Suggest Best Forum Software

[akamit]

I'm interested to launch a forum for a specific local community.

So now looking for the best software. "Best software" I'm referring to the "Most Secure" and have tons of "Features".

Not sure if it is the right board to discuss. Let me know the right board if it is wrong.

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[Vod]

I'm interested to launch a forum for a specific local community.

So now looking for the best software. "Best software" I'm referring to the "Most Secure" and have tons of "Features"..

You should start out by listing the features you want...

[akamit]

You should start out by listing the features you want...

Not sure about the features yet, but a good list of features available with the software may work out.

[Rickeo]

If you're looking for personal recommendations (which from your thread I'm guessing you are)

Mine would be:

Free: MyBB however if you have any development experience and coding knowledge then Vanilla may be a good bet.
PHPBB is pretty much dead and always turns into a spam fest, SMF seems lagging so far behind so yea, others aren't really noteworthy; by that I mean you're going to want to go with a popular/most used one for the best support, especially if you're development experience is dusty.

Paid: XenForo or for a very large scale community IPB, I used to love vBulletin back in the days but with the release of 5 it went down hill in my opinion BUT they're great for support too and for larger communities, so depending on what features you're looking for, either of those may be a good bet.

[Vod]

If you planning to customize the forum, pick one programmed in a language you know.  

I second IPB, or Epochtalk, which is free.

[anu1908]

if you're interested in beta-testing the future forum software, then i'd suggest you to try epochtalk.

i personally like mybb too, but i think epochtalk is more elegant (if that works perfectly). anyway you can try and test several software on your local server and then decide which one is the best for your interest later on.

[aioc]

If you planning to customize the forum, pick one programmed in a language you know.  

I second IPB, or Epochtalk, which is free.

First time I read about epochtalk, but I am more convenient using smf because of my familiarity with this kind of software, I am a member of three forums that uses SMF and I find it very interesting and you can add a lot of features just like what Bitcointalk is doing.

[AB de Royse777]

~snip~

First time I read about epochtalk, but I am more convenient using smf because of my familiarity with this kind of software, I am a member of three forums that uses SMF and I find it very interesting and you can add a lot of features just like what Bitcointalk is doing.

and @akamit
Then start with SMF. Play with the admin panel. They have free themes. Install them. They have free modules. Add edit the features. If you don't find it satisfactory then try one that was suggested by users above.

[akamit]

Free: MyBB however if you have any development experience and coding knowledge then Vanilla may be a good bet.
PHPBB is pretty much dead and always turns into a spam fest, SMF seems lagging so far behind so yea, others aren't really noteworthy; by that I mean you're going to want to go with a popular/most used one for the best support, especially if you're development experience is dusty.

Paid: XenForo or for a very large scale community IPB, I used to love vBulletin back in the days but with the release of 5 it went down hill in my opinion BUT they're great for support too and for larger communities, so depending on what features you're looking for, either of those may be a good bet.

Thanks for pointing out all the free & paid forums for me to check. I really didn't know about XenForo and IPB.

I second IPB, or Epochtalk, which is free.

I checked IPB and they are expensive if I choose cloud, and if I choose on-premise then their support is limited. But indeed the software is a quality thing.
Can you give 1-2 reference forum which is using Epochtalk? Is it still in development or it is offering the final product?

if you're interested in beta-testing the future forum software, then i'd suggest you to try epochtalk.

i personally like mybb too, but i think epochtalk is more elegant (if that works perfectly). anyway you can try and test several software on your local server and then decide which one is the best for your interest later on.

Not sure about beta-testing.
To test several software will be costly if I finally decide to go for paid ones, but it can be done with the free ones.

First time I read about epochtalk, but I am more convenient using smf because of my familiarity with this kind of software, I am a member of three forums that uses SMF and I find it very interesting and you can add a lot of features just like what Bitcointalk is doing.

I'm also much convenient using smf but I don't want to develop a forum with this software.
There are actually two reasons: (1) users accounts are vulnerable (2) I heard the software has not been updated for the last few years, not 100% sure though.

@akamit
Then start with SMF. Play with the admin panel. They have free themes. Install them. They have free modules. Add edit the features. If you don't find it satisfactory then try one that was suggested by users above.

