phpbb or SMF?

[bigcaat]

I don't code. I run a phpbb site on one of my domains and have had pretty good luck with it, but anything that needed to be changed: ie: software update, update security, change theme, mail problem (never did get that fixed) I've had to hire someone to do it for me.

I want to start another forum on a new site. I just noticed that, through Fantastico, SMF is available.

Would this be a better option for me? I found a phpbb theme that I like, but will have to get someone to install and customize it for me. I looked for SMF themes, and maybe they have some, but they don't have decent demos of them to be able to tell what they look like.

Any thoughts? Is SMF simpler? Or will I be better off going with phpbb since I already use that on one site?

Oh, yeah. Also, do I need to create a MySQL database before I use Fantastico, or will installing something through there do it for me?

Thanks,
Caat

[charlesgan]

smf use more resource and load slower. thats what i notice.
phpbb will be better. But the best, i recommend vbulletin.

for smf, the installation will be simple. not to worry much on this.

[siguie]

smf use more resource and load slower. thats what i notice.
phpbb will be better. But the best, i recommend vbulletin.

for smf, the installation will be simple. not to worry much on this.
Actually SMF is more resource friendly.

If you don't code then you should not use phpBB here ... if your forum gets even moderately large you'll need to invoke the large forum modifications AND they are moving to phpBB version 3 so you will likely need to do a lot of upgrading soon.

For the least amount of hassles here at BH I recommend SMF installed manually and not with Fantastico (Fantastico can screw things up). I personally think phpBB is superior but it can be too CPU intensive for BH unless you know what you are doing and are willing to make the modifications.

If you don't code at all vbulletin may be a good choice I just think it's rather limiting. You may also want to look at "punbb" ... someone here recommended it as an alternative to phpBB. I think it's rather boring but I hear it's very stable :)

[bigcaat]

Actually SMF is more resource friendly.

If you don't code then you should not use phpBB here ... if your forum gets even moderately large you'll need to invoke the large forum modifications AND they are moving to phpBB version 3 so you will likely need to do a lot of upgrading soon.

For the least amount of hassles here at BH I recommend SMF installed manually and not with Fantastico (Fantastico can screw things up). I personally think phpBB is superior but it can be too CPU intensive for BH unless you know what you are doing and are willing to make the modifications.

If you don't code at all vbulletin may be a good choice I just think it's rather limiting. You may also want to look at "punbb" ... someone here recommended it as an alternative to phpBB. I think it's rather boring but I hear it's very stable :)
Thanks. I had never heard of punbb, so I went looking and found this:


If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, and feel sufficiently experienced with PHP/SQL, look towards PunBB.

If you consider yourself less experienced, or just want something more full-featured out of the box and an easier modding/upgrade procedure, check out Simple Machines
http://shsc.info/ForumSoftwareGuide#titelanker5

They detest phpbb. I think I'll go with SMF. Thanks for your input.

Caat

[charlesgan]

Actually SMF is more resource friendly.

If you don't code then you should not use phpBB here ... if your forum gets even moderately large you'll need to invoke the large forum modifications AND they are moving to phpBB version 3 so you will likely need to do a lot of upgrading soon.

For the least amount of hassles here at BH I recommend SMF installed manually and not with Fantastico (Fantastico can screw things up). I personally think phpBB is superior but it can be too CPU intensive for BH unless you know what you are doing and are willing to make the modifications.

If you don't code at all vbulletin may be a good choice I just think it's rather limiting. You may also want to look at "punbb" ... someone here recommended it as an alternative to phpBB. I think it's rather boring but I hear it's very stable :)

thanks for the comprehensive comment.
i will still stick to vbulletin :D

[saosangmo]

i vote for SMF

[Crazykid]

I vote for smf. Adding modifications is as easy as going to www.simplemachines.org. You find your choice fo modification, and download it. Then use the package uploader to upload it and install it hands off. If it encounters a problem and needs manual edits, you can read the xml file in notepade and it will show you anything that needs to be done. Plus there are hundreds of modifications. arcades, myspace profile mods, chess mods, shop mods. Many many more mods too.

Plus, I find it to be so much easier to admin than phpbb, and so much more flexible than Vbulletin. Phpbb is too basic for me, and modding it is hard. Vbulletin is hard to mod to, but I guess it all comes down to preference. So find whichever you like and try it out :).

[JoeP]

1) smf has a built in event calendar tied into the forum.
2) I found smf easy to integrate into the rest of my site.
3) SSI functions make it easy to put info from the forum in other location on your site.

my 2cents and probably worth half that :o
joe

[WHJunkie]

SMF is good for newbies, it does not require any advance skills in coding, phpBB should use for big site with high load, otherwise, owner must have some coding skills (HTML and PHP).

[boelter]

I have always been a big fan of SMF it has a better admin pannel and there are hondreds of scripts out there to modify it. However its easier to change the look and feel of phpbb

[mr.vixus]

i vote to PHPBB because it is simple easy to customize and modify and i like it's template system

[Daryl Fawcett]

I uploaded SMF, however, I am receiving the following 500 Internal Server Error:


Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@christians-discuss.maritime-sda-online.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Does anybody know why I am receiving this error message?

[Daryl Fawcett]

By the way, I am receiving this error when trying to Install SMF using install.php

[Daryl Fawcett]

I also checked my error log, which shows the following:


[Sun Mar 23 08:58:09 2008] [error] [client 142.177.106.39] SoftException in Application.cpp:238: File "/home/maritim5/public_html/christiansdiscuss/forum/install.php" is writeable by group
[Sun Mar 23 08:58:09 2008] [error] [client 142.177.106.39] Premature end of script headers: install.php
[Sun Mar 23 08:58:09 2008] [error] [client 142.177.106.39] File does not exist: /home/maritim5/public_html/christiansdiscuss/500.shtml

[Daryl Fawcett]

I think I solved my own problem, therefore, unless you hear from me again, all is well. :)