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Comparison of Internet forum software

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This is a comparison of the features of various Internet forum packages.

General Information

Basic general information about the archivers: creator/company, license/price etc.

Creator Current stable version Programming language Cost (USD) License Latest release date
Acmlmboard [1] Jean-François "Acmlm" Lapointe 1.92 PHP Free Keep Credit
aterr [2] Chris Jenkinson 0.9.3 PHP Free GPL 2006-07-02
Beast [3] Josh Goebel and Rick Olson - Ruby Free MIT -
bbPress [4] Automattic 0.73 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-28
Beehive Forum [5] Mark Rendle, Matt Beale 0.7.1 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-13
bttlxeForum [6] Battleaxe Software Ltd. 2.0 ASP Free [7]
Burning Board [8] WoltLab GmbH 2.3.6 PHP $32 Proprietary 2006-10-16
Community Server [9] Telligent Systems 2007 ASP.NET Free (Express Edition), $99 (Personal), $300 (Standard), $1500 (Professional), Enterprise Proprietary 2007-04-16
Deluxe Portal [10] Nomative Systems 2.0.1 PHP Free Proprietary 2007-03-01
Discussion Board [11] Active Data Online 4.0 ASP.NET 2.0 $300 AUD Proprietary 2007-03-21
dnfBB [12] Simon Carter 1.0 C# Free IDPL v1.0 2006-10-23
E-Blah [13] Justin Osborne 10.2.5 Perl Free GPL 2007-03-06
E-Blah SQL [14] Justin Osborne Beta 3 Perl Free GPL 2007-04-12
ExBB [15] ExBB Team 0.1.5 PHP Free ? Unknown
ExpressionEngine Discussion Forums [16] pMachine, Inc. 1.3.1 PHP $49.95 (non-commercial), $99.95 (commercial license), requires licensed copy of ExpressionEngine Web Publishing System [17] 2006-09-06
FUDforum [18] Ilia Alshanetsky 2.7.6 PHP Free GPL 2006-09-19
FuseTalk CF [19] FuseTalk Inc. 3.0 ColdFusion $649 (Basic), $2,998 (Standard), $2,598 (Education), $4599(Enterprise) Proprietary 2006-08-31
FuseTalk.NET [20] FuseTalk Inc. 3.0 ASP.NET $649 (Basic), $2,998 (Standard), $2,598 (Education), $4599(Enterprise) Proprietary 2006-11-01
FusionBB [21] InteractivePHP, Inc. 1.0 PHP $149 Standard License, $39 Renewal Proprietary
GoBoardz [22] Nathan Cope 1.0 ASP Free Proprietary 2006-08-13
Gossamer Forum [23] Gossamer Threads 1.2.3 Perl License: US$200 (Free for Non-Profit) Proprietary 2006-10-12
Groupee Forums [24] Groupee, Inc. 4.0.3 (with Groupee Community 1.2.11) Java $25/month on shared server, $499/month on dedicated server Proprietary
IceBB [25] XAOS Interactive 0.9.3.1 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-04
Ideal BB [26] Ideal Science 1.5.4b ASP $299 Proprietary 2006-05-03
Ideal BB.NET [27] Ideal Science 1.5 ASP.NET $299 Proprietary 2006-09-07
Ikonboard [28] Ikonboard Development Team 3.1.5 Perl Free Proprietary
IkonForums [29] IkonForums Team 1.0.0 Beta 1 Perl Free Other
InstantAsp Forum [30] InstantAsp 4.1 ASP.NET $119+ ? Unknown
Invision Power Board [31] Invision Power Services Inc. 2.2.2 PHP $149.99 Standard License, $299.99 Business License Proprietary 2007-02-22
JForum [32] Rafael Steil 2.1.7 RC3 Java Free BSD 2007-02-25
Jive Forums [33] Jive Software 5.0.5 Java $1950 - $19950 - plus 20% P.A for support / upgrades Proprietary 2006-06-21
k4BB [34] Peter Goodman, Geoffrey Goodman 2.0 RC2 PHP Free LGPL
Kareha [35] Dag Agren 2.0.3 Perl Free Public Domain
MegaBBS [36] PD9 Software 2.2 ASP Free / $35 Link Removal & Additional Features Other
MercuryBoard [37] Jason Warner, Mark Elliot, and Jonathan West 1.1.5 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-13
MesDiscussions.net [38] No One Development 2007.1 PHP 5$/month (Shared), 30$/month (Serenity), 575$/year (Professional) Proprietary 2007-01-15
miniBB [39] Paul Puzyrev & Sergei Larionov 2.0RC5a PHP Free / Paid plugins GPL
Monkey Boards [40] James Greenwood 0.3.5 PHP Free GPL 2006-11-21
mvnForum [41] Minh Nguyen 1.0.2 GA Java Free GPL 2006-07-15


