Which forum software should we use?

We are going to install forums software for Lyceum. The two that I am considering are PunBB and phpBB, mostly because they are the only ones with which I am at all familiar.

There was some discussion on the lyceum-users list a few months back about forum software, beginning here. Folks mentioned a couple other projects: FUDforum, and Vanilla.

Eventually we would like to synchronize the user databases between the forums, the wiki (MediaWiki), and the add-ons repository (Trac), so if any of the forum software packages are particularly good at at that, let us know.

(Another question is, which url should we use?)


Looks like Vanilla has a MediaWiki integration plugin:

http://lussumo.com/addons/?PostBackAction=AddOn&AddOnID=130

intriguing….

I maintain a pretty extensive list of forum software at http://thinkofit.com/webconf/forumsoft.htm.

phpBB is very popular and works well as long as you don’t try to modify the source code. If you want to customize it, it’s a nightmare (or so I’ve heard from those who have tried.)

I don’t have any direct experience with PunBB aside from what I can see perusing the PunBB web site.

Another one that’s worth a look is MiniBB (http://www.minibb.net)

DEFINITELY not phpBB - it’s got such a long history of security issues, doesn’t emit compliant HTML, and worst of all, does not have a working Akismet plugin (running a forum without Akismet these days is nearly impossible, the spam is so bad).

punBB is a great choice and addresses all of the above.

But since this is Lyceum, which forks from WordPress, why not use Mullenweg’s own bbPress? I haven’t tried it myself, but understand that it’s considered production ready now.

Hear hear for bbPress. Would seem to be the obvious choice here, plus you could prototype Lyceum — bbPress integration eh?

I think it is great that you are going add a forum! I don’t care what url you use.

I think that whatever you can integrate with Lyceum and MediaWiki would be best. And if you could possibly share with us how you did the integration that would be greatly appreciated!

Use PunBB, it is a good forums software.

I think pnubb is better.
and the host name is forum.lyceum.ibiblio.org.

I’d second punBB, using forum.lyceum.iniblio.org.

i think this one is great and wonderful. its called my topix i use it for lyceum french support.
http://www.lyceum.fr/support/

download :http://www.jaia-interactive.com/support/

Sorry if I’m getting of topic but a synchronization hack for phpbb and lyceum could attract hundreds of users-developers to this project. See this stupidity called theblogmod.com has 3473 registered users in their community area and hundred sites that using it. If you interested to expand this project a bridge to phpbb and later to vbulletin is the only solution.

drupal: free software, clean code, simple, extensible. http://drupal.org

punBB and forum in the singular it is!

So say we all!

I vote for Vanila. I’m using it on a project and really like its clean skins. It appears to have a good plugin architecture. Lots of plugins in existance already. Good UI is a part of Wordpress and lyceum so your forums should be the same. IMHO bbpress is not ready for prime time.

PunBB is simple and effective. Vanilla is simple & superior. Check out the code. Check out the plugins. Check out the community. Some very useful tools, incl. ‘whispers’.

http://www.lussumo.com

Oh, and there is detailed documentation on WP/Vanilla integration.

Quick note on the forum. My vote is for vanilla.

Its core is (much like Lyceum?) developed by ONE person and
based on a simple philosophy, no crud, a strong secure core,
yet a lot of flexibility through plug-ins.

The community is very active & responsive.
The code really strong.
The interface nice and simple.

Extensive info on Vanilla/WP integration here:
http://lussumo.com/docs/doku.php?id=vanilla:integration:wordpress

Best of all, in 6 months I’ve seen only ONE security update, and
that was one that wasn’t even all that urgent… (don’t get me
started on hacked phpBB, joomla, etc. etc.)

PunBB seems to lack security and a solid devoted team (despite
recent announcements)…

My favorite implementation of a vanilla forum: http://www.yayhooray.com

I’ll echo the security concerns of the others. I usually recommend Phorum though many seem to have an easy go of integrating Vanilla. While I don’t care for it personally, many bloggers seem to find it easier to use than traditional forums. Security being relative to popularity in most cases, it could stand to be a security risk as well in the near future judging by how many people are starting to use it. That’s just speculation on my part though.

Another thing that might be worth taking a peak at is the Wordpress Simple Forum plugin.

Don’t bother with bbPress. It’s simply some of the worst forum software I’ve ever seen.

Regards,

Jason

I know my comment is kind of outdated but for everyone who still needs an answer to this question, what forum software should I use for my website, here’s a helpful link: http://www.iterating.com/productclasses/Forums/comparisonmatrix There are 116 forum software tools listed with reviews and ratings but the most useful thing is that you can compare them using a matrix of features. Good luck with your websites guys!

Actually with PHPBB it is very easy to modify the source code. That is how I learnt PHP. I have a lot of experience with security on it from 5 years ago. There were not more issues than with other forums such as vbulletin. In fact I’m running basically a 5 year old version of PHPBB with the security fixes installed as I had modified it too much to upgrade to newer versions. Even my old version works with nost current mods (including the myspace one). Of course now I would choose a different forum, but it would defintely have to be one based on PHPBB.