Once I tested smf to understand how backends work. I like the core theme of smf, which is bitcointalk using but with some edits on design maybe. Still not sure which software to use

[LeGaulois]

SMF hasn't been updated since 2011. But I like it still, nobody @Rickeo mentioned VBulletin but it's one I don't like. Tons of features, finally you use the forum for something else than discussing with people.

Can you give 1-2 reference forum which is using Epochtalk?

https://cryptos-currencies.com/

[LTU_btc]

SMF hasn't been updated since 2011.

Are you sure about that? SMF 2.0 was released in 2011, but it's still being update, latest release of it was in the end  of 2017.
I don't know much about other softwares than SMF. Probably 95% of forums that I'm using use SMF. And even most of new forums that I know choose to use SMF. I think it wouldn't be choice to start with.
@akamit, why you are saying that user accounts is vulnerable on SMF? Is it related to 2FA or something else? Because I haven't heard about big SMF security issues other than no 2FA on Bitcointalk.

[akamit]

Can you give 1-2 reference forum which is using Epochtalk?

https://cryptos-currencies.com/

Thanks for the reference site. The design doesn't look good to me, maybe its a default design of Epochtalk.

Is there any option to change the theme, do you know anything about it?

@akamit, why you are saying that user accounts is vulnerable on SMF? Is it related to 2FA or something else? Because I haven't heard about big SMF security issues other than no 2FA on Bitcointalk.

I said "user accounts are vulnerable" on the basis of how Bitcointalk accounts get hacked, including my one. But I like SMF because it is beginner friendly when I once installed it to check how it works.

[TryNinja]

Thanks for the reference site. The design doesn't look good to me, maybe its a default design of Epochtalk.

Is there any option to change the theme, do you know anything about it?

There will be other themes (e.g: a dark mode), but I think only the color schemes will change. The structure of the forum will be the same.

[akamit]

There will be other themes (e.g: a dark mode), but I think only the color schemes will change. The structure of the forum will be the same.

The color scheme won't change much of the look, but also the structure of the forum is much important. The current structure looks very simple to me, and also the functionality.

[Aero Blue]

Here is a pretty good article that I think you would like: https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/best-forum-software

I made a list with some short descriptions for anyone who wants to get a quick idea of what they are looking for:

1. phpBB: (flexible, good themes)

2. MyBB:(functionality, modern style and support)

3. WordPress:(Multipurpose, great community)

4. Joomla:(Control over projects, customization is amazing)

5. Drupal:(Best for functionality, tons of modules, a bit complex)

6. Vanilla:(Expensive but easy to use and extremely modern themes

7. Simple Machines Forum: (Most extensive collection of themes and plugins, stability)

8. FluxBB: (User-friendly, simple, and light)[/li][/list]

9. Codoforum: (Pricey, extremely flexible and good documentation but lots of setups required)

[smyslov]

SMF hasn't been updated since 2011. But I like it still, nobody @Rickeo mentioned VBulletin but it's one I don't like. Tons of features, finally you use the forum for something else than discussing with people.

Can you give 1-2 reference forum which is using Epochtalk?

https://cryptos-currencies.com/

The interface is very simple, but if you really want a good one and you are setting up a forum for cryptocurrency, then SMF is the best option, every crypto supporters can relate, because the number one cryptocurrency forum, Bitcointalk is already using it and people in crypto are very much familiar on it's setting.

[Zemomtum]

You need to look  at the features before deciding which one is the best or not. You look at he user's interface like the text editor, profile customization, private messaging, comment signatures etc. I think phpBB, MyBB, Wordpress, Joomla FluxBB and CodoForum are some of the good peaks you might research on

[Cyrus]

I second IPB, or Epochtalk, which is free.

Glad to see Epochtalk being mentioned here! Though not quite ready for public use, here's an implementation we're using to test out Epochtalk: https://coinbistro.com

The interface is very simple, but if you really want a good one and you are setting up a forum for cryptocurrency, then SMF is the best option, every crypto supporters can relate, because the number one cryptocurrency forum, Bitcointalk is already using it and people in crypto are very much familiar on it's setting.

True, however I predict a lot of forums will start using Epochtalk, for the same reason.
Plus, it's being actively developed, stems from Bitcointalk, and even now is above SMF in a few regards.

[Initscri]

I would highly recommend MyBB if looking for free. I have past experience w/ it (and have developed themes/plugins for it), it's rather intuitive/modifiable.

Premium wise, I'd reco IPB or Xenforo