ronoxQ wrote:
True, SMF doesn't have that. I admit semi-defeat: phpBB DOES beat SMF at something. It still doesn't hold a candle to vBulletin or IPB, though.
You're forgetting that they're aimed at different markets. vBulletin and IPB are designed for large-scale forums.
ronoxQ wrote:
It's true that I've only spent a few hours (say, about a "day" ^_^) working on it. Therefore, I may have missed a few things. I don't know what it is that I missed, though.
Then
learn what it can do before you complain about what you haven't noticed yet.
ronoxQ wrote:
Name a permission that vBulletin doesn't have. Search engine permissions, yes. Individual permissions for each little option of each different feature, yes. Forum viewing and ability options, yes. What else is there?
Roles?
Another feature vB doesn't have: PM filtering/rules, as in Olympus here.
ronoxQ wrote:
The fact that you name SMF above vB and IPB shows how "thorough" your search was. I'm sorry, but you don't seem very trustable there, mate.
Ad hominem.
ronoxQ wrote:
And how, pray tell, do you get this opinion? Better than other free ones, MAYBE - I'm not quite sure. But the paid ones are still a few versions ahead of Olympus.
Greater number of features != better, in any case.
Actually, vB 2.0 had quite a few less features. phpBB3 has nearly every feature I'd want in a bulletin board, and phpBB2 was good for a lot of people too. The reason phpBB has been so much of a success is that it is well-tested and it's been around the block.
Of course, you don't see many very large forums using stock phpBB, and that's because phpBB2 isn't all that good at large forums. But the vast majority of web forums are small communities set up for cheap (I did one myself) by people who don't want to pay for vBulletin or IPB, or don't need the features of any other forum solution.
Go ahead and go to the UseBB forums and flame them for being behind.
ronoxQ wrote:
So you defend my argument (using hyperbole, a word you may wish to become familiar with), by stating that yes, phpBB3 WILL be better than a 2-year-old forum program. I am completely blown away by this argument.
For the moment, I'll denigrate your subtle insults, and get down to the core part of my message:
Just because a program has more features does not mean it is better. What matters is how those features are laid out and how they are managed. In my experience, vBulletin's administrative interface is complex, cluttered, and hard to navigate through. phpBB 3 has a much better interface, in my experience.
ronoxQ wrote:
And UseBB isn't nearly big enough to be worth complaining to. I'd prefer have the better free forums GET better than get a small forum to get bigger.
UseBB is small
by design. It's already in release candidate stages, and it's
designed to have few features. Gee, it must suck, then.
ronoxQ wrote:
Another silly defense. So you're saying that just because he wasn't INTENDING his program to get so many followers, it makes sense for these followers to follow.
Nope. He wasn't intending his program to be a complex, powerful solution, because all it had to do was be a simple forum for his site.
ronoxQ wrote:
vBulletin was aimed at the same audience:
Commercially.
ronoxQ wrote:
1. So was (remember this one? The one you keep ignoring, because you can't argue against it?) Drupal.
I'll gladly argue against it.
ronoxQ wrote:
One decided to become profitable, one didn't, but they both GREW, to accomodate the users needed.
And phpBB Group is doing the same with phpBB.
ronoxQ wrote:
And we don't need ANY features: we just need users and a place to put stuff up. But users LIKE lots of features, and so do most admins.
Agreed. If the features are done right.
ronoxQ wrote:
It's why we DO use vBulletin.
From what I recall, phpBB has far more users.
ronoxQ wrote:
It's just that some of wish we could switch to a RELIABLE open-sourced forum. That's what I'm inquiring into.
Then go find one. Don't complain here. phpBB 3 is good enough for a lot of us - some phpBB 2 users actually don't want to upgrade because they
don't want the features.
ronoxQ wrote:
I'd have to disagree there, sorry. As I said, I want a bunch of basic features in the box to begin with, and then perhaps get rid of what I DON'T want. Each feature that isn't there to begin lowers my opinion of the final thing. Especially with a slow install process.
phpBB Group doesn't want fast reply, and that's that. They're working on the features front too.
ronoxQ wrote:
This was never up for debate. I never said it wasn't. But just having ONE feature of similar capabilities isn't really a huge comeback.
That was just an example.
ronoxQ wrote:
That's a dumb argument, in my ever-so-humble opinion. There is no mod installed on the MAJORITY of forums. However: go to vBulletin and IPB forums, which give you the option, set to NO, to enable [quick reply will not be added]. You'll find more sites WITH it than WITHOUT it.
phpBB is not a commercial product, and phpBB group isn't trying to do everything to get people to pay them for their product. They just want to make the best forum they can
in their own eyes.
ronoxQ wrote:
With all due respect, how many other BBSes have you used? And which ones? Because SMF is easy to get, and the paid ones are all MUCH easier to understand. It's called friggin' PHP. It's the same for us all, for the most part.
Coding style dictates ease of understanding of the code.
ronoxQ wrote:
Really? Took me all of a search query. And vB was the first software I used.
You're familiar with it.
ronoxQ wrote:
Open-source, by definition, IS freeware. And some freeware is made by altruistic groups. Case in mind: zoints.com (an up-and-coming social networking system that I've worked with) is a great forum feature that is FREEWARE, but NOT open-source, since you can't modify it. Tell me that Zoints is a program that no idiot would pay for. Because we got offers of 500 dollars, but didn't charge a penny.
Sorry. You lose. "Open source" says nothing about the price. phpBB group could charge you to download phpBB if they wanted.
Take a look at X-Chat, for example. It's under the GPL, but the Windows version is $20. There are other forked Windows versions, and they're perfectly legal.
ronoxQ wrote:
I do not think phpBB3 will suck. I do think, however, that it will be behind its time.
For what market?
ronoxQ wrote:
I do not use a spell-checker on this site. I actually spell.
I use a spell-checker, but only because it is built-in to the browser.
ronoxQ wrote:
My forum has a spell-checker, but it doesn't run slowly.
How many users does it have? Does the spell-checker use a built-in dictionary or an external one? Is spell-checking on by default?
ronoxQ wrote:
I like QR ability. I type a lot of information in my QR, however, so it's not a "spam" feature.
I like it too, but I'm not complaining much. It's an incredibly easy modification to make.
ronoxQ wrote:
If you ignore something on this list, I will post a large text saying IDIOT, followed by a quote of one of the things that I said.
I'll set the timer to see how long you last on this forum, then.