Ok in the past I have used phpbb (deffinatly like the fact that its free) and Ive used vBulletin (not free bu very secure lots of option)

anyway I am trying to figure out what others have used and the pros and cons they have found with them and there aproximate costs thanks

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I will try to relate eWebTalk's experience as we have used IPB and vB We haven't used phpbb but i will give my personal opinion as the end user:

phpbb ->
Cons: if your forum is a commercial area, phpbb sends a bad message as its overall features and look send an unprofessional message. Especially the message of it being free. Now i've seen successfull boards using this but they tend to be more into the fun theme. Insecure!

Pros: Free! It also has a huge modification list

IPB (you didn't specify version)

1.3-> Pros: Free! Has a sold modification archive.

Cons->Almost the same as phpbb due to it being free. Sort of insecure. Implementing your own design and coding is a headache..

2+-> Pros: Much more secure than 1.3 and phpbb. Nice overall admin cp.Modification is close to that as of 1.3 Price: is 185 owned, yearly is 69.95 (This seems a lot lower than the last time i checked them)

Cons: IPS (company that makes 1.3 and 2) are still sort of stuck with the reputation from 1.3, but are coming out. Modifications again are a headace, the overall procedure has improved but headache nonetheless

vB->
Pros: Industry standard, all major boards use it. It is secure, fairly easy to modify, both in terms of design as well as coding. Template changes through the control panel are great, especially the way the tools are presented

Cons: Much smaller free modification archive, but still pretty sufficient. Owned license is 160 UDS, leased license for a year is 85 USD

Overall: go with vB, currently it seems to be an allrounder IPB 2.x+ is catching up though

Try going through each of their features, check their control panels

I'm not going to go deep into this with details, as someone beat me too it. However, I will second A.Ah's opinions (generally speaking). I would say vB is at the top as it's a very professional, secure and updated often piece of software. IPB is right behind vB with their new versions, but still lacking the reputation they deserve. IMO, phpBB is garbage and I would never use it.

yall are way to hard on phpbb its only insecure if you dont keep it updated, when you dont update it you are screwed, I learned that the hard way lol. Also you can make it look just as professional as a vb board you just have to know how to manipulate the code and the graphics. I do agree however it is better for fun sites and like family sites. Currantly I use vb and dont plan on switching but I do like to keep my options open. The do get you on costs though, but they are well worth it. You also get really good tech support on the hacks you pay for with vb so that is deffinatly cool. Anyone else use anything different? Thanks for the responses by the way

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That is true what you said about not updating phpbb. For some reason hackers or script kiddies like to target phpbb's "insecurities". I admit I might have been just a little bit harsh with my statement above. I have heard that phpbb support is terrible.

vb is very simple to customize. You can change just about anything you want a little bit of work.

Can you fay fopen() anyone?????

I agree phpbb as far as security is very taxing to stay up to date.

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Increase your traffic

Vbulletin is the best board out there, however, its not free. I use SMF.

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what is smf, can you give me a little more info on them as I have never heard of them, thanks

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SMF (Simple Machine Forum) is a free forum service with very easy to add mods and themes (much easier than PHPBB). It comes pre-installed with Cpanel Fantastic, but you could also download it at www.simplemacines.org this is also the link for the mods and themes, so remember it!

Also SMF has a very convienient admin panel, it too is much more organized than PHPBB.

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