23 years with the phpBB, no idea about the forum's future

[SuperFedya]

Hello,

I've been working with phpBB since version 2 — 23 years already!

Over time, I really liked phpBB2 compared to other bulletin boards; it was modern, progressive, and fast. But today, the project is struggling. phpBB 3.3 looks and feels like phpBB 3.0... Now, 18 years later, functionally the board is pretty much the same (more or less).

Maybe veterans will like this, but what about the new generation? I don’t think so. I visited the Reef2Reef forum, and OMG, felt like I was teleported to the bright future:

• Polls and the latest posts on the main page
  Ajax info when I hovered over the user avatar in the last post
  Forum description when I hovered over the forum name
  Ajax preview when I hovered over a topic
  Quick topic creation
  User and topic rating systems
  Award systems
  Functional editor that easily allows you to add images
  Top trending threads
  Similar threads
  Tags
  Ability to scale, crop, etc., avatars
  And who knows what else

After that, I felt sad about phpBB. I know, there are extensions. Yes, there are. But many are unofficial, many have been abandoned, and many will be. Not all are compatible with PHP 8, and some are horrible in terms of performance (e.g., Medal mod, old Karma mod in phpBB 3.0). There will be no updates for many of them, and you'll lose some data, even if you find an alternative. The modding community has gotten smaller every year.

I don't know — at some point, AI will be integrated into other boards that are years (decades) ahead of phpBB.

But the main problem is not phpBB, but Google, which started eliminating forums from search results over a decade ago. My forum lost 95% of its visitors, and Google's algorithms are unknown. They probably have some arrangements with the big companies (Reddit, Facebook, etc.), and their results come first.

But the future of Google is also unclear. The quality of search results as of 2025 is not bad, but horrible. When I search for something, the first page of results often looks like this:

• Cheap advertising articles trying to sell you something
  Very low-quality articles written by Indian authors to sell you something and get you to click on links
  Articles written by bots with very poor quality
  Sites full of ads, popups, fake browser notifications — an inexperienced user could catch a virus just by clicking somewhere
  Almost no useful information

Before, I used Google for 100% of my research. Now, I use it 5%. The other 95% goes to AI. Yes, it's not perfect, and yes, there is heavy censorship (Google-level or more) — but it provides better information and is much faster, without the need to visit tons of advertising-heavy sites.

There is AI search — I’ve tried it, but I’m not sure if it’ll be better for forum owners in terms of search results.

But I hope the situation changes, and forums will thrive like they did from 2000-2010. I hope phpBB will be great again.

ps. I won't switch to xen or vbulletin, too late for that

[SpIdErPiGgY]

6 of the mentioned functions exist here.
I know there are a few extensions for those.

[ssl]

I visited the Reef2Reef forum

It takes a lot of nerve to compare here a free solution (phpBB) and a paid solution (xenForo)!
Version 4 of phpBB is in preparation with a new style, no doubt you will be pleasantly surprised. Without increasing in native all that can be done by an extension.

[GanstaZ]

About mods/extensions..
As I see it.. There is no point to take an old mod and convert it to an extension (specially if you are not the author of it).
In most cases it's easier to create a new extension from scratch.
Specially if you focus on 4.0 branch and not on 3.3.

About new style..
I doubt that new style will be available for 4.0. At best it will be for 4.1 branch.

Core shouldn't be bloated with additions that many don't want to see/use.
Most additions should be available as extensions. Then you have an option to use whatever you want.
And it would be easier for phpbb developers to improve/maintain core code.

[wintstar]

It should say thank you to the extension and style authors more often and donate a “coffee” every now and then. And there is also a lack of support. Requests in the “Extension Writers Discussion” forum are usually not answered or only inadequately answered. I think then more extensions and styles would be “maintained” for longer.

Unfortunately, we have arrived at a time when people only take but rarely give back.

[HB]

Maybe veterans will like this, but what about the new generation? I don’t think so. I visited the Reef2Reef forum, and OMG, felt like I was teleported to the bright future:

Of the ones you listed, these are the ones that stand out for me:

• Functional editor that easily allows you to add images
• Tags

I spent a lot of time simplifying the mobile format of phpBB to make it more streamlined; maybe the new template will do much the same?

A majority of my site's members use a mobile phone, so optimizing to that platform makes sense. I list the other two above because bbCode is clunky in a world where most posters expect WYSIWYG editors. For new members, the image/attachments UI is a constant source of confusion; despite my step-by-step instructions including screenshots, I have to manually correct posts or explain via PMs how to use it several times a week.

On the plus side, on a well-tuned site, phpBB is incredibly fast. The extensions are easy to install. Customizing it, if you know PHP, is fairly straightforward. If you're not a programmer, I can see why anything beyond the standard installation + extensions is where you'd stop.

