~GWR (http://www.gwresource.com)I can remember way back to my first website. It was the first time I actually paid for hosting and had a MySQL database at my disposal. A friend of mine was using phpBB for his forums so I decided to use the same. Overall, the software is pretty good for its cost (absolutely nothing) and ran fairly smoothly. The software is good for those just breaking into the world of being a webmaster. The user base for phpBB is massive, granting the casual webmaster access to a broad array of modifications and free templates. However, I would watch modifying the board too much. The phpBB software is great by itself, however once one begins to modify here and tweak a little there, the script has a tendency to become less and less reliable. Also, beware of its database backup script; it’s quite faulty. Instead, rely upon whichever backup method your webhost provides; you’ll acquire fewer headaches that way. Another fault with phpBB would be its size and speed. The script is truly massive for its overall lack of built-in features. If you’re looking for a script that takes up very little space phpBB is not it. It’s also fairly slow compared to a few of the other popular bulletin board scripts, and begins to get pretty buggy once your user count gets above 500. Also, before I move on I would like to point out that at the time this article was written there were 373,089 posts in the official phpBB Support forum. Take that as you may; I just want to let that number simmer in your mind.
And thats another persons opinion on phpBB. I am not saying phpBB is a bad script, actually I like it alot, now I am use to the Admin panel (which took me a while). But there is room for imprivement, there is always room for imprivement