mwForum [42] Markus Wichitill 2.10.2 Perl Free GPL 2007-01-14
MyBB [43] MyBB Group 1.2.4 PHP Free Other 2007-04-03
MyProBB [44] CubicleSoft 1.0 PHP Free for personal use / Business purposes $25/year Other 2007-01-18
MyTopix [45] Jaia Interactive 1.3.0 RC1 PHP Free LGPL
NavBoard [46] Gordon Freeman 16.0 PHP Free LGPL
NextBBS [47] Chris FR & Team 0.4.5 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-22
Orca Interactive Forum Script [48] BoonEx Ltd. 1.0 PHP Free GPL 2006-11-27
OvBB [49] Jonathon Freeman & Brian Otto V0.16a PHP Free MIT 2007-04-06
PasForum [50] ? ? Pascal (FPC, Kylix, Delphi) Free Artistic/Other
Phorum [51] Brian Moon 5.1.20 PHP Free BSD like
phpBB [52] James Atkinson 2.0.22 PHP Free GPL 2007-01-28
Pocoo [53] Pocoo Team 0.1.5 Python Free GPL 2006-12-26
PunBB [54] Rickard Andersson 1.2.15 PHP Free GPL 2007-04-11
Quezza [55] Luke Cousins 1.2.0 PHP Free GPL 2006-02-04
Quicksilver Forums [56] Geoff Dunn, Roger Libiez (Samson) & The Quicksilver Forums Development Team 1.3.1 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-05
RForum [57] Andreas Schwarz 0.2 Ruby Free MIT
Shiichan [58] Shii 3956 PHP Free GPL
SMF [59] Simple Machines 1.1.2 PHP Free Other 2007-02-10
Snitz Forums 2000 [60] Snitz Communications 3.4.06 ASP Free GPL 2006-09-13
Sylphagora [61] Vystrix Nexoth 1.2 PHP Free GPL
Tetra WebBBS [62] webbbs-team.org 5.20 Perl Free Proprietary 2006-12-01
tForum [63] Toan 'typus' Huynh b0.94.2.3 PHP Free GPL
Think Tank Forums [64] Lucas Reddinger 1-alpha PHP Free BSD
Toast Forums [65] Appelsoft & Headrush Media 1.6.45 ASP Free / $79 / $149 / $499 [[.]] 2007-02-14
Tuvai BB [66] Leroy Gerrits (Tuvai) 1.5 PHP Free Other
UBB.classic [67] Groupee, Inc. 6.7.3 Perl $199 standard license, $99 renewal Proprietary
UBB.threads [68] Groupee, Inc. 7.0.2 PHP $299 standard license, $125 renewal Proprietary 2006-11-22
Unclassified NewsBoard [69] Yves Goergen 1.6.3 PHP Free GPL 2006-06-26
UseBB [70] UseBB Team 1.0.5 PHP Free GPL 2007-03-08
Vanilla [71] Mark O'Sullivan [72] 1.0.3 PHP Free GPL 2006-12-04
vBulletin [73] Jelsoft Enterprises 3.6.5 PHP $85 one year license+updates / $160 lifetime license + $30 per year for updates Proprietary 2007-03-01
Vikingboard [74] VB Development Team 0.1.2 PHP Free GPL 2006-10-30
Web Wiz Forum [75] Bruce Corkhill 8.5 ASP Free / $122.40 Link/Ad Removal Proprietary
WowBB [76] Aycan Gulez 1.7 PHP See Website. Prices vary on usage type. Proprietary 2006-07-16
WSN Forum [77] Paul Knierim 1.20 PHP Free / $48.50 Proprietary
XMB [78] XMB Software 1.9.5 Nexus Final PHP Free GPL 2006-08-03
YaBB [79] YaBB Development Team 2.1 Perl Free Other 2005-11-08
Yazd Forum [80] Yasna Inc. 3.0 Java Free Apache 2006-11-07
Creator Current stable version Programming language Cost License Latest release date

