Forums are a great way to give a community a way to communicate with each other Online.  However, there are a lot of forum scripts out there that each have their own personality.  So which should you choose when you are starting up your own set of message boards?

Traditional Free Message Boards

SMF (otherwise known as Simple Machine Forum) is a good script to start out with if you want that generic look and feel of your average set of forums.  The custom made template engine puts you in control of the layout, look and feeling.   Written with PHP and MySQL in mind, the requirements are low – so it should run on just about any shared hosting plan out there – without a  problem.

Forums That Are a Little Different

Now there are some unique forum scripts out there that really deserve more attention too.  Both Vanilla and bbPress are worth checking into.

• The Vanilla script does not provide the traditional look and feel of the forums your grandmother was used to using.  It is hard to put into words, so I will say say it has a much cleaner interface and way of showing the most recent discussions.
• The bbPress script is developed by the minds behind WordPress.  So, this means if you are already using WordPress, the bbPress script should be pretty easy for you to learn, customize and edit to suit your needs.  It might not get the same amount of attention as WordPress does – but it gets the job done.

Watch Out for This Script!

While phpBB is still a popular selection, you might want to think twice before using it over some of the other scripts I have suggested here.  The reason being, it is very susceptible to security issues and hacking, due to the fact it has been out the longest, and it is a bigger target than some of the other scripts I have named.

I hope this helps you at least get started comparing the best free forum scripts out there, so you can see which one is right for your online project or web site.

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© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!