The future of forums given the 800 pound gorillas of the Internet like Reddit and Facebook is hard to predict. If I were starting today instead of 2005, I think building a sustainable membership would be much, much harder.

Version 4 of phpBB is in preparation with a new style, no doubt you will be pleasantly surprised.

Some members chide me about the "dated" appearance of my site. I think that's a little overstated given my customization, but admittedly my HTML/CSS skills are limited. I look forward to a modernized version of phpBB and thank the developers in advance.

Unfortunately, we have arrived at a time when people only take but rarely give back.

Fair point! I have a lot of core modifications that would make nice extensions. I keep telling myself that I'll refactor these out into extensions; a lot of them are doable, but not all because there's no extension API. If only I didn't have a full-time job...

[AmigoJack]

I've been working with phpBB since version 2 — 23 years already!

Yet you (still) don't know how to use the list BBCode?

[P_I]

There is also viewtopic.php?t=2607651 on this subject

[Sniper_E]

Yes SuperFedya... a lot of the features you mentioned are around in phpBB and the others can be created in an extension.
You do not have to have an Extensions Database Release for it to be a good extension. A lot of us do not submit our extensions.

• You do not have to have nerve to compare phpBB with other paid for boards. You can compare any board you want.
  For someone to say you will be pleasantly surprised with the new style coming is just their opinion, your opinion is the only one that counts.
  And you using only list in your post above is perfectly fine. Every line does not need a bullet. You can use list anyway you want to use it.

There are too many negative responses in this support forum.
You guys should try to show support instead of judging someone or without giving your personal negative opinion that no one cares about.
The negativity spread out throughout this forum is sad. How about showing a member support or just don't post at all.

Personally: My mother taught me at a young age that if you didn't have anything nice to say, then it's best not to say anything at all.
No one wants to hear your opinions. They want your support. You should just let the phpBB team members give the support if you have none.

[Kailey]

In before it gets too heated. @Everyone, please make sure you are being respectful in your posting. This includes the side comments about posting style of one user or another.

After that, I felt sad about phpBB. I know, there are extensions. Yes, there are. But many are unofficial, many have been abandoned, and many will be. Not all are compatible with PHP 8, and some are horrible in terms of performance

From a personal perspective, I only care about 1 or 2 of those. Every person is different in their tastes of what the software should be and what the software shouldn't be. This is the value of the extensions system. And while it's true that many have been abandoned, there are plenty out there if you know where to look. For me, I'm fortunate enough that I can download an extension and examine the code to see if there are any issues with it. Those validated here go through a validation process that catches most issues. Failing those two options, I will write some myself if I ever really want a feature not available elsewhere.

[warmweer]

Yes, there are. But many are unofficial, many have been abandoned, and many will be. Not all are compatible with PHP 8, and some are horrible in terms of performance (e.g., Medal mod, old Karma mod in phpBB 3.0). There will be no updates for many of them, and you'll lose some data, even if you find an alternative. The modding community has gotten smaller every year.

Mods were for phpBB 3.0 (and earlier)
Those usually don't function with phpBB > 3.0 due to a lot, and I mean a really lot) of code changes + they were created and tested using the then available PHP versions

As to extensions, almost all validated extensions for phpBB 3.3 function with PHP 8, in fact PHP 8 is sometimes even a minimum requirement

[SuperFedya]

Bah, not easy to answer on smartphone without the quick reply and quote selected

6 of the mentioned functions exist here.
I know there are a few extensions for those.

Maybe, but it's not the same as the built-in extensions in the term of updates, support or performance.
I remember the Karma mod, it loads my mysql db 40x times more than all other queries and when I migrated to another solution I lose my karma mod's data...

With phpbb4, you can say goodbay to a half of the extersion, or hire the developer to migrate them...

I visited the Reef2Reef forum

It takes a lot of nerve to compare here a free solution (phpBB) and a paid solution (xenForo)!

I'll pay 200$ for the phpBB Premium. With the user, post, topic rating, advanced SEO, tags, normal text editor and other modern features.

In the time of phpbb2, it was comparable to paying boars software with the very big and active community.

I spent a lot of time simplifying the mobile format of phpBB to make it more streamlined; maybe the new template will do much the same?

I bought a premius template for phpbb. It was well optimised for mobile and with the switch to light/dark colors (night mode).

About "phpBB is incredibly fast" - yes, but the extension can slow it down a lot. Noboty test them on the big and active boards.

Yet you (still) don't know how to use the list BBCode?

bbcode was very good for 2002.

[warmweer]

Bah, not easy to answer on smartphone without the quick reply and quote selected

Noone's forcing anyone to use a smartphone.
Frankly speaking I consider anything smaller than a tablet only suited for SMS_like replies anyway.