My opinion on SMF

[sbclansite.com]

Well i find SMF and with extensive modding of it one can make a forums better than VB , IPB or any other system, only thing about smf i dont like is that it keeps fetching info all the time in admin panel from this site, which in turn makes my admin panel dependable on smf when trying to install package cause if smf site is down i cannot do anything like installing mods etc. Plus its making smf server load too. Dont know why that feature is there , it should have mannual update check feature .But thats just my 20 cents

[anunlike]

If the admin page is taking too long to fetch the SMF info, you can always manually type in a different admin page into the address bar and it'll work just fine. It's only the main page that fetches the SMF info like that.

But, I agree, there should be the option to make it manual instead of just automatic.

[HvyMtalMama]

The software itself is great. I like the software, it's the technical help that isn't so great. When I needed help with something serious. No one knew what they were talking about, I had to get an outside webmaster that knew nothing about this software to fix it, and he did so in a matter of seconds. As far as the help goes. I can't rely on it. Keep the software, get rid of the staff =)

[Burpee]

Charter Membership
Everybody on the team will always do the best they can to help you, whether you're a Charter Member or not.

[Gobo]

i really love SMF and in fact i blasted vB (in a polite way) and overly praised SMF on a vB support board a while back and ended up getting banned lol

but I really do wish the SMf team would do something about:

users online today mod - its a MUST for being built into smf itself!

Also I would love it even more if the karma system was a bit modernized lol

[HvyMtalMama]

Charter Membership
Everybody on the team will always do the best they can to help you, whether you're a Charter Member or not.

Oh, right.... have to pay for the good stuff =) The service must be good enough for me to want to spend money................ teehee.

[kman]

From what I've seen so far, it looks like there's a lot of value considering it's free.  However, one thing that puts me off is the messy look.  Compared to software like vbulletin it's much harder to find your way around, but I'm sure this will improve with future releases.

[Kindred]

I think SMF is much EASIER to navigate than VB or phpbb...    In addition, with the format of the themes, it is fairly simple to create a theme that looks EXACTLY as you want it to...   Want to duplicate the look of a VB forum? (why anyone would want this, I'll never know)   You can do it.

[Gobo]

From what I've seen so far, it looks like there's a lot of value considering it's free.  However, one thing that puts me off is the messy look.  Compared to software like vbulletin it's much harder to find your way around, but I'm sure this will improve with future releases.

I partially agree with you that SMF is a harder to navigate at first - it just takes getting used to, much like any other forum software.

But I do sincerely believe that SMF needs to have some sort of control panel for the users allowing them a personal area for personal thread notfications etc.

Just my opinion though....

[Kindred]

Akulion.....    that already exists....  it's called the user's profile. Look at all those wonderful options listed in the control panel to the left...

[JayBachatero]

From what I've seen so far, it looks like there's a lot of value considering it's free.  However, one thing that puts me off is the messy look.  Compared to software like vbulletin it's much harder to find your way around, but I'm sure this will improve with future releases.

Like vB?  I saw vB's admin interface and I find it to be one of the uglies admin panel I've seen.  I would rather see a phpBB3 panel than vB.

[Gobo]

Like vB?  I saw vB's admin interface and I find it to be one of the uglies admin panel I've seen.  I would rather see a phpBB3 panel than vB.

yes i agree i used it - its very cumbersome to use plus not very helpful in its explanations as to exactly what everything does

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Kindred what u said gives me an idea i think ill rename the profile link to CP in my menu and see how it works out

[sawz]

i've only used 2 forums, SMF and the other guy
i like SMF

[kman]

From what I've seen so far, it looks like there's a lot of value considering it's free.  However, one thing that puts me off is the messy look.  Compared to software like vbulletin it's much harder to find your way around, but I'm sure this will improve with future releases.

Like vB?  I saw vB's admin interface and I find it to be one of the uglies admin panel I've seen.  I would rather see a phpBB3 panel than vB.

