Finding the right forum software for your community?

How did you find the software that you use or plan to use for your community? And what made you choose it from the others whether its free or paid?

 

Wober has been on 3 softwares.

1st phpbb then vb then IPB.

I thought vB was the way to go but had I know they were going to be taken over by Internet Brands and all their creidibility was going to go down the toilet, I would have went with IPB from the get-go.
I wanted to go with a premium software because I dont have the time to put in the extra manual labor a free forum (like phpbb) usually requires. Plus I like all the extra bells and whistles that come with a paid alternative.

 

You did good moving over to IPB, its a great piece of software. And yea, I prefer paid forum software as well since you get quality features. (Specially with Xenforo)

 

Nowadays, I just turn straight to MyBB. it's free, it's easy to use and I can mold it to do exactly what I want (no matter how different). Plus, the whole community behind it is awesome.

 

I have to agree with you, I love the community, and MyBB is an excellent piece of software no doubt.

 

My first one I started, I needed something free as I had minimal budget. My host at the time would install phpBB for me. So that's what I went with over ikonboard, Snitz, and yabb. Then once Invision came out I thought it was awesome. It seemed to be more "serious" than phpBB and had Matt Mecham behind it. So I went with it and was pleased. I was always intrigued by vB, but never took the leap.

Started another site using MyBB after doing test installs with MyBB, phpBB 3.0, and SMF. MyBB seemed to be the best fit after looking at the backend and hanging in the company forums a bit. And then I had a friend give me their IPB license that I only had to renew, so I converted the MyBB to IPB because of familiarity and the mess going on with vB at the time.

 

Yea MyBB and IPB are both great forum software, good thing you didn't go with vBulletin. They have gone nowhere but downhill.

 

MyBB was my choice from the beginning because it has just about everything I need. It has a great amounts of modifications, and awesome looking styles. The support is great, and development is fast as always. Look at phpbb, and SMF they haven't been doing anything..

 

Yes MyBB is a great piece of forum software, its free and what does it not have? MyBB over vBulletin anyday

 

I've used MyBB for my past forum projects and it's by far the best free forum software, even though development has slowed to a glacial pace (then again, that's the case with all the free options). I just wanted something different for my new gaming site that would make it stand out, since there are so many gaming sites out there and they all use either vBulletin, IPB, or MyBB. I bought a Xenforo license back when they were on sale for $100 the first day of beta mostly because I'm a forum software geek and wanted to try it out and use it on a project - so I used it for my gaming site I was planning on making.

I think IPB is the best forum option overall right now, but Xenforo has a lot of potential. I like the idea of growing as the software grows, and my members love the streamlined user interface of XF, so I can't wait to see what's in store for the future.