Features

Flat Threaded User-selectable themes Calendar Image attachment Unread message tracking WYSIWYG Editor
Acmlmboard Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full No
aterr No Yes No No No ? ?
bbPress Yes No No No No ? ?
Beast Yes No No No No ? ?
Beehive Forum Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full Yes
BttlxeForum No Yes No No No ? ?
Burning Board Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
Community Server Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full Yes
Deluxe Portal Yes No Yes No Yes Full Yes
Discussion Board Yes Yes No Yes Yes Full ?
E-Blah Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full No
E-Blah SQL Yes No Yes No Yes Full No
ExBB Yes No Yes No Yes Full No
ExpressionEngine Discussion Forums Yes No Yes Yes Yes Hybrid ?
FUDforum Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full ?
FuseTalk CF Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Session Yes
FuseTalk.NET Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Session Yes
FusionBB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
GoBoardz Yes No No No No ? ?
Gossamer Forum Yes Yes No No Yes ? ?
Groupee Forums Yes No No No Yes ? ?
IceBB Yes No Yes Optional Yes Full Yes
Ideal BB Yes No No Yes Yes ? ?
Ikonboard Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No
IkonForums Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No
Invision Power Board Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
JForum Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Jive Forums Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full Yes
k4BB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Kareha Yes No Yes No Yes ? ?
MegaBBS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Session Yes
MercuryBoard Yes No Yes No Yes Session No
MesDiscussions.net Yes No Yes No Yes Full Yes
miniBB Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? No
Monkey Boards Yes No No No No ? No
mwForum Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full No
MyBB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Session No
MyProBB Yes No No No No Full No
MyTopix Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
NextBBS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
Orca Interactive Forum Script Yes No No No Yes No Yes
OvBB Yes No No Yes Yes Session No
PasForum Yes No No No No ? ?
Phorum Yes Yes Yes No Yes Full No
phpBB Yes No Yes No No Session No
phpBB3 Beta 5 Yes No Yes No Yes Full No
PI.Forum Yes Yes No No No Full No
PunBB Yes No Yes No No Session No
Quezza Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full ?
Quicksilver Forums Yes No Yes No Yes Full No
RForum Yes No No No No ? ?
Shiichan Yes No Yes No No ? ?
SMF Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full No
Snitz Forums 2000 Yes No ? No ? ? ?
Sylphagora No Yes No No No ? ?
Tetra WebBBS Yes Yes No No Yes Session No
tForum Yes No No Yes Yes ? ?
Think Tank Forums Yes No No No No Full No
Toast Forums Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes
Tuvai BB Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
UBB.classic Yes No No No No ? ?
UBB.threads Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Unclassified NewsBoard Yes No Yes No Yes Full No
UseBB Yes No Yes No No Session No
Vanilla Yes No Yes No No Full No
vBulletin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
Vikingboard Yes No Yes No No Full No
Web Wiz Forum Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
WowBB Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full Yes
WSN Forum Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
XMB Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? No
YaBB Yes No Yes Yes Yes Full Partial
Yazd Forum Yes Yes No No Yes Session Yes
Flat Threaded User-selectable themes Calendar Image attachment Unread message tracking WYSIWYG Editor

Note: These comparisons do not include remotely hosted services (such as Conforums, Hyperboards, Proboards, and Suddenlaunch) which use their own proprietary software, rather than offering a package for download which webmasters can host by themselves.

Feature Explanation

Here is a brief explanation for each of the features compared above. For a forum to qualify for a feature, the functionality must be available out of the box, not as an add-on/plugin/etc.

Flat & Threaded

  • A flat forum is one where each message is added onto the end of the discussion, with no set relation to any prior messages (other than being on the same discussion topic — except in case of Off-Topic posting).
  • A threaded forum is one where each message must be specified when replying to a previous message, allowing multiple discussion threads to evolve from a single initial discussion item.

Forums can either support one or the other of these methods, or both.

User-selectable themes

Most forums provide an option for the forum owner to customise the look and feel. Some forums also allow the administrator to create multiple styles or themes, and allow the user to choose which one they wish to view. Themes may simply be a different set of colours and graphics, or they may involve a different layout to the forum, such as one optimised for small-screen devices.

Calendar

Some forums provide calendar functionality for storing events and appointments, either per-user or as a forum-wide shared calendar.

Image attachments

Most forums provide the option for a user to upload an image along with a message posting. This is usually accompanied by a space limit (eg: 1MB per user) to prevent users from filling up the forum host's webspace. Some forums also allow other types of file to be uploaded.

