Re: Looks like this Forum's Index is screwed up...
Some random observations and some feature observations based on earlier posts:
Both of my tested options have polls, but neither has the ignore user feature. I can't find ignore mods for either so far.
I expect either to handle large volumes of posts easily, and both are more responsive than the current software. (No more watching each message fill in one by one.)
I notice they each have a different meaning for "new messages". More on this later. But both have a "new" button that takes you straight to the first new message in a thread.
If Dory36 moves to a Linux host like he says, user names will become case sensitive so I have to log in as "BigMoneyJim" and not "bigmoneyjim". (Passwords are already case sensitive.) This goes for either software.
Both boards have the following quirk: I registered users in the original test board with spaces, but the board put underlines in them: "User 1" became "User_1", but in the original I could log in using a space. In both new boards I have to log in using the underline: "User_1".
Avatars will probably have to be reassigned after moving to the new board.
Board comparison:
YaBB 1 Gold SP 1.1, the current software for this board. My mockup is here (test board deleted Sept 30 2005).
- We're already using it, so everyone knows it
- No migration necessary
- Doesn't have polls
- Becoming glitchy and slow as post count increases and user list grows
- See above comments for how both following boards improve on this one
SMF is a rebuilt and improved version of this software. My test board with migrated data is here (test board deleted Sept 30 2005).
- "New" posts are any that the user hasn't read, like this board.
- Takes migrated data well
- Familiar look and behavior
- Has an available module to list the last X new posts, but defined by site not user
- Tech note: appears to work only with MySQL
- Link to feature list
phpBB is what nofeeboards and raddr-pages use. My test board with migrated data is here (test board deleted Sept 30 2005).
- "New" messages are posts that have been posted since user's last visit. So if you don't read everything and come back later you could lose track of what you haven't read.
- Doesn't handle the migrated data as well, including the need to reset passwords on my attempt so far
- Apparently the most popular board software today
- Has a button to list all new posts since last visit
- Unfortunately, if you spend a long time reading through new posts your visit may time out and "new" posts are only the ones in the past 15 or so minutes
- Tech note: can use one of several database backends (including MySQL which seems to be the popular choice)
- Link to feature list
Tech note: Both SMF and phpBB are PHP-based.
Random note: both boards can be under whatever URL path you want: early-retirement.org/forum, early-retirement.org/community, early-retirement.org/kayaks, early-retirement.org/rabbits/with/pancake/on/its/head, etc..
vBulletin costs money, so I didn't check it out. I'm not aware of other "biggie" board software that is similar to the format here.
I like the SMF one for several reasons. The "new" post thing is one of the biggies to me.
EDIT: Edited a few times between posting and :52 past the hour .
EDIT Sept 30 2005: Removed links to test boards. This forum was migrated to SMF on April 30, 2005.
