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PunBB Forums → General discussion → phpbb 3
Does anyone have constructive opinons about the next incarnation of phpbb, and the direction the development of this board has taken?
Personally, I started out using forums on phpbb, but as soon as I started modding... well, you know. So the question is: How much of an improvement, if at all, is phpbb 3?
With the past of PhpBB, I wouldn't give much hope or faith on them. I use PunBB everywhere myself, unless there's some key features missing and then I go for the heavy weight IPB or VB?but that's only for a couple commercial clients, and hopefully by the end of the year PunBB 1.3 and its extensions would be out and proven stable and scalable enough to be used everywhere.
Personally, I've never quite understood people's criticism towards phpBB. Sure, phpBB2 is a bit dated and they've had quite a few security problem, but that comes with the territory. Regardless of what people might think, there IS a relation between security and popularity. One could argue that right now, phpBB2 is one of the more secure bulletin boards out there because it has been pounded on for so long.
I haven't really looked into phpBB3 so I can't comment on that. I just hope they don't go the same route as every other project out there and start adding feature after feature to silence the masses. Come to think of it, that's exactly what I want them to do - it'll put PunBB in an even sweeter spot 
indeed, phpBB is very good, but of the main bloated forum applications out there - phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, etc. i'd rank MyBB top spot with phpBB in close second. vBulletin is over-rated and the most bloated of them all - it seems preferred by many as it is commercial and people perhaps think that this means it is the best hands down - which is not true. if you need lots of support and someone to hold your hand then vBulletin is king. it is not faster or more robust than other forums either - it just is the "Coca Cola" brand of the forum world - everyone knows it and it costs more, but at least you look "cool", right?
from my limited experience with running forums, nothing beats PunBB for speed, valid standards, easy to install, easy to mod, and easy to integrate and tweak to any site out there. the last point is particularly important - the bigger forum applications mentioned above are much harder than PunBB to integrate to a site and usually this means that the forum is the site which is a pity for many sites were the forum is meant as an extension of the site rather than the focus.
EDIT 1: another bonus to PunBB is that it is Swedish quality 
EDIT 2: skulle vara fint med en Svensk forum på PunBB.org Rickard - varför finns det ej?
EDIT 2: skulle vara fint med en Svensk forum på PunBB.org Rickard - varför finns det ej?
There was, but it was removed since we doesn't want to create language barriers between members. If you feel there are great need to discuss PunBB in swedish, you're free to open your own swedish board, as is the case with many other languages (french, german, russian etc).
EDIT 2: skulle vara fint med en Svensk forum på PunBB.org Rickard - varför finns det ej?
Tja, om någon sätter upp ett forum, så länkar jag gärna dit.
There was, but it was removed since we doesn't want to create language barriers between members. If you feel there are great need to discuss PunBB in swedish, you're free to open your own swedish board, as is the case with many other languages (french, german, russian etc).
i understand, but with so many Swedes here, why is there no seperate Swedish PunBB board elsewhere then? very strange to me, i am not even living in Sweden but i would think any project with so many Swedes and Swedish speakers present here that it would want to support the Swedish side of things also - even unofficially as you said, like the other languages. there are very few Swedish forums using PunBB that i know of (plus from stats on PunRes - only 1%!!!) and i think there being no big support for Swedish is 1 of the main reasons why there aren't many - just my 0.02 Euro - sorry, bara min 50 öre
indeed, phpBB is very good, but of the main bloated forum applications out there - phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, etc. i'd rank MyBB top spot with phpBB in close second. vBulletin is over-rated and the most bloated of them all - it seems preferred by many as it is commercial and people perhaps think that this means it is the best hands down - which is not true. if you need lots of support and someone to hold your hand then vBulletin is king. it is not faster or more robust than other forums either - it just is the "Coca Cola" brand of the forum world - everyone knows it and it costs more, but at least you look "cool", right?
from my limited experience with running forums, nothing beats PunBB for speed, valid standards, easy to install, easy to mod, and easy to integrate and tweak to any site out there. the last point is particularly important - the bigger forum applications mentioned above are much harder than PunBB to integrate to a site and usually this means that the forum is the site which is a pity for many sites were the forum is meant as an extension of the site rather than the focus.
To a point, yes. But I have a client right now for example that needs (really needs, not because they told me so, but because I told them so) several features like advanced moderation, real multigroup support with granularity, infinite subforums, to quote some of the key ones. When you have to fill that need, PunBB is out the door quite fast, and I haven't seen something quite good on the other FLOSS forum software. That leave the two big ones. And it's cheaper too, since custom PHP job to mod PunBB for a few weeks (since 1.3 is zeroing in) isn't cheap, at all.
