General What was the first forum software that you ever used? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Cpvr
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Cedric
Life’s better without a plan.
First one I ever used was either phpBB or IPB 1.3, don’t remember exactly which one came first. But I do remember my begin days like it was yesterday. Not knowing how it was properly setup or managed. Learned a lot since then. Wish I could go back in time and relive those days for a little while. 
frm
Community Explorer
My own with threaded replies and unlimited depth in early 2000 like:
As it was built into my own MMPORG text based game. Members had no problem with it.
After the game was stable with enough features, I converted it to what you would consider a traditional view (like Xenforo), but with very limited features of title and message with little "emoji" (related to the game) support.
Then I got into blog networks, criminal justice and forex to be exact. The CPC from interlinking was insane for those keywords at the time ($7-25 per click, just incredibly competitive).
But I made my very first mistake opening my first forum in the forex niche on vB3, then vB4, with all the bells and whistles (vB SEO and a ton of brand free DragonByte Tech plugins)... in a niche I had no interest in and relied on paid content posting — $10,000 sunk, with a saving grace of a $3,000 ad deal right before I planned on pulling the plug; soon as the ad deal played out and they didn't renew, it was shut down. I was down about 50% on the investment, but the blog networks held so it wasn't too bad of a loss when combined.
Anyone want my vB4 license?
Now, I hold several more XF licenses (and will buy anyone's second hand if the price is right), than open forums. But, I'm working on 3 concurrently, about to add the 4th.
As it was built into my own MMPORG text based game. Members had no problem with it.
After the game was stable with enough features, I converted it to what you would consider a traditional view (like Xenforo), but with very limited features of title and message with little "emoji" (related to the game) support.
Then I got into blog networks, criminal justice and forex to be exact. The CPC from interlinking was insane for those keywords at the time ($7-25 per click, just incredibly competitive).
But I made my very first mistake opening my first forum in the forex niche on vB3, then vB4, with all the bells and whistles (vB SEO and a ton of brand free DragonByte Tech plugins)... in a niche I had no interest in and relied on paid content posting — $10,000 sunk, with a saving grace of a $3,000 ad deal right before I planned on pulling the plug; soon as the ad deal played out and they didn't renew, it was shut down. I was down about 50% on the investment, but the blog networks held so it wasn't too bad of a loss when combined.
Anyone want my vB4 license?
Now, I hold several more XF licenses (and will buy anyone's second hand if the price is right), than open forums. But, I'm working on 3 concurrently, about to add the 4th.
First I used as a non-admin? I have no idea what that would have been back in 199x, first I ran as an admin was a short-lived phpBB instance for a few friends in 2003, first proper community in 2006 on PunBB then moving to SMF.
I have tried many of the platforms out there, and for the longest time I kept coming back to SMF but I suspect the next iteration of my journey is something else entirely.
I have tried many of the platforms out there, and for the longest time I kept coming back to SMF but I suspect the next iteration of my journey is something else entirely.
Num7
Rookie Contributor
vBulletin 3. Its adminCP is imprinted in my mind forever. So many memories.
I vB3 rocked back then, it has tons of awesome plugins like vBadvanced and vBCmps if I remember correctly. They could be used to build a full fledged portal on top of the forum. Blogs, groups, etc.
So cool!
I vB3 rocked back then, it has tons of awesome plugins like vBadvanced and vBCmps if I remember correctly. They could be used to build a full fledged portal on top of the forum. Blogs, groups, etc.
So cool!
Sinistra Sensei
Rookie Contributor
I'm about to suprise everyone. Ikonboard was the first forum software I ever started, a solid CGI-based platform. Then, I met a developer from Ikonboard who introduced me to a project by an ex-Ikonboard employee named Matt. His software has since become one of the top three in forum software.
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