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How to choose a board - guide

The Red Guy

The Red Guy

Dork
NLC
Due to the fact that so many people has asked about how good a board is (not remotely hosted), I've decided to compile a list of steps in evaluating the various bbs.


The larger step nos are of higher priority:

1) The top priority is features. No one needs a board without anything and boring. That's why vBulletin is the leader with innovative functions in every version. However, you should take note that some functions are not needed and you should judge for yourself.

BBs that excel = vBulletin, PHPBB 2, InvisionBoard (The future looks promising)
BBs that fail = MiniBB


2) One of the most important is perhaps the coding (backend). It decides the speed of the script execution time and gives the visitors/members a better experience because of the fast page loading. Typically, CGI bbs takes more time to load as compared to PHP boards. Make a comparison between an Ikonboard (http://forums.ikonboard.com/) forum and an Invision Board (http://www.invisionboard.com/forums) forum. Besides, php allows the use of GZIP which decreases bandwidth usage and the page loading time. As for PHPBB2, it is average in speed but with a hack template caching, it does optimize the speed significantly. Or else, with out the hack, it is considered to be slow.

BBs that excel = Woltlab Burning Board 2 (WBB2), OpenBB 1, InvisionBoard, vBulletin, MiniBB
BBs that fail = Ikonboard v3, Woltlab Burning Board 1.x (WBB 1), YaBB

Note: As compared to XMB (http://www.xmbforum.com/), MyBBoard (http://www.mybboard.com/) or DevBB is faster than the former due to changes in the coding. The original developers of XMB Forums finished up the work of MyBBoard and it proved to be better. However, MyBBoard is not fast enough to be considered among the best.


3) Bandwidth usage - no one likes a resource hog similar to Ikonboard and it really slows down the board.

BBs that excel = Invision Board, PHPBB 2, MiniBB
BBs that fail = Ikonboard, YaBB


4) Design factor – The templates play a significant role in choosing the perfect board too. A good design leaves a good impression for your site on visitors. Navigation is very important though.

There is no nice BBS. Everyone has he/her own taste. The only factor is whether the screen is cluttered with information or simple and easy to use.

Notes: It is simply the least important and should not be the influencing part in choosing the ideal board.


5) Admin Control Panel – A good admin control panel has to be detailed and is easy to use. Easy enough to understand?

BBs that excel = vBulletin, Invision Board
BBs that fail = PHPBB 2, XMB & MyBBoard (easy to use but not detailed enough), MyBBoard, WBB 2, Snitz


6) Support Community - The best thing is to have a great support team just in case something goes wrong.


Finally: The above guide is never complete, and thus should you feel that it is missing something, do not hesitate to post here.


Good BBS (According to me) - Free - Invision Board, PHPBB 2 | Paid - vBulletin(It is a paid board and therefore if you have the cash for it, buy it!)

Special Thanks to conkermaniac and trenzterra
 
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WBB 1 does fail in terms of backend, biggulp.

I noticed how you put vBulletin in every "good" category. I think you should probably just replace vB. You may be confusing some users by adding in vB, which is a paid board, to the list. But perhaps you may want to put a little *NOTE* tag at the bottom saying "If you want all the best features in a board, go paid and purchase vBulletin".

As for this next comment I am making, I am not suggesting that you change it. I'm just giving out my opinion. So don't flame me for this. :p

The admin panel is not really that important to the success of a message board. I would not mind it that much if I had to struggle a bit in customizing the board, as long as my users can use the board easily. Of course, I wouldn't want a board with the most pathetic and unusable admin panel, but I must say that not a single one on the "Boards that Fail" list for this category really "fail" in my opinion. You would have to look towards a WWWBoard for that. :biggrin2: Anyway, do not underestimate the design factor. No, I do not think that flourishes and other "cosmetic" designs are important at all in deciding a board. However, I do feel that the board has to be easy to navigate, as well as be convienient to use. That may be a totally separate category of its own, however. Anyway, just my $0.02.

I also think these boards should be added:
http://www.minibb.net/ (fast and uses little transfer; poor design)
http://forum.snitz.com/ (this board has only a bad~average admin panel [adding moderators takes forever], but it's still worse than every board you have listed there)
 
Originally posted by Archbob
Everyone seems to like Vb.
Click to expand...

I like it too, except I don't exactly agree that it "excels" in the category of low bandwidth usage. There are far better ones out there. However, in terms of looks, features, and admin panel, nothing can even compare with vB.
 
Of course VB will take alot of resources and bandwidth. There is a strong positive correlation between features and resources/bandwidth usage.
 
Originally posted by Archbob
Of course VB will take alot of resources and bandwidth. There is a strong positive correlation between features and resources/bandwidth usage.
Click to expand...

Exactly...which is why I disagree that vB should be put into the "excels" category for resources usage.
 
Originally posted by The Red Guy
I didn't put them as bandwidth hogs?!
Click to expand...

I think he wants you to add them? :confused:

Anyway, just one thing to point out...The design, like you said earlier, is one of the least important pieces of your board. I actually absolutely agree. The only thing that really matters is ease of navigation/use. Just a minor little problem to point out. ;)

I like the addition of the support community. It is definitely something to consider when choosing a board. In choosing a board with poor support, you may encounter threatening bugs that might never be solved. Or if you have a problem, you can't depend on them to answer your questions. Great idea! :biggrin2:
 
Originally posted by The Red Guy
I didn't put them as bandwidth hogs?!
Click to expand...
sorry about it, but then I suggest the easy to use admin cp should be listed.

and as in my post above, choosing also depends on what features you want.
 
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