General PhpBB

[Hulk]

The software I started with when it came to downloadable software. I hated when I had to put the code in myself in all the files as half the time I would mess up something and break something.

I find it cool how it's just a drag and drop process for the add-ons now.

PhpBB would be my second favorite software to use and it is my favorite free software.

 

[Cedric]

Oh yeah, I remember that process too. It was the same on IPB. I often screwed that up before getting the hang of it.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

The software I started with when it came to downloadable software. I hated when I had to put the code in myself in all the files as half the time I would mess up something and break something.

I find it cool how it's just a drag and drop process for the add-ons now.

PhpBB would be my second favorite software to use and it is my favorite free software.

phpBB1 was the first software I used. Shortly after, I went to version 2 and man I remember all the hours upon hours it took to add one plugin and back then it was all on dialup, too!

I have a forum using phpBB3 and it's the first time I've used it as an admin. I like it a lot though the built-in spam controls sucked. But I got to see how easy it was to add a plugin now when I installed hcaptcha on it.

 

[Arantor]

My main complaint with phpBB is how cluttered the UI feels. Not even the admin UI (that’s fine I guess) but the general default thread view.

It’s… it’s fine. It works, it does what it needs to but it’s like eating a bread + ham sandwich with no sauce, it’ll do but it’s improved with little effort.

 

[Ravenfreak]

The permissions are annoying to set up in phpBB, especially when you're a newbie. Unfortunately for me it was the first software I used, though it was through Forumotion. I know how to set them up now, but phpBB 3 is convoluted with it's permission system. I used phpBB 2 for a short period of time to convert a jcink board to SMF, and it was much easier to deal with on there lol.

 

[Jason]

I use phpBB now and love it. However, it doesn't have as many add-ons as MyBB, but because MyBB's alert system has become a problem, I decided to go with phpBB. MyBB seems to have all the major mods that XenForo has.

 

[Bryn]

Apparently, phpBB attracts a lot of spambots, more than any other forum software so anything that has a forum running it better have adequate protection against them...

One person I know who has a forum with it came up with a creative way to ward them off... where if any of them attempt to register with any of the profile fields filled in (as they usually do), they get redirected off the forum to, somewhere far far away...

This wasn't done with some crazy script or add-on, but rather modification with the registration page (and as a result, it tells real members not to fill in the fields until after they're registered).

 

[Arantor]

One person I know who has a forum with it came up with a creative way to ward them off... where if any of them attempt to register with any of the profile fields filled in (as they usually do), they get redirected off the forum to, somewhere far far away...

Current SMF has this built in as a defence feature. Though it probably needs a tweak or two since I imagine in the decade since I introduced it, it’s now written into the spam bots’ knowledge how to beat it.

 

[KatBookTrailers]

The permissions are annoying to set up in phpBB, especially when you're a newbie. Unfortunately for me it was the first software I used, though it was through Forumotion. I know how to set them up now, but phpBB 3 is convoluted with it's permission system. I used phpBB 2 for a short period of time to convert a jcink board to SMF, and it was much easier to deal with on there lol.

YES! The perms were awful for me to get a hang of when I opened my very first forum with PhpBB. I had to ask the guy who "built" the forum for me for help all the time and thankfully he was patient with me.

I liked the look of the forum and it felt really homey compared to the professional business look of XenForo.

 

[fdk]

I loved phpBB! My biggest forum initially ran phpBB2, then upgraded (thankfully) to phpBB3 before coming really big! I never had any issues and always found the ACP was nice and easy to use... I also didn't find the permissions confusing like some, I actually liked some of the additional functionality and the ability to set user permissions on an individual basis which wasn't a feature of many forum software packages back then. I did have a lot of custom plugins and code written for my forum, so that did add to my members' experience, but the overall base of the software was always perfect for our needs.