I thought they had quite a bit of options available for such a small board...I mean, I installed it in a few minutes and it had a TON of functions. I was only taking a quick look at it just to give it a go. I didn't get to spend a ton of time with it because I didn't want to have to learn stuff over again having operated a phpbb style board for so long. So I removed it and filed it in the mental roledex as a possible candidate later on down the line. Since the board I own and operate now is a heavily modified phpbb, I'll wait until something really fantastic comes out before transferring.

Well, I like phpBB much more, and I wouldn't recommend changing to SMF until you see Olympus (the next version of phpBB), They will be releasing it in about a month.

I have experience with YaBB Perl and YaBB SE, of which SMF originated (although I've never used SMF). I really didn't like either at all, and I definitely prefer phpBB. I think phpBB is much more cleanly coded and has a much better templating system.

But the problem is, if I install SMF, I will lose all the work I did in customizing my forum which is a lot.

I use SMF and love it - very full featured. But besides that, I had one slight question come up, and it was answered in 10 mins on the excellent help forum. Can't get much better than that!

About your customization: you might query the SMF forum and see if there is a bridge or conversion. You stand a good chance of being able to keep it, but someone there can answer probably.

Bottom line - SMF is the one for me.

, and I definitely prefer phpBB. I think phpBB is much more cleanly coded and has a much better templating system.

I was within a couple of minutes of dumping my phpBB board and using SMF until I read your post.

When is this Olypus going to be available? The reason I ask is that I'm having a lot of trouble upgrading my version of phpbb and always end up breaking the board and having to reinstall from scratch, losing everything, each time. So my current board's version is old.

I would love to know more about this Olympus----you've certainly got my attention on that one.

When will Olympus be available? Go ask that over at the area51 development board and they'll bite your head off ;)
It's been a long wait, and it looks like some more waiting. Also if you have a heavily modded phpbb board I believe a lot of the mods won't work and you'll have to wait for mod authors to update before they can be reapplied. Though olympus will have a lot of cool features lacking in the vanilla phpbb.

I contemplated phpbb as you can mod it to your hearts content and almost get anything you want because of the large hacking community. But unless you like the DIY kind of labour, it can be a lot of work.

Currently, I'm using SMF and very impressed. While it doesn't have the mods of phpbb, it's got some great core features without being over-bloated, and v. good support forum. I've checked out quite a few other free boards, and SMF seems to stand out. One to watch out for :D

Same here. Switched to SMF. And, I like it! ;) Thanks for the comments. I'm sure glad I didn't post that over in area51 !! lol

I may consider converting to SMF now. I recently lost my DB, so it won't be much of a problem since only 3 users have re-registered since. :)

Edit: Sorry, I just bumped a really old topic.

I've honestly never used anything but phpbb for a few years now and will probably stay that way. Not sure why, but I like it. I think it looks good, works good and I am not sure how you manage to 'break' your board upon your upgrades, I have never had a problem. And I started a looong time ago so many upgrades.

Their forums are very helpful as well, get answers instantly. I also like to hack the board, it's fun. And you get to learn php/sql.

I like SMF.

I find it much easier to customize to fit into your site design. I also like the way it is layed out and the functions/features of it.

The only thing I do not care for about it is the lame PM system... it really sucks.

Hi All:
Sorry for posting on an old topic, but this topic is what I'm searching for,
I will start my new forum soon
I've been in the website but did not find any thing about that Olympus, is it still not released to public yet?
I think I will use SMF directly.
For some one brand new to forum software and database, and do not know any thing about programing, what do you suggest me to do before start a new forum?
and will SMF help me with this issue depending on click able settings, or I need to use another free software that will be more easily to be used with newbie guys like me.!?
Thanks