When setting up a forum, the default theme can make a big first impression. Some forums swear by default looks and often they're pretty successful too. Some software offers sleek and modern designs, while others feel more traditional.

 

Which forum software do you think has the best default style? Do you prefer something minimalist like Discourse, polished like XenForo, innovative like Invision or classic like phpBB ?

Simple Machines has the best default theme IMO. It looks very professional, and not outdated like most free forum scripts. Heck it's miles better looking than Xenforo's default theme too!

Thinking Woltlab has a really nice default skin, especially the dark mode default. Nothing beats visiting a website and your eyeballs are vaporized out of your skull with light mode. Another contender would have to be Invision Community.

I really like the default phpBB3 theme. It's old-school, simple, clean and user-friendly. Everything is easily visible and "makes sense" to be placed where it is.

 

I was also quite a fan of the default SMF theme the first time I came across an SMF forum using one many years ago, but haven't seen it in a long while since, so cant remember if that's just bad memory on my part or if it was genuinely sleek.

I use the current SMF default theme and I really like it.

 

I have tweaked it a bit with CSS to give it a slightly different look, but I think we all do that, styling is fun. :)