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View Full Version : vbulletin, Invision, or phpbb?

timekeeper
August 2nd, 2004, 12:57 PM
A common debate has been on for a while in the bbworld, lets hear your opinion, on whether vBulletin, Invision Power Board, or PHPBB is more popular and why?



(Blah, and this is on a vbulletin fan site, ;P)
Floris
August 30th, 2004, 05:08 PM
phpBB is free, but the community is cocky. I don't like that.

I am quite pleased with the support, quality and professionalism of vBulletin.

And : big-boards.com shows that majority is powered by vBulletin, that has to mean something.
Kedirenffet
March 3rd, 2009, 05:06 PM
PHPBB3 is the best free forum script you will get

vBulletin is abviously excellent but pricey

MyBB and SMF are also good but arent much customizable and lack some essential features
Demo : free forum (http://www.forumotion.com)
Ricks937
March 4th, 2009, 10:17 AM
VB>phpbb3>ipb>phpbb2>sending a letter to someone via USPS>SMF ;)
imported_Abizaga
March 10th, 2009, 06:53 PM
PHPBB3 is the best free forum script you will get

vBulletin is abviously excellent but pricey

MyBB and SMF are also good but arent much customizable and lack some essential features
Demo : free forum (http://www.forumotion.com)
No it isn't, I think SMF is better. I go for vB.
coder
March 21st, 2009, 09:06 PM
vBulletin no more :) you will feel the diffrant if you use other
Tanax
April 29th, 2009, 08:26 PM
I have to agree that it's quite ironic to post this on a vB fansite.
I haven't got any personal experience in running a vBulletin forum, however I've been both administrator and moderator on several forums, and I have to say that I love the way vBulletin handles everything.

Things I dislike about IPB is their hostility on their support forums when talking about other forum softwares. There were a big discussion on vBulletin.com about which board was best, and even staff contributed with posts. On invisionpower the thread got deleted within some days. I even heard that the user who posted it got banned - not sure though.

Think about it this way, which forum software do YOU like most? I love the fact that you can softdelete posts/threads/visitormsg/blogcomments/etc in vBulletin, while in IPB you have to have a ..junkforum for all deleted posts and threads. Not sure how it works in IPB 3.x though, but yeah. I'm a vB'er, and will probably always be. You, however, should try the demos and see which one you like.
schwab2clarkson
May 3rd, 2009, 11:49 AM
Firstly, if you don't have a credit card then Invision and phpbb are just fine for you. However, there are some flaws with Invision and phpbb. Some of the features aren't allowed to be put up, things like banners and any graphics you might want to have.
Also you can't put up other skins that you might want without it stuffing up the forum's interface.

Secondly, vBulletin is awesome. I would recommend it to anyone. Yes you do need to have and ftp client to use to upload the package on to your pc.
Yes it is expensive, so choose wisely. However, the guys on there are all very helpful.
Floris, who is an admin on here, is one guy who you can talk to on vBulletin.com. He offers a lot of great advice. He's not shy to come out and say what he does.
You want to be able to put up banners and other graphics and do a lot more with your communities so I recommend you use vBulletin.com
Baba Wawa
May 6th, 2009, 08:00 PM
I started out with phpbb3 but found that I needed a lot of support. Support is available only from a volunteer community. You're likely to get it, but you can never be sure and you'll never know when.

So that made me look into commercial forum software, so that I could be sure of getting the support that I needed. I'm used to IPB because I've been a member at an IPB board for more than ten years. And I much prefer the IPB layout to vB's. So I was strongly inclined to purchase the IPB package.

Ultimately, though, I decided to go with vBulletin for two reasons. First, IPB's support forum is completely closed to non-owners. You can't even ask a pre-sales question - you have to submit a ticket even for that. This is in stark contrast to vB's much more open policy, and a big turn-off for me. Second, vBulletin has a much more active support and innovation community than IPB. There's just more going on where vB. is concerned. That made me think that vBulletin is the place to be.
Floris
May 7th, 2009, 12:47 PM
Hey Baba, thanks for posting. And for your input on this. Yeah, the thread is a bit old, but it's a valid topic. I've re-opened the thread for now :) Glad to see you've picked vBulletin.
fos
May 13th, 2009, 11:33 PM
phpbb is a good system. As others have mentioned, their support forum is not the friendliest in the business. SMF is also a good system with better support IMHO. I have used both with success.

If you want the best quality, reliable security updates, and customer service - go with vBulletin. I have been using it for two years. It minimizes problems.

Jeff
schwab2clarkson
June 21st, 2009, 06:55 AM
phpbb is a good system. As others have mentioned, their support forum is not the friendliest in the business. SMF is also a good system with better support IMHO. I have used both with success.

If you want the best quality, reliable security updates, and customer service - go with vBulletin. I have been using it for two years. It minimizes problems.

Jeff
Can be great for you. However, as what you have said stay well clear of their cocky support forums.

IPB support forums are awesome.
poolking
June 22nd, 2009, 10:30 AM
Can be great for you. However, as what you have said stay well clear of their cocky support forums.

IPB support forums are awesome.

Who's support forums are you referring to as being cocky?
Mikey
June 22nd, 2009, 03:28 PM
PHPBB I'd think.
schwab2clarkson
June 24th, 2009, 04:58 AM
Who's support forums are you referring to as being cocky?
PHPBB they are as cocky as anything and do nothing.
Kedirenffet
August 13th, 2009, 04:04 PM
In my experience i would have to say PHPBB is possibly the best. Its free, and open-source!
Demo : free forums (http://www.forumotion.com)
poolking
August 13th, 2009, 08:01 PM
In my experience i would have to say PHPBB is possibly the best. Its free, and open-source!
Demo : free forums (http://www.forumotion.com)

Have you used vbulletin and invision to come to that conclusion?
fos
August 27th, 2009, 01:19 AM
I have had two vBulletin licenses for several years. It is the best forum software. Period.

However, I recentlhy purchased Invision Power Board with a license for CCS for experimentation. It is also good but not quite up to vBulletin. It is gaining. The support forum is OK but not nearly as good as vBulletin.

I first used phpbb. After suffering their adversarial support forum and a couple of hackers, I purchased vBulletin. I have never regretted the purchase. I am looking forward to the upcomming vB 4. I am hoping the CMS is worth the wait. I expect it will be.

I use SMF on a couple of simple sites. It runs well. The SMF support forum is good enough. It is a very pleasing package. I recommend it over phpbb.

If you need a robust, solid, and flexible forum system, vBulletin is still the best.

Jeff
vBSeller
January 27th, 2010, 01:44 AM
pHPBB : Free n Popular, Lots of Support and Skins
SMF : SEcured but low on customization
MyBB : vB Nearest Clone , my Fav Free Option.
vB : The God.
Cole
February 9th, 2010, 10:52 PM
Insofar as recent release cycles, vBulletin has fallen behind in terms of usability and features as compared to Invision Power Board. vB3 was an excellent piece of software, but alas, vBulletin 4 is severely lacking in quality and features. This failure can be attributed to the management failures of Internet Brands.

As far as free options go, I like MyBB the best.
ChopSuey
February 12th, 2010, 08:56 AM
Got to love vBulletin man :D vBulletin forever no matter the version.