This is a dedicated thread for discussing the SitePoint article ‘Forum Software Roundup’
Not really needed
Good article, what ever happened to vBulletin though? I would have liked to have seen that included as it’s one of the more popular pieces of forum software! - I’m sure someone would have leant you their forum to play with and review? 
Your average web developer will not be able to afford vBulletin. 
I don’t know, almost all the active communies I belong to run it
[protective mode]I didn’t like the remark aobut Snitz may be limited due to ASP limitations. Snitz is limited because of the developers, not ASP.[/protective mode]
If I couldn’t afford vB, I’ld save. It’s worth it.
Yep, the article title should be change to “Free Forum Software Roundup” or something like that so people won’t expect it to include vBulletin.
BTW - if you want to have a play around with vB to review it Dave I can let you mess with either vB2 or 3 if needed
Overall, compared to phpBB and IVB, Snitz Forums is poor. However, this may be due to the limitations of ASP, and not a lack of desire to add such features.
That’s what I thought (and said above).
I’m sorry, but overall I didn’t find this to be one of Sitepoint’s best articles, actually far from it. It didn’t help me choose one forum software over another and I found the reviews to be quite bland. As well, the comment about limitations of ASP let you know the author may be a bit uneducated. I know this will come off as harsh, but it was not hard to tell it was written by a kid. I read it, looked back at the beginning (as I rarely read the author blurbs) and see that it was. Sorry, but I was disappointed.
Nice article, although somewhat surprised by the high rating of IB. Customization of a template is quite important to me and I am sure I am not alone. Afterall, not many people want to stick to ‘default’ stuff
I found that IB’s template customization was harder than expected. Even though there is a lot that can be downloaded, it will never match your own creations Too bad you didn’t mention this … or maybe you just completely disagree with me. 
Thanks. I did ask the people at vBulletin if I could have a copy for review but, for obvious reasons, they said no.
True. However, I used ASP for a long time and have moved onto PHP because it has so many built in functions and features that make some parts better than ASP. Anyway, that is my opinion 
Perhaps yes, but I do state at the beginning of the article that it would only be for free systems.
That’d be pretty cool! I could have played with the admin demo at the vBulletin site but I wanted to experience installing each system so that wasn’t an option. But I would like to see how vB does actually work.
I didn’t venture into customising templates for each system or modding however that is a valid point and should be considered by those who want to use IB for their own sites.
Thanks for the comments guys. Glad most liked the article
I didn’t feel it was overall a fair article, to be honest. As others have said, it’s not a Forum Roundup if it misses out on 3 of the top pieces of software.
Likewise, you gave some systems low marks for their lack of templating, and then ignored the lack of templating (or difficulty of it) in other systems.
Also, the ASP snap is a personal opinion, and the piece is meant to be written from an objective standpoint.
All in all okay, but I gave it a 3 rating because it isn’t what it promises to be at any point.
J
I have had some private feedback sent which I can access via the authors system here on Sitepoint. I have decided that I’d like to post some of the comments and explain them a little. These are all anonymous:
"This was, no doubt, one of the poorest, opionated and one-sided articles I\'ve read since the last comparison between PHP and ASP.NET. It seems that whenever an open-source-fav user \“reviews\” comparable software packages he tends to flak MS based technologies. That could be acceptable unless the reviewer points out \“disadvantages\” in the technologies that are based on ignorance and anti-MS driven conclusions. ASP has nothing less to offer than PHP, most certainly in the fields of UI and system managability.
As I said in the above post, I have used ASP extensively in the past and came to my conclusion (and based my opinion) on past knowledge and experience. I used to say that ASP was better than PHP when I used ASP but I now say the opposite - for various reasons. However, this is not a discussion of PHP v ASP.
The only reason you came to the poor conclusion that ASP is inferior to PHP is because you chose inferior products, used by a biased consumer.
“The method used to select boards was limited. It can\'t be a \“roundup\” without 3 of the key players.”
No. As stated at the beginning of my article, I chose the applications for review based on the listings at hotscripts.com (and on my own knowledge) and so I think, and I’m sure most will agree, that is a fair way to select the software. If anyone knows of any free ASP systems that I missed out, please let me know.
I could blame your young age for the careless statements, but you seem inteligent enough to take responsibility for it."
:eek2: I think that is pretty harsh and was un-called for. I won’t make any other comment on that.
“IPB, not IVB - and you can never have enough features which is why documentation is provided.”
I apologise for the mistake in the abbreviation of IPB. It is probably true that something can never have too many features as long as everything is well organised and tidy.
Thanks for the comments - please do keep them coming in.
This article fails one important factor, how well each forum is coded in turn using to many server resources. Many large forums are closed down because web hosts simply can’t run certain ones because they eat all the cpu and memory. Flat file message forums are terrible for this, Ikonboard anyone?
More articles from adults please. Everything was “extremely” or “very”, the analyses were haphazzard, inconsistent, and sometimes uninformed. Overall it read like a school assignment. The article should have been “Free Forum Software Roundup”, if only to explain why vBulletin wasn’t in there. Otherwise it’s not a “round-up”.
This article lacks depth by the millage. “concluding” that ASP is inferior to PHP suggests little to no professionalizm, not to mention knowledge of the these technologies. Low merit over lack of skins?!?! 85% of forum users/operators never change the default one anyway. Instead of treating it as a perk, it’s been given over-blown attention and importance (childish, somewhat?).
Free forums are not the only forum applications in existence. Several low-cost forums aren’t such a financial burden (79$ and less) and pose a serious threat over both power and versatility of the much pricier packages.
No merit for performance, user satisfaction, upgradeability etc… which, to me, sound dramatically more important than skins. This article looks exactly as Arkham cleverly noted… a school assignment, at best.
If you want someone to blame for the article quality, blame it on the editor, not the author’s age group. :mad:
Good job kid! Don’t pay any mind to these looking down their nose at the world jerks. People like these don’t have the balls to do a review of their own for fear that criticism might damage their delicate egos! Not too long ago, I was looking for a forum. Your article could have saved me lots of time.
Steve