xenforo, new forum software, great source for ideas

[GravityDK]

Hi guys,

I recommend you spend some time playing with this new forum software being developed: xenforo. It's currently alpha. It'll be commercial. Look at (a) the developers' statements on their philosophy on forums (b) their implementation of that philosophy.

They're all about discussion and participation, ease of use, and a very polished user experience, one that entices you to get involved.

Notice also that their system has only been publicly viewable for about two months, and look at the webmasters drooling and getting excited about it. Look how many member registrations and suggestions have been made already. Read the passion from the posters there, most of whom are webmasters of various other forum packages.

Please don't dismiss it as just fancy looks and a good UI, but pause to reflect on what they're doing which evokes such a response, and whether some of those principles could be brought into phpBB v4.x.

- g

[EXreaction]

The far majority of what you can see with xenforo can be done on phpBB with a restyling, what really matters is the codebase and everything else that you don't see as a normal user.

Some people are getting excited over it because he was a former vB developer and people want to get away from vB to another commercial kitchen sink forum software.

[Meow]

phpBB is free. XenForo costs US$140, and later UD$40 per year.

[GravityDK]

I'll re-state that I think the UI features they have should be considered for inclusion in the default template that ships with phpBB, perhaps with easy options to disable those features which people don't like (like hover tooltips).

[3Di]

at the first glance, I think you are envolved somehow into that project and as an old moderator here.. I am classifying this topic as SPAM, but.. I am really getting a big laugh also, first of all because I think and believe (reading you words) you are really young and not so (please don't take offence of it) experienced in coding ans security and all the rest related.

Thanks anyway, the time will bring us the reason, indeed.

[Meow]

Well, vBulletin has sued XenForo.

[callumacrae]

Well, vBulletin has sued XenForo.

Sounds like a bit of free publicity to me

~Callum

[Rotsblok]

I just can laugh... ROFLOL

[Erik Frèrejean]

I just had a look at the pricing page and besides that I think that the license is way over priced (its more than double the price of vB and the site doesn't show anything that is IMHO worth it) the purchase page say something really funny:

Beta software is not fully stable and supported. It is released to gather feedback and find bugs before releasing a stable version. We do not recommend that beta software is run in production.

so they actually charge people for a license of a BB solution that they advice not to use (one can only buy a beta license)

[GravityDK]

at the first glance, I think you are envolved somehow into that project and as an old moderator here..

I don't think a personal attack is helpful or necessary.

The reason I highlight the user interface features of xenforo is because they make that forum system popular.
Threads appeared on Invision Power Board's customer forums, for example, with many of their users saying "I love that 'like' feature" or another common one "the 'alerts' are really neat, and addictive!".

Strategy.
If phpBB is going to be squarely targettted at being the highest-security forum software, then naturally some usability features would not be implemented.

If phpBB wants to be a modern, appealing and addictive forum system from the user's perspective (ie. not from the developer or webmaster perspective), then some of the clever UI tweaks in xenforo should be considered as default features for the next generation of phpBB.