. I think the source code is floating out there somewhere though.