What can we do to make SMF legit?

[Victor Leigh]

First off, so that's there's no misunderstanding, I am not saying that SMF is not legit.

I am in full support of free software. I use Linux and Wordpress and I also use SMF for my forum.

What irks me is that I have met a number of people who literally look down their noses when I say that I use SMF. They make me feel that I am a cheapskate because I don't seem to be able to afford a paid forum software.What I always tell them is that paying more money only makes them have less money and doesn't get them anything more.

Strangely, I don't see anyone doing the same to Linux or Wordpress although those two great products are also free.

So, the question is, what can we do to help SMF joins the ranks of 'legit' software like Linux and Wordpress?

Over to you.

[青山 素子]

Strangely, I don't see anyone doing the same to Linux or Wordpress although those two great products are also free.

They may not anymore, but that's because both have reached widespread usage and have proven themselves (well, mostly. WP may be popular but is a steaming pile...). A few years ago, you'd have likely gotten the same reaction.

So, the question is, what can we do to help SMF joins the ranks of 'legit' software like Linux and Wordpress?

Time and userbase growth. You could always mention how the German Parliament uses SMF and how several security-related products use SMF for their user forums. Being able to provide some good examples of solid usage always help the naysayers. Having some impressive examples of use is how the legitimizing process begins.

That said, there will always be people who will look down their nose at "low cost" and "free" solutions. They happen in every segment (cars, sporting goods, clothes, etc.). You won't be able to convince these people, so don't waste the effort.

[mashby]

Everyone has their opinions and your experiences as you describe them are very subjective. What objectively would make anything legit? Usage maybe? Seriously, who are the number of people looking down your nose? The data points you are offering are not well defined. I'm not saying your suggestions are poor, I think SMF would just need a better definition of the goals SMF would have to meet in order to be "legit". Without that, I think we'd be chasing windmills.

[Victor Leigh]

Strangely, I don't see anyone doing the same to Linux or Wordpress although those two great products are also free.

They may not anymore, but that's because both have reached widespread usage and have proven themselves (well, mostly. WP may be popular but is a steaming pile...). A few years ago, you'd have likely gotten the same reaction.

So, the question is, what can we do to help SMF joins the ranks of 'legit' software like Linux and Wordpress?

Time and userbase growth. You could always mention how the German Parliament uses SMF and how several security-related products use SMF for their user forums. Being able to provide some good examples of solid usage always help the naysayers. Having some impressive examples of use is how the legitimizing process begins.

That said, there will always be people who will look down their nose at "low cost" and "free" solutions. They happen in every segment (cars, sporting goods, clothes, etc.). You won't be able to convince these people, so don't waste the effort.

So the German Parliament uses SMF? I am glad to hear that even though it's the first time I have heard of it. Would you happen to have a link to that?

Is there somewhere I can look for the forum software used in some of the largest forums? That would be handy when faced with sceptical people.

[青山 素子]

So the German Parliament uses SMF? I am glad to hear that even though it's the first time I have heard of it. Would you happen to have a link to that?

https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/

Is there somewhere I can look for the forum software used in some of the largest forums? That would be handy when faced with sceptical people.

http://www.big-boards.com/ is probably the best place, but it's really backlogged and doesn't update much. Some of the very large SMF boards still aren't on it (For example, it shows Red and White KOP with just over 5 million posts when it currently has almost 9 million). One of the largest SMF boards, for example, is Burek (http://forum.burek.com/) with over 10 million posts.

I posted a list of some of the more interesting forums using SMF a while back, over here.

[Victor Leigh]

Thank you for the links. One interesting thing, though. The German Parliament is using SMF 1.1.11. Does that mean SMF 1.1.11 has some advantages over SMF 2.0?

[^SITS^]

Thank you for the links. One interesting thing, though. The German Parliament is using SMF 1.1.11. Does that mean SMF 1.1.11 has some advantages over SMF 2.0?

Knowing how slow governments work, I am not surprised they are still behind the times. 

[青山 素子]

Thank you for the links. One interesting thing, though. The German Parliament is using SMF 1.1.11. Does that mean SMF 1.1.11 has some advantages over SMF 2.0?