Unread message tracking

Unread message tracking refers to the way that is used by forum software to track and display messages that have not yet been read by the current user. This can be one of the following:

  • Session — when a user's session starts, this method relies on user "last visit time" to display all messages created since that date as unread. Everything that was posted before "last visit time" is considered "read" regardless of whether user has actually seen it or not. Until user session expires this method properly tracks read/unread in the scope of messages that were selected as "unread" when user session started. This method is broadly used, due to the simplicity and speed benefits of only storing and checking against a single database value.
  • Full — forum software which properly tracks what messages that have been read or unread by each user, regardless of user session expiration. Some forum software also allows the user to 'mark as unread', so that they can come back to a message later.

There's a simple test that can provide a good guess at whether the forum software supports "Full" unread message tracking:

  1. Login into the forum.
  2. Wait for unread messages to appear (unread markers shown). Do NOT read them.
  3. Logout from the forum (use "logout" link).
  4. Login into the forum again.
  5. Check whether unread markers that you've seen before the logout persisted through the logout/login.

If markers didn't "survive" logout/login, then the forum is most likely using "Session" unread message tracking. If markers did survive, then there's a good chance that forum indeed supports "Full" unread message tracking. Note that you should check unread markers at the topic level as there are at least some examples of using board-level markers to indicate things other than existence of unread topics within (e.g. SMF).

Data storage

Information about what data storage system can be used.

Flat file MySQL PostgreSQL MSSQL Oracle SQLite Access Firebird
Acmlmboard No Yes No No No No No No
aterr No Yes No No No No No No
bbPress No Yes No No No No No No
Beehive Forum No Yes No No No No No No
bttlxeForum No Yes No Yes No No Yes No
Burning Board No Yes No No No No No No
Community Server No No No Yes No No No No
DLSIV Forum (Work in progress) No No No Yes No No No No
Deluxe Portal No Yes No No No No No No
Discussion Board No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
dnfBB No Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
E-Blah Yes No No No No No No No
E-Blah SQL No Yes No No No Yes No No
ExBB Yes No No No No No No No
ExpressionEngine Discussion Forums No Yes No No No No No No
FUDforum No Yes Yes No No No No No
FuseTalk CF No Yes No Yes Yes No No No
FuseTalk.NET No No No Yes No No No No
FusionBB No Yes No No No No No No
GoBoardz No No No Yes No No No No
Gossamer Forum No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Groupee Forums No Yes No No No No No No
IceBB No Yes No No No No No No
Ideal BB No No No Yes No No No No
Ikonboard Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
IkonForums No Yes No No No No No No
Invision Power Board No Yes No Yes ($60) Yes ($60) No No No
Jive Forums No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
k4BB No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Kareha Yes No No No No No No No
MegaBBS No Yes No Yes No No Yes No
MercuryBoard No Yes No No No No No No
MesDiscussions.net No Yes No No No No No No
miniBB No Yes No No No No No No
Monkey Boards No No No No No Yes No No
mwForum No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
MyBB No Yes No No No No No No
MyProBB No Yes No No No No No No
MyTopix No Yes No No No No No No
NextBBS No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Orca Interactive Forum Script No Yes No No No No No No
OvBB No Yes Yes No No No No No
PasForum Yes No No No No No No No
Phorum No Yes No No No No No No
phpBB No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
phpBB3 Beta 5 No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
PunBB No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Quezza No Yes No No No No No No
Quicksilver Forums No Yes No No No No No No
RForum No Yes Yes No No Yes No No
SMF No Yes No No No No No No
Shiichan Yes No No No No No No No
Snitz Forums 2000 No Yes No Yes No No Yes No
Sylphagora No Yes No No No No No No
Tetra WebBBS Yes No No No No No No No
tForum No Yes No No No No No No
Think Tank Forums No Yes No No No No No No
Toast Forums No No No Yes No No Yes No
Tuvai BB No Yes No No No No No No
UBB.classic Yes No No No No No No No
UBB.threads No Yes No No No No No No
Unclassified NewsBoard No Yes No No No No No No
UseBB No Yes No No No No No No
Vanilla No Yes No No No No No No
vBulletin No Yes No No No No No No
Vikingboard No Yes No No No No No No
Web Wiz Forum No Yes No Yes No No Yes No
WowBB No Yes No No No No No No
WSN Forum No Yes No No No No No No
XMB No Yes No No No No No No
YaBB Yes No No No No No No No
Yazd Forum No Yes No No No No No No
Flat file MySQL PostgreSQL MSSQL Oracle SQLite Access Firebird
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