I'll start by pasting the text from the about page:
The idea of PunBB was first born when I wanted to install a discussion board to a website I was tinkering with. I looked around quite a lot, but all the boards I found were either "over-featured" or too graphic for the purpose they would be filling. I wanted a package that
- was fast.
- had a simple layout and design.
- was easy to administrate and moderate.
- didn't output huge, non-valid, HTML pages.
- had source code you could read and understand.I looked and I looked, but it was nowhere to be found. Thus, I started working on PunBB, or just Pun as it was called back then.
Developing software to "please the masses" isn't difficult. Just cram in every possible feature you can think of and most people will love it. Some people, however, will hate it and look for alternatives. The problem with developing for that other group of people is having to make decisions on whether to implement a feature or not. What is a "must-have" and what is not?
Some features that I have so far chosen not to implement are: private messaging, file attachments, polls, linking to off-site avatars, advanced text formatting controls, subforums etc etc. The jury is still out on some of these features, but don't expect them to pop up anytime soon. It should however be noted that most, if not all of these features have been realised in the form of third-party mods.
What I was trying to communicate when I wrote that was that the whole idea behind PunBB was to create a forum that didn't have all the fancy features like avatar gallery, post icons, polls, private messaging etc.
I am fully aware of the fact I am therefore aiming PunBB at much smaller "market" than, say Invision Board or phpBB are doing. PunBB is for the people who are tired of "the feature race" and just want a fast and simple forum. Also, please note that I have no intentions of ever making any money off PunBB. If I make any money as a result of me creating PunBB, it will be in the form of salary if/when I get a job as a software developer :)
So, please bear this in mind when you make feature requests. If it isn't an absolute "must-have", I will most likely say no. However, me saying no to a feature request in no way stops someone from creating a mod for that particular feature. Mods are good! We like mods :)