Why doesn't phpBB follow some trends like its competitors?

[JoshyPHP]

Why doesn't phpBB keep up with website trends like the main forum scripts and content management systems (CMS) do?

Because it's a software developed by volunteers and none of the volunteers care enough about those features to add them. Both friendly URLs and a WYSIWYG editor could be added via an extension; If you care about those features enough, you can crowdfund their development via a third party and no one could stop you.

[umarizal]

The visual editor, most (if not all) who have it, has a "turn on" or "off" button ... that simple. Who doesn't, doesn't use ... who wants, uses ... the important thing is to have the option where the Administrator defines what will be the default.

About friendly urls, it's almost a consensus, isn't it? The vast majority think this would be helpful.

About features "by extension", I think that's fine for the visual editor only. But for the friendly urls, it is not advisable, as the developer may suddenly stop following it and each new version of the forum will stop working, breaking the whole URL system and detonating SEO.

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

not to start up the debate again, but so called "friendly urls" do not give your site much benefit as far as SEO goes.
ask google.
also, if you put them in place after your board has been up for a while and is indexed well, you will lose whatever SEO you had working for you before and have to start over with the indexing.


robert

[John connor]

Yeah, I think it is true that friendly URLs don't mean much. It's content that matters. The subject title and the post are what matter as evident when I search on Google about a phpBB issue or what ever I see loads of posts from this site in Google and there are no friendly URLs.

[Mick]

About friendly urls, it's almost a consensus, isn't it?

No.