Well I agree that vB's admin panel could definitely use some work in terms of organization.  It has a lot of options and it can be hard to find the thing you're looking for with the messy organization of vB.  What I meant was from the USER end; i.e. the view of a normal member.  On vB, it's much easier for me to locate everything.  On SMF, it's not as easy... for me.  It's probably a combination of things not placed where they could be placed best (e.g. the "previous _ next" topic navigation at the bottom put me off first, because I thought it meant pages), and also the padding (everything just seems squeezed together -- a little more padding around everything would make it look better).  Also, there should be more borders that define each area in my opinion.  I am of course talking about the default blue skin here; I'm not sure about the other skins.

[Kindred]

well, I disagree (as I have already said)...   Personally I *HATE* the look of vB forums.

but that being said...  that is the glory of SMF's theming system...   you can deisgn the theme to make your SMF look however the hell you want.    You want to move the previous/next links? then change display.template.php. You want to make it look exactly like vB (ugh! Why?)   then you can do it...

So, don't complain that you like vB's look better...  SMF is completely customizable when it comes to looks.  I think SMF's FUNCTIONALITY is better... and that is what is really important.

[kman]

well, I disagree (as I have already said)...   Personally I *HATE* the look of vB forums.

but that being said...  that is the glory of SMF's theming system...   you can deisgn the theme to make your SMF look however the hell you want.    You want to move the previous/next links? then change display.template.php. You want to make it look exactly like vB (ugh! Why?)   then you can do it...

So, don't complain that you like vB's look better...  SMF is completely customizable when it comes to looks.  I think SMF's FUNCTIONALITY is better... and that is what is really important.

I'm not complaining.  I'm just stating my opinion.  Is that not allowed?  In no way am I bashing the software.  It has its merits, and as with anything, it has its faults, which is largely SUBJECTIVE.

[Harzem]

I don't like borders But I agree about the previous-next links. But as said, the theme is highly customizable. Have a look at the Wiki theme. vBulletin or phpBB can't create a theme like that. It shows the power of SMF template system.

SMF needs a few more things to be implemented. Like custom profile fields thing, visual warning thing, a better karma system (I never use karma, but there are ones who use it) etc... But I know many new features are coming with the next version already, so I'm only speculating.

These are user-end features. I mean, an admin or a SMF user wants to see these as features. But actual SMF code has many more cutting-edge features that an admin will never see. For developers, these features are more important. For users, end user features are more important. So, there becomes a conflict about what users want and what developers develop. Both wills are completed in time, but in the mean time there are some complaints.

For example, 1.1 RC3 is coming with a lot better internationalization. But english users will never see it. Or other language users will not see it unless they have real problems. Developers will say "we have developed a lot", but users will say "I don't see that much of new features" etc..

Anyway, I like SMF

[HarryWx]

well, I disagree (as I have already said)...   Personally I *HATE* the look of vB forums.

but that being said...  that is the glory of SMF's theming system...   you can deisgn the theme to make your SMF look however the hell you want.    You want to move the previous/next links? then change display.template.php. You want to make it look exactly like vB (ugh! Why?)   then you can do it...

So, don't complain that you like vB's look better...  SMF is completely customizable when it comes to looks.  I think SMF's FUNCTIONALITY is better... and that is what is really important.

I'm not complaining.  I'm just stating my opinion.  Is that not allowed?  In no way am I bashing the software.  It has its merits, and as with anything, it has its faults, which is largely SUBJECTIVE.

He never said you couldnt. He gave his opinion just like you did. I agree with his because i cant stand the way VB looks as well. It is the ugliest look out there.

[Trekkie101]

Charter Membership
Everybody on the team will always do the best they can to help you, whether you're a Charter Member or not.

Oh, right.... have to pay for the good stuff =) The service must be good enough for me to want to spend money................ teehee.

SMF charter members and non-charter members will get the same final forum system. There may be a beta release that is exclusive to charters as there is no need for it to go public. As for support, right now we are stretched really thin, and everyone is working their hardest to pick up the slack. SMF is a free product and is free to use, to this end we still need funds for our server, equipment and lawyer fee's, to cover these costs we ask for either donations or charter memberships, thus why priority support is given to charters. However we make sure all support topics are looked at and we respond to the best of our ability.

None of us get paid, and we do try our hardest but I see this fails to meet your satisfaction, I hope we can prove how wrong you are and will continue as a team to strive to provide the best quality product and service we can, all we ask is a little patience.

[hachem]

i love PHPBB to be honest and i also like vBulliten