They made some customizations for the submission of petitions, so they probably don't want to update the code to run in 2.0. IT's not like 1.1 has been abandoned, it's just in extended maintenance (security fixes only).

[Victor Leigh]

Thank you for the links. One interesting thing, though. The German Parliament is using SMF 1.1.11. Does that mean SMF 1.1.11 has some advantages over SMF 2.0?

They made some customizations for the submission of petitions, so they probably don't want to update the code to run in 2.0. IT's not like 1.1 has been abandoned, it's just in extended maintenance (security fixes only).

Does this mean that using 1.1 is just as good as using 2.0?

[Illori]

i would not say it is just as good as 2.0, as 2.0 as more features built in then 1.1.1* will ever have.

[Victor Leigh]

i would not say it is just as good as 2.0, as 2.0 as more features built in then 1.1.1* will ever have.

I see, In that case, the best thing for a new forum would be to use 2.0. Right? How about using those free SMF hosting services. Is that a good thing to do?

[Illori]

most of those restrict what you can do, so i would never recommend you use them.

[Victor Leigh]

most of those restrict what you can do, so i would never recommend you use them.

That's what I found out. Only one seems to be a bit more un-restricted and that's SMFNew. btw is there something like a network of SMF forums? I mean something where all SMF forums can work together to promote each other's forums?

[Illori]

smfnew is also restrictive as to what you can do, best i can suggest is if you want to start a forum buy hosting and go from there.

[floridaflatlander]

What irks me is that I have met a number of people who literally look down their noses when I say that I use SMF. They make me feel that I am a cheapskate because I don't seem to be able to afford a paid forum software.What I always tell them is that paying more money only makes them have less money and doesn't get them anything more.

Legit? Thats your problem not theirs if they make you feel cheap and like you're not legit. That's how kids work anyway, their measuring stick is price not quality and function.

Maybe they're a fool for using VB or IP. I go to IP(1 forum) & VB(2) forums everyday and ""everyday"" I think whats the big deal?

When I go to a forum like phpfreaks I say to myself, "this is nice". In fact last week, I went back and forth over an IP board I'm a member of trying to convince myself I needed it and I couldn't. There were one or two very minor things I liked but I forgot what they were so they must not have been that great.

As someone said they use to say the same thing about WP and in fact I still hear that every now and then.

Ford, Chevy, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, PC, Mac you'll always hear and until you get more confidence you'll always feel like you made the wrong decision. I know I did.

But look at the facts, SMF can handle it, get these people to be specific about what makes VB or IP or whatever better, then see if that matters to you. Then if it fits, get SMF and take your other friends that haven't made you feel like you weren't legit out to eat, take pictures and then post it on facebook and show the trouble makers the good time you had.

[Victor Leigh]

I do know that SMF has got a lot more useful features than all the other forum software that I have experienced as a forum user. One feature I particularly like is the quicknav feature right at the top next to the avatar.

Right now I am trying to decide on what kind of hosting would make my forum go fastest. I have not been able to figure out what's the ram overhead for each user online. Does anyone know?

[Illori]

unless you will have a few hundred users/guests on your forum at one time you would be fine to start with shared hosting and move up as needed from there.

[Victor Leigh]

unless you will have a few hundred users/guests on your forum at one time you would be fine to start with shared hosting and move up as needed from there.

I can actually buy an SSD vps with 512 Mb ram for 5usd per month. Is 512 Mb ram sufficient to handle, say, 10 users online at any one time? Also would putting centmin and webmin on an SSD make things go faster? I am very keen on making my forum run at supersonic speed, if possible. Reason being I have been on forums which dragged along like a tortoise with four lame legs and it really put me off.

What do you think?

[Illori]

you dont need a vps or similar to get decent speed, a decently configured shared server can give you the same speed as a vps would and you dont need the overhead that a vps has. you would be best to post questions about hosting in the hosting board though.

[Victor Leigh]

you dont need a vps or similar to get decent speed, a decently configured shared server can give you the same speed as a vps would and you dont need the overhead that a vps has. you would be best to post questions about hosting in the hosting board though.

Will do. Thanks for all your advice. I really hope I can make a super-duper forum with SMF and prove all the critics wrong.