Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

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Flerex
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Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by Flerex »

All of us went through that tough decision the first time we wanted to create our own message board: Which CMS should I use? There are a lot of board systems on the Internet, from open source projects like SMF, MyBB and PunBB to proprietary software like IP.Board and vBulletin. Every of them has their advantages and their drawbacks, but we decided to stick with phpBB instead.

I wanted to ask the phpBB community what led you to choose phpBB over the great alternatives out there. Do you miss any feature, anything, from other systems that you'd wish to have in your phpBB board? If you had to ditch phpBB, which board would you choose? Why?

I hope this thread won't become too controversial, but I think it's going to be very inspiring for people interested in phpBB.
Last edited by Flerex on Sat Dec 10, 2016 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
koraldon
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board CMSs?

Post by koraldon »

Started with phpbb 15 years ago.. like it this far.
For a commercial site, I might go with xenforo but doing this for fun.

p.s. phpbb is not a CMS - joomla, drupal, wordpress etc.. are CMS
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HiFiKabin
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board CMSs?

Post by HiFiKabin »

Around 12 years ago I joined a phpBB2 forum as a 'normal' member, and a little while after they gave me the keys. I liked it, and the modding possibilities it gave.

Been here (on and off) ever since.
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Flerex
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board CMSs?

Post by Flerex »

koraldon wrote:p.s. phpbb is not a CMS - joomla, drupal, wordpress etc.. are CMS
Thank you! Didn't know about that. Fixed!
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Kailey
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by Kailey »

I was a member of a board running phpBB, and when they went belly up 2 years ago I signed up here. I did look at IPB and SMF and while they are certainly respectable in their own sense, I like phpBB more than the alternatives.
Swanny
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by Swanny »

Started with phpBB 15 years ago because it was free and I had no budget. I stick with it now because I know it but if I was starting fresh today it would be Xenforo all the way. I trialed it and loved how much easier to use it was as an admin.

For example, how easy is it to replace a color or logo in phpBB compared to Xenforo? I rest my case.
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by AmigoJack »

  • In 2002 I started a phpBB2 myself, including administration. No moderation, no modding. (2000 was my first encounter moderating a BBS, which was ezboard back then.)
  • In 2006 I took over a phpBB2 and also started modding it to include soft deletes, topics as calendar events, topics as blog like news and more.
  • In 2010 I took over a phpBB3.0 and started modding it, fixing several bugs (to which my tickets took years to be completed) and heavily augmented it. Still runs today; prepared everything to swith over to PHP7 (already tested).
Today I wouldn't start with phpBB3.2, as it has become too complex, relying on too many frameworks and having too much prosa code. Also code generation as a concept is horrible to debug on, and this has been excessively extended instead of getting eliminated.

Over the years phpBB proved to be very stable and acting more consistent than any other bulletin board software. While others might have a better look or a better feel they all fall short when it comes to providing certain actions, features or being halfway future proof. Encountered XenForo, Burning Board, vBulletin, ezboard, Simple Machines Forum and others.
Last edited by AmigoJack on Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

just picking a nit here; phpbb2 did not come out until 2002. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhpBB
;)
by the way, I found my first bulletin board of any kind later in that year. It was a internet marketing forum and used phpbb2.

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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by 2600 »

Because it isn't as asinine as the other software boards out there. I think I like how the notifications work more than anything. Xenforo is crap and so is VB. I would NEVER pay for a board either. Xenforo's notifications suck too.
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PiperB
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by PiperB »

I love phpbb because the possibilities are virtually endless. I love the challenge of fixing mods that were deemed un-usable, or un-compatible with other mods, and making them work and adding them in.

There is just something special about phpbb and I admire the creators of it, and also all of the mod and extension authors out there. I tip my virtual hat to them. You guys rock!!! Thank you for all that you have done and are doing still.

Trying to do a side by side comparison of phpbb to other boards to me is like setting a rusty bike next to a cadillac (phpbb being the cadillac) and then being asked to choose one. It's a no-brainer, I'm always going to choose a Caddy over a rusty bike.

Bottom line is, phpbb is and will always be the best. In my opinion of course. It has the bells and whistles, it's fun, and it's free. :)
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by warmweer »

The short story: in 2002 I was running a board in a free community when the host decided to start asking for money. I had about 4 weeks to move. Tested various forumsoftware and tried to find out how adaptable they were.
Frankly the competition was weak and phpBB won hands down.

The long story: hmmm don't you have anything better to do? Like administrating a forum or something? :lol:
tammyfolk
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by tammyfolk »

I ran a scrapbooking forum for approx 6 years and closed it down a little over a year or so ago. Not only was it free, I found it to be very user friendly, considering I have absolutely no computer coding experience whatsoever. I've had some requests to bring my site back and I plan on doing so....once I self teach myself all over again. I of course have chosen phppb once again. :mrgreen:
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by Raheem »

Simply as phpBB is Free, supported here and open source. If i intend to use another one i'll use vBulletin but sadly it's paid one.
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LP-1
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by LP-1 »

Flerex wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:36 pm All of us went through that tough decision the first time we wanted to create our own message board: Which CMS should I use? There are a lot of board systems on the Internet, from open source projects like SMF, MyBB and PunBB to proprietary software like IP.Board and vBulletin. Every of them has their advantages and their drawbacks, but we decided to stick with phpBB instead.

I wanted to ask the phpBB community what led you to choose phpBB over the great alternatives out there. Do you miss any feature, anything, from other systems that you'd wish to have in your phpBB board? If you had to ditch phpBB, which board would you choose? Why?

I hope this thread won't become too controversial, but I think it's going to be very inspiring for people interested in phpBB.
Because I've had all the other systems all the way back to dragon board. This stop is as inevitable as snow. If you live long enough, you'll eventually see too much of it.
w106mng
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Re: Why did you choose phpBB over other board systems?

Post by w106mng »

thanks for the insight.
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