Article
Forum Software Roundup
Invision Power Board
Another popular PHP application, IVB offers some extremely advanced features as standard. Downloading the file from the Website takes a few moments, as you have to navigate your way through various screens; locating the download can also be confusing as the download is listed as a ‘free trial'. There is also the option to purchase support from Invision Power Services.
After extracting the .zip download, you are presented with a confusing directory structure. The location of the files you have to upload is not apparent but once you have found it, you simply need to upload them to your Website. The initial upload of all the files is large -- over 4mb -- and once you have them uploaded, you can't just navigate to the directory and let the install begin. Instead, you have to navigate to a specific file. The well presented installation screens guide you through each step of the setup. The first thing you need to do is CHMOD a configuration file so the script can write to it. After entering your database information, the tables are created, along with a number of files. You can then log in to your forum system using the username and password you've created.
IVB has a number of useful features in addition to the standard forum features; these include extensive private messaging systems, a full user control panel, easy styling facilities, macro facility, calendar, birthdays, and SQL debugging features. Two new features for IVB1.2 include multi moderation and a warning system. The multi moderation facility allows you to modify many topics at once, for example, add a topic prefix to all of them at the same time. The warning feature allows you to give users visible warnings for their actions, which would prove useful on a busy site. You can even download topics into MS Word or MS Excel format for storage on your local machine. The members on your forum also get access to the unique ‘My Assistant', which allows them to quickly find out answers to common questions such as ‘Who are the moderators?', and lets them view their last posts. You can also search the forums and help system.
The default style is a blue chrome design -- not bad for a default. You can, of course, download many hundreds of styles and graphics for your forum and customise it to your liking. The official Website, IB Planet.com provides access to all the skins, styles and modifications that are available for IVB.
The administration control panel in IVB is one of the most extensive available. The index page shows you whether your copy of IVB is up to date, and displays system information, who is logged into the control panel, a log of admin actions, and some quick search options. This admin panel allows you to control absolutely every aspect of IVB -- from removing the copyright notice to adding new languages.
My only criticism is that IVB may provide too many options to the average user! It would take a long time to go through every one, and it could be difficult for site owners to locate the option they need. The options are contained under main headers that expand to reveal the list of alternatives; this keeps the interface tidier, although it's slightly crowded regardless.
Overall, IVB is a very powerful solution with great emphasis on packing as many features as possible into the standard version. The initial download and extraction processes were relatively easy, as was the installation. The forum provides great support for everything you could possibly want your forum to do. The administration control panel is very detailed, allowing you to keep tight control over everything. The IVB support forums seem to be very active and provide the all-important free help. And if you get really stuck, there is always the option to buy support from the company.
Summary
Language: PHP
Database Support: MySQL
Modifications/Styles Available: Hundreds
Overall: 9/10
Pros: Extensive feature set, advanced control panel
Cons: Cluttered admin interface, confusing directory structure
Snitz Forums
With over 151,000 downloads since it was first released in September 2002, Snitz Forums is a reasonably popular board solution. But for some reason, ASP-based forums are unable to match the feature set of their PHP/CGI counterparts. Snitz Forums has the standard features you'd expect, such as complete Web based administration, unlimited forums, private forums, sticky topics, and word censors, but little else. The full feature listing of Snitz Forums can be viewed here.
Although Snitz Forums does support modifications, there are very few available -- the limited list includes signature previews and FAQ administration. These are available from the Official Snitz Website and a number of small Snitz ‘Fan' sites that provide modifications for download. There is no support for styling whatsoever. However, it is possible to make basic colour changes and modifications to graphics. A limited set of graphics is also available, again via the Snitz Website.
The download of the ASP files for the forum is a 525kb .zip file, which extracts just over 3mb of files. There is no directory structure -- all the files are located in the same directory. You must follow the instructions provided in the readme.html file in order to install the forum system, including opening and editing a config.asp file to set the database connection information. After this has been completed, you open up a setup page and configure the forums, after which you can load the forums and log in.
The configuration options match the features of the software. You can configure every option in the forum, including the forum categories and forums, logos -- you can even disable registrations. The colour/font change is limited to names, not HTML codes, and users are given a list of the colours they can use, with examples. There are no permissions options (that I can see) with only basic moderator control. While I was trying to figure out how to add a new forum/category from the administration control panel, I realised that you can't. You actually do that from the main index page!
Overall, compared to phpBB and IVB, Snitz Forums is poor. However, this may be due to the limitations of ASP, and not a lack of desire to add such features. But contrary to that, there is the paid IdealBB, which looks as though it could match the PHP systems.
Summary
Language: ASP
Database Support: MS Access, MSSQL, MySQL
Modifications/Styles Available: No styling features, few modifications
Overall: 4/10
Pros: Basic forum features for ASP
Cons: Basic features, no styling system, few modifications