What is your favourite and least favourite forum software and why?

Exactly what the question says, which forum software could you not go without, and which do you think is just not something you like whatsoever?

For me, I'd say for the first question, my favourite is vBulletin (although most well known forum scripts are at least adequate in my opinion). I just couldn't go without the features and the modifications you can get for it. Heck, I can't even say why I like the software, possibly due to using it for multiple years and having memorised where every admin and end user feature is located.

For the least favourite software, it's probably either Vanilla, or a feature basic piece of software like BB Press. I just can't use a forum which doesn't have things like a quick reply, BB code, smilies or private messaging, and for Vanilla in particular, the layout just confuses me (I don't mind recent/good topics and categories though, Sitepoint's forum index is an example of that I can stand using and that I find useful).

 

I haven't tried every forum package out there, but right now VB is also my current favorite. Least favorite? I dunno, maybe SMF. I don't think Vanilla is bad, just... simple. If it isn't the main focus of a site I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

 

phpbb, fireboard, postnuke forum

phpbb - do you really need to ask?

fireboard - because its jooomla

postnuke forum - crashed one of my old sites too many times, confusing permissions, and its one of the main reasons why I stopped using postnuke.

 

Any Nuke derivative deserves a hall of fame award for raw, unfettered crap. Calling it software is an insult to anything else described in this thread so far.

Fireboard and Joomla at least have a lot of eyes behind them, the same with phpBB. Their structure may be less than stellar, but they are light-years ahead of PHP Nuke and its retarded offspring.

Vanilla and BBPress are often panned but it's important to realize that they serve a specialized role - they are meant to be a part of something larger, and cater to a less savvy audience. Vanilla in particular is currently the fastest of all forum software packages - even faster than Drupal.

PunBB was a major disappointment for me on those lines - slower than Drupal, slower than Vanilla, its not-so-graceful speed degradation as you add plugins is a major drawback.

MyBB is still rather 'eh' for me. I don't mind learning it, there are some neat features, but it really is not all that. SMF is in a similar boat, but it's much easier to manage.

Still, though, I have a harder and harder time getting over just how sleek Drupal is. It's a piece of art in the php world, at least. It outperforms just about everything and outfeatures nearly everything as well. Thinking I may convert my non-Elliquiy sites to it, the more I work with them, anyway.

 

Favorite: vBulletin
Least favorite: phpBB.

 

I have to say I love vB and MyBB. It's no secret that I don't like SMF.

 

I love vb - i do not start a website unless it is with vbulletin.

I hate phpbb - and refuse to join websites that use it because it's been done - almost every site whose admin is not 100% committed or something it just turns me off.

 

vBulletin is, of course, my forum script of choice.

Feature and flexibility-wise, it's absolutely marvelous. I find that it's one of the only scripts that I can use "out of the box", so to speak (along with IP.Board) - there is really no need for the installation of any sort of plugin(s) and/or modification(s) immediately, seeing as it's feature-rich by default. Because of this, I've always found that building a community up from nothing is much easier and less time consuming. You have more time to play and less need to work while using vBulletin.

As for my least favorite script...

It's phpBB. I wasn't fond of 2.x.x and I'm sure as hell not a fan of 3.x.x. I've begun to notice a pattern - while 2.x.x was quite feature-less, 3.x.x is overloaded with features... many of which are useless and, in reality, serve no meaningful purpose. The tabbed administrative interface is a nice improvement from the former, but due to its bloated feature set, one cannot navigate as smoothly as he/she should be able to.

I must admit that I don't care for the right-sided postbit, either.

 

I used phpBB in the past. It's okay, but I prefer vBulletin for any forum that is serious.

 

^ This.

 

Favorite paid: vBulletin
Favorite free: iKonBoard 1.0 (haven't seen one I like since)
Least paid: IPB
Least free: phpbb (all)

 

Ikonboard certainly goes unnoticed sadly.

My favourite Paid: vBulletin
Favourite Free: Ikonboard
Least Favourite Paid: IPB as I dont know of any other paid other than IPB and VB)
Least Favourite Free: Phpbb

 

Oh there's quite a few paid forums. I've got a FusionBB, WebWiz Forum, and a Jive Forum. I still like vB because of the mods available. Not to mention the themes.

 

Favorite Paid: vBulletin

Favorite Free: I have no idea. I don't really like the well known free ones. Maybe Ikonboard, I'd forgotten about it :p E-Blah was quite nice aswell I thought.

Least Paid: WowBB

Least Free: SMF

 

Ill have to check them out

 

I should differentiate my choices like you guys are doing now.

Favorite paid: vBulletin
Least favorite paid: Haven't tried anything other than IPB, so: N/A

Favorite free: MyBB
Least favorite free: phpBB

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I'm going to have to look into iKonBoard.

 

Looks like IPB 2.3? http://forums.ikonboard.com/

 

Indeed, it does - quite similar to IP.Board's 2.x.x series.

 

Omg, I just noticed all the icons at the bottom, so annoying!

 

My favorite is IPB. It's such a perfect forum software in so many ways.

My least favorite would be SMF. People say it should be an easy forum to use but I think it's just a mess.