The best forum software

As forums are getting more poplar, there are published new software for forums. I plan to start a forum, but there are too many good forum programs, and I don't know what to choose: phpbb, smf, vb, ips.....

What is your favorite program, and why you use it instead of others?

I suppose that this has to do with what you want from your forum software, plus how much do you want to spend.

For example smf and phpbb are open source scripts which means that you have not to pay anything to get them. Of course those scripts come with no gurantee and in many cases you will need to know some coding in order to customize them.

Comparing those two scripts (phpbb & smf)  I finally choosed smf (as you can see in this forum) because it is more proffesionally coded than phpbb (in my eyes) and it is faster than phpbb. Plus I like that it has a better template system, and you can turn off the statistics wich are producing big overhead in the server and are useless in many cases. An other reason for this conclusion is that when I first used phpbb before 6 months for another site, I spend a lot of time to customize it (more than smf) and since then there were 3 critical security updates for this program.

On the other hand paid software like vbulletin and invision board are good because you have 'piece of mind' as for the updates and anything else, plus those paid programs have great styles and graphics, etc. I can't choose one from them as I have never used one of them, and I think that it is useless to start a forum with a paid software, as you can allways change  your software in the future (when your forum will have some success) What i see is that the most webmasters are usig vb so propably is one of the leaders, if not the leader.

Ive never made a forum but I liek phpbb ones.

I like smf. It is free, and it has a lot of feautures.

For the paid ones I prefer VB

I personally use vBulletin, and I usually reccommend it to clients (who ask me to install, administrate, and design their forums).  It's fairly easy to use.  I also have experience with phpBB and UBBthreads, but vBulletin is my absolute favorite :) I'm just used to it, I guess.

Propably you are right, but the license fee is stoping someone who starts off his community

Propably it is ok to start off with an open source forum, and if you see that it is going well you can allways change it, as every forum script have tools to copy the database.

I've been thinking about opening a forum and if I were to I would definitely choose vBulletin, I just like the look and feel of it. I've also heard many good things about it.

I prefer SMF for several reasons:

I have never had a forum that justified me using VB or another paid one.
I found it easier to work with than PhpBB
I have a developer / tester who works for SMF on my Yahoo buddy list
He would probably hunt me down and shoot me if I switched to phpBB

Nah, j/k on the last one! LOL!

There is something bad about SMF that I would like to mention.

They are giving the beta versions of their software only to members that pay, which will may result to make the complete smf software paid, just like IPB done in the past.

Check this page to find out more : http://www.simplemachines.org/charter.php

I didn't knew that xkey.

But I don't think that they will actually do something like that, because if they do, most of their members will switch to something like vb or ipb. I think they are doing that to cut their costs from the project's development.

I don't see why they shouldn't be able to charge a price for their product. I think it is just as good as the other forum software that costs money.

CPG Nuke id best

What is that? I hear it for first time. Can you provide a url or/and some information about it?

Cpg is a CMS that integrates with phpBB. Here is the url : http://www.cpgnuke.com/

I really like IPB 2.4 with some mods like the shop. Really nice and professional.

I love the shop option.  Too bad I am in love with phpbb more.

My board started on Proboards-- free, hosted boards. When it came time to move, I spent days researching. Because I had never spent a dime before, the idea of free software was appealing, although not paramount in my decision making.

I have friends with phpbb's and they have had constant problems with it.
I loved WoWBB but that came to around $15/mos. for everything.

Another main concern was Terms of Service. I run a comedy board. Profanity and sexual suggestion is a given. I couldn't work with a program or company that had tight standards.That ruled out a bunch.

I looked very closely at SMF, Googled it and read independent reviews, liked the format and the terrific, speedy support. So I ultimately chose SMF.

The reason they only allow Charter members to use the current beta version is so that they will have a manageable control group while testing it. Generally, admins who know what they are doing---unlike me. They did the same thing with their current version--offered it to a limited population under beta and then released it publicly to everyone.

Frankly, I would pay for it. Luckily, I don't have to.

Obviously VB, just try the demo.
However, if you are broke like I am, I would go with SMF.

VB, because the Programs written in VB can also use the Windows API, but doing so requires external function declarations.^_^

Hmm, you missed the topic, we are not talking about Visual Basic, but vBulletin which is a forum software :)