phpBB Opinion

[Lou]

Albert /All,
Just let myself get elected to a non-profit Board of Directors. By default I am the "techie." In an effort to improve "community" and communications it occurred to me that a forum may be useful.

The current vocalized issue is when the board makes decisions by email (local, Denver, MD, IL). Everyone does <Reply ALL>, both top and bottom posting, no one clips/trims quoted email.

As the forum Adm. what is you opinion of phpBB? Level of effort to keep it running?, support?, how hard to install?

Some other forums I use seem to require lots of effort. Don't know if that is the software or the manager's "need" to tinker.

Looking at the documentation it all seems straight forward (did see some "TODO"s but minor). How difficult was it to modify/customize the banner etc.?

What ever input you have time for would be helpful. Lou

P.S. Most other board members have DSL, one uses dial-up and one just got his phone programed to accept email - his only access. Others in town have DSL or use a town wide WiFi. (This is the only county in Colorado without fiber optic.) The theater group runs a youth programs 5-12 and 13 through high school. Lots of volunteers.

[Albert Wiersch]

I like phpBB and haven't had any major issues with it. The older version (phpBB2) was simpler but not as powerful. The newer version is nicer with more features but is more complicated to administer. However, at least for me, once it's been setup it's not difficult to maintain... with most of the work being when they release an update. If there are any security issues, then you'd better update!

One of the issues I've had is spam accounts. I use a mod that let's you specify a custom question when a user signs up and they must answer the question correctly or can't sign up. The answer is on a page on the site so spammers don't want to do the work and automated sign-ups are stopped.

Doing a search, this may work:
http://www.phpbb.com/kb/article/custom- ... mmer-tool/

I think this is the one I use:
http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi ... t=vip+code

[Lou]

Albert, Thanks for the evaluation.

One of the issues I've had is spam accounts.

Spammers on BB, forums and mail list do seem to be a problem. Another phpBB I read has used the "Custom Profile Fields" approach.

What is the issue with updates? After an update do you have to reinstall any mods/addons you have made? It was years ago but I seem to remember the prof saying something about configuration management

[Albert Wiersch]

What is the issue with updates? After an update do you have to reinstall any mods/addons you have made? It was years ago but I seem to remember the prof saying something about configuration management

At least as far as I've done it, updates are not automatic. With phpBB2, I had to download an update and patch my installation on the LInux server. There can be issues that occur, like patches that fail and then you have to apply some manually. The more mods that are used, the more likely it is that it will require a greater level of "manual intervention"... and of course there is always the possibility that something could go wrong. Luckily I have had no major issues.

With phpBB3, I don't think I've had to update it yet as no updates have come out since I upgraded from phpBB2. I wonder if they've made things more automated. I have read reports that updates have caused mods to fail and they needed to be re-applied or fixed.

It's a bit of work now and then, but not a lot. I would imagine it's somewhat similar for other boards, but overall I'm very satisfied with phpBB2 and phpBB3.