There isn't the right tool for every job out there, but for some scenarios, the mammoths are the least worse of them all.
indeed. PunBB though, once mod'd enough and customised, can suit 90% of people's needs i think. there will also always be people who just prefer everything working straight out of the box and no extra work needed, but it doesn't make it unique as so many people run the big forums and they look so similar.
several features like advanced moderation, real multigroup support with granularity
can you explain these two to me? advanced moderation - what is extra here over current PunBB moderating (and with Move Post mod)? also real multigroup support with granularity compared to PunBB w/ Multigroup mod?
since 1.3 is zeroing in) isn't cheap, at all.
i am almost scared of 1.3, i hope it is released later rather than sooner as i have mod'd a PunBB 1.2.14 i am working on a lot. i think the changes will cause a lot of time to upgrade for me 
When I chose PunBB over anything else, and I've tried just about everything, it was for it's lightness.
I've seen too many forums get popular and their hosting accounts can't keep up, then it's the VPS or dedicated route for them. For PunBB, this is less of an issue than the other more feature rich forums.
An example of this is at the MozillaZine forums, their install of phpBB had issues keeping up with the flow of users. In the end, they turned off every feature they could and tweaked some things to get it to respond at an acceptable speed and not bring down their server. Heck, it now looks like a PunBB forum with a phpBB skin.
i am almost scared of 1.3, i hope it is released later rather than sooner as i have mod'd a PunBB 1.2.14 i am working on a lot. i think the changes will cause a lot of time to upgrade for me
As am I... I'm not sure if I should start coding a "Mod installer" plugin for 1.2, or a "Best guess mod converter" for 1.3 XD I think the best guess would be the most loved, but it would probably be released around the time punbb 2.9 is 
(and it have bugs )
indeed. PunBB though, once mod'd enough and customised, can suit 90% of people's needs i think. there will also always be people who just prefer everything working straight out of the box and no extra work needed
Or some (rare I give you that) times, this is not possible or convenient. It's quite hard to demonstrate to a client how PunBB is 2~3K? superior to IPB or vB for example 
And being ultra fast and light on the server is quite good, but in some cases it's not relevant until way, way down the road. To take my current client's example, until I have to go to the MySQL cluster replication and hardware cluster for Apache frontend, I'm happy (and it needs quite a busy forum to bring down a full modern dedicated Apache server and a dedicated MySQL server; and at that point hire a dev to write extension to the fully tested PunBB 1.3 and write the needed extensions, and convert to it, that won't be an financial issue).
can you explain these two to me? advanced moderation - what is extra here over current PunBB moderating (and with Move Post mod)? also real multigroup support with granularity compared to PunBB w/ Multigroup mod?
Some example :
- split and merge threads, if possible with a good UI and automated follow-up
- warning moderation system
- semi auto or auto archive system
- undelete system (hide "deleted" threads or posts, but not really delete them)
- multigroup granularity: A is a moderator, belong to moderator group, so he has access to the ModeratorForum. But he is also a member of the RedHead group, so he also has access to the RedHeadForum.
- moderation log
And remember that for some project, you can't blindly rely on amateur mods. I won't install a complex mod on a PunBB install until I've tested it live for several weeks/months, or if it's written by someone I trust. And again, hiring a good dev to audit a mod, isn't cheap when you have to do so for 10 or so.
When I chose PunBB over anything else, and I've tried just about everything, it was for it's lightness.
Me, it was for having a strict DTD, with intelligent use of tables, and validating. Next to that, being light and fast, both on the server and on the user. And of course, being under GPL.
thanks Jérémie.
An example of this is at the MozillaZine forums, their install of phpBB had issues ... Heck, it now looks like a PunBB forum with a phpBB skin.
very true, it looks a lot like PunBB the way they have cut it down.
hcgtv wrote:When I chose PunBB over anything else, and I've tried just about everything, it was for it's lightness.
Me, it was for having a strict DTD, with intelligent use of tables, and validating. Next to that, being light and fast, both on the server and on the user. And of course, being under GPL.
I chose it because I was able to understand and modify the code, and I was bored with nothing better to do
Thanks for the interesting side notes, but back to the topic now:
So the question is: How much of an improvement, if at all, is phpbb 3?
Have you seen these?
http://area51.phpbb.com/docs/features.html
http://www.phpbb.com/development/
PUNBB RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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