im currently in a bit of an argument with someone on another forum, about someone elses forum (it happens to be a competitor of mine, but im sticking up for them anyway cause they dont deserve the flaming their forum is getting). this member says that its obvious that their forum will never be successful cause they dont like the software they use, and the other 4 forums they were on with that software werent very good. (they havent noticed that the forum they are talking about is pretty successful, and has more posts than their own forum) personally i think that the software isnt what makes a forum good, its the admin and members, and any forum has the opportunity to be successful, as long as it is easy to use, has good layout, good moderation and active members.
I'm not sure it matters to anyone but geeks. To be honest I'm less apt to sign up for a forum if it's not vBulletin or (lately) IPB not for any reason other then I'm really familiar the software and feel more comfortable navigating around. I do avoid a couple of forum software packages like the plague only because they make no sense to me at all; Navigation is difficult, layouts are ugly no matter what style the webmaster has installed, etc.
Software matters only inasmuch as people get used to one or the other, and will find those easier to use. Many people using SMF find phpBB and vBulletin difficult, for example. You are in general right - the skill and drive of the administrator and their staff have far more to do with the success of their site.
I don't think the software matters much, as do the admins running the forum. I am like Dan though, that it seems I only sign up on a forum if it's vbulletin..lol
I'm the same way, LOL Well I was, not anymore seeing as I run IPB 3 now. But here's why I always used vBulletin and still prefer to over most IPB boards out there. It's the FONT-SIZE and FONT STYLE used with IPB. They use the horrible "Arial Font" and it's too small by default unless you have near on perfect vision. That's what always put me off IPB Forums, I just can't cope with the small font size mainly. And was the reason why after I installed IPB 3 myself, the first thing I did was use the very same vBulletin Font Family (Verdana) for my IPB Forum as well. It's so much more readable and appealing with people to read and use. Even Charles from IPB commented to me that he loves the font I'm using on my forum, and is now thinking about having words with Ricky to maybe possibly change or increase the size up one pixel point in IPB 3.1 later. As far as posting goes, I think IPB 3 is miles better than vBulletin using the more advanced Ajax posting features. It's faster to post, edit, and just better in general that way I'm finding out.
I find some of the comments amusing because if the software choice is not that important.Then why use software that cost you a couple hundreds of dollars to use when there are many that are free? Have you tried running bbpress as your forum? I went through 4 different forum software to find the one I liked to run with.Yes I did have bbpress forum and it is a minimalist set up.After having used other much more featured forums used,there was no way I was ever going to like bbpress. I am not saying it is junk,but it is not going to survive in comparison with SMF,myBB,vBULLETIN and so on. Thus it IS the forum software YOU chose that meets YOUR needs as Vekseid has made clear why he uses SMF for one of his forums.It meets his needs. I like myBB more because it is using updated software set up and will leave phpBB3 and SMF in the dust in the future since those two are way out of date.SMF 2.0 is already out of date. You WILL have no choice but abandon SMF,phpBB3 and other "OLD" forum software that fails to update with modern features.They will look like dinosaurs in comparison with myBB,Drupal,vBULLETIN,IPB and other software that fully updates their set up in the next complete new version. A good forum software will thrive under able Administration.
It depends on whether the people visit a lot of forums or not. phpbb forum - chances are I will not register. smf - yea, I'll register mybb - I will register vbulletin - yea, I will register ipb - yes But I see something like a webwiz forum, I doubt I will register.
That was my stance for a long time. People will see many other versions of software on forums in the future, and presumably become more adept at other popular software. I hope. : )
