What is the best free message board system in the market?

[remy_xo]

Ok so I got my internet forum all setup with SMF. thanks guys. But now I want to build a main page blog. Where can I get a blog that can embed youtube vids right on the posts?

just as seen here

http://www.japanprobe.com/


I didnt want to make another thread so I just edited my oringal post. The replies you see here are from a question of which internet board is the best. T

thanks.

[remy_xo]

ok i just started using SMF. Looks decent. Does phpbb offer more?

[Josh]

They are both popular and well maintained scripts, so I don't think it would be right for me to say chose this over that ;) but..

You should look into the features list and see what ticks the boxes you/your site personally needs - For example you said are wanting a high search engine ranking, so may be check out the mods and add-ons available for search engine optimization etc.

Good luck

[Andan]

SMF is touted as being more "secure and reliable" than phpBB, but most of that is based on phpBB's past performance and does not reflect the new release of phpBB3.

I'm not sure what you mean by a BBS generating "search engine traffic". Perhaps you can elaborate?


I've used both SMF and phpBB in the past. I find that SMF and phpBB3 have similar features, but SMF lacks a wide community base and only provides a limited number of custom styles and skins. SMF's control panel is more straightforward and isn't as confusing as phpBB3's permissions panel.

I suggest trying out both of them so you can gauge for yourself.

[modernerasmus]

I've never tried SMF, but am very please with what phpBB3 offers, and I've just upgraded it to the latest phpBB3 Gold release. The huge user base behind phpBB is a real plus when you post questions on the support forum.

Here's a comparison chart between different forums:
http://www.phpbb.com/about/features/compare.php?sid=50fbde8fccf0e81806d42a97beecf386

Off course it's biased, since it's based on phpBB Development team's point of vue.

[Andan]

The comparison chart is actually quite out of date. I think the last time it was really overhauled and updated with the correct information was sometime last year (not counting the minor info update for the phpbb3 release).

If you need some help with phpBB3, I can offer what I know (via PM) since I have been running phpBB3 since the beta 1 release.

[jdrobinson]

If I were you I'd simply install Wordpress and download a plugin to enable you to embed YouTube vids, that way.

This should be what you're looking for: http://www.viper007bond.com/wordpress-plugins/vipers-video-quicktags/

[dvdriot]

Wordpress is a little complicated for one just wanting to setup a message board. True phpbb is free and they seemed to have tightened up there security. In the past they were well known for hacks and exploits largely because it was free. It may be improved but I still think they have a few things they need to tighten up. Free is a very good price though, and it has some very good features.

I wouldn't pay $100+ for vbull per year for a small site. It's just not worth it or rasonable. There are plenty of freebee's out there. Honestly I'm not sure why vbull thinks they are worth $100 per year. It's decent, but not sure $100 per year. I mean come on microsoft don't get that much, more like $100-$150 every 3-5 years for a complete os. So a simple little linux based mysql driven/php forum at $100 per year is a little crazy in my opinion. Stick to the free ones unless you are into a money making business like cirtex. If it's for fun hell yeah than free is the route to go.

dvdriot

[Illbethere]

My favorite forum software is phpBB. PhpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customizable Open Source bulletin board package (quote taken right from their web site). I found phpBB easy to install, stable and you can't argue with the price, it's free! There is a very active user community and it's easy to find add ons and customizations.
If you haven't got much time, and want to see what the new phpbb3 can offer, just try it out on this host : free forum hosting (http://www.forumotion.com)

[Cirtex Admin]

http://punbb.org/ = a favorite of mine :)