PhpBB vs SMF?

[rockinaway]

Well i currently use phpBB and was thinking of converting. But i have many things on phpbb that i dont think you can get on SMF, such as a reputation system and a arcade and downloads center. What are the plus' of SMF compared to phpBB?

[JayBachatero]

There is an arcade mod and download center.  I'm not sure what do you mean by reputation system.  There is karma and the shop mod.  Just search the mod site.  http://mods.simplemachines.org.

[rockinaway]

well eputation mod like the one on VB, and whats make SMF better than phpbb?

[anunlike]

I don't think there's a single document or post laying out and lining up features of both.

However, do some searhing and you'll see that there are quite a few topics on this already, as well as topics on why individuals like SMF better than phpBB.

You can always check out the rest of the site, if you haven't yet.
http://www.simplemachines.org/about/features.php

[psychojkl]

install SMF in a diffrent directory, and play around with it.. its free

decide for yourself

[Oldiesmann]

SMF is more secure, and has a lot more features than phpBB, such as the following:

Package manager - install mods (hacks) and minor updates automatically through the admin center without having to modify the code
Quick reply box (if you don't see it, go to  your profile, click on "Look and Layout Preferences" and set "Show Quick Reply on Topic Display" to "Show, on by default")
Sub-boards with unlimited nesting (see my test board for an example of nesting capabilities)
Better poll system - unlimited options, ability to specify how many options a user can vote for and the ability to let users change their vote, along with the standard features (poll expiration and when to show poll results)
SSI.php - a file containing tons of functions to make it really easy to integrate your board with your website
Wireless modes (WAP [WML 1.1], WAP2 [WML 2.0] and I-Mode Compatible [cHTML])
Ability to disable each bbcode tag individually
Merge/Split topics option
Recycling bin - sends all deleted posts to a special recycling bin board instead of actually deleting them
Powerful ban system and user-tracking features - see which IP addresses a particular user has used, other users with the same or similar IP addresses, and more
News feeds - RSS, RSS2 and XML feeds of board content
Better, more powerful theme system (see my test board for examples)
New reply warning - option to be warned if a new reply is posted while you're typing yours, giving you a chance to make changes to your reply before posting it, rather than having to edit it after you post it.
Mark Unread - if you're in the middle of reading a post, and you have to leave, you can use this to mark the topic new starting at the current page, and pick up where you left off later
Better mark-as-read features - your own posts don't get marked as "new", and SMF remembers which posts you've read regardless of what computer you log in from
Calendar - keeps track of holidays and birthdays (with the user's age, assuming they specified a year) and allows you to post events to the calendar.

1.1 has these features as well (in addition to what I mentioned above):
Inline editing - modify your post without having to reload the page
Holiday management - add, edit or remove holidays from the calendar
Ability to post events to the calendar without having to link them to a post
Custom message icons - ability to manage your message icons from the admin center
Cache support - if your server has eAccelerator or a similar cache program installed, SMF can cache certain things to improve performance
Search index - use fulltext or choose from one of three sizes of a custom index
Attachment thumbnails - creates thumbnails for image attachments instead of displaying the full sized image

There are lots more features as well, but that should give you a good idea of what's available.

Demo boards with admin access:
http://support.simplemachines.org/demo (official demo)
http://www.opensourcecms.com (not official, but no admin features have been disabled)

I can provide you with admin access on a 1.1RC2 board if you'd like, so let me know if you're interested.

My test board at http://smf.oldiesmann.us also has a lot of examples of the features and capabilities of SMF.

[rockinaway]

OK will try this, is the attachment mod already installed?

Also no one repliaed to if there was a reputation system, and are there any other sites for SMF styles/mods/images etc?

I had a look at the demo board and the admin part seemed abit wierd and hard to use.

Aldo yes i would like to have a look at the RC2 version if that is ok..

[redone]

I have used phpBB before and the SMF admin system is a lot better in my opinon anyway. The "attachment mod" you talk about is standard and hence no mod required.

All the good themes, mod's and images are available here. And at this time I am not aware of any reputation style mod for SMF.

[rockinaway]

may i ask how the karma mod works?... and also what kind of wraning system as such is there?

[redone]

The Karma system is available by default although you can select whether or not your forum uses this. As such Karma is not a mod.

As for a warning system see here under the Visual Warning Mod:

http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=218

[anunlike]

I believe Custom Profile Fields / Extended Profiles and Post Moderation will be features in the next version.

[rockinaway]

I believe Custom Profile Fields / Extended Profiles and Post Moderation will be features in the next version.

What you mean by custom profile fields? also isnt there already post moderation?

[Harzem]

Let me add a few more SMF features:

Attachments to posts.
Image attachments can be automatically resised to keep the forum appearance clean.
Advanced user group and board permissions. You can one by one set which users can do what on which board.
Global Moderators, co-admins, any other permission groups.
Birthday system.
Much more advanced Profile settings.
Statistics. Board Stats and User stats
Resizing avatars. Users can try to use big avatars, but SMF resizes them.

Karma (rep) system is not a mod, it is default.
Attachment is default.
EasyMod in phpBB is in its beta stage, but SMF has standard auto-mod installer already
Admin panel in SMF 1.1 RC2 is very nice. There are lots lots lots of more features than the one in phpBB.

You can find some very great mods for SMF.
There is Arcade Mod and Shop Mod if you want. There is a portal for SMF, called TinyPortal, in which there are download centers, and much more portal features.
SMF can show how many users are viewing the boards on the homepage, like vBulletin. (it's my mod )
You can create custom profile fields from the admin panel. So, users can have new profile fields, they can be shown in the posts, etc. (this is another mod, not mine)
Visual Warning Mod - includes post moderation, displaying warnings in user profiles and posts.
Etc...
Etc...
Etc...

BTW, comparing phpBB and SMF is not rational, it is like comparing a banana to whole Africa jungle

I've used phpBB for a long time, and then converted to SMF. I've never looked back. You'll never look back.

[rockinaway]

wow some great stuff there... is the shop mod like the VB shop mod?

[Harzem]

I've not used shop mod, and I've not used vB shop mod also. But I can say that: the mod author should have inspired from vB shop mod, so I can say yes. But I've not used both of them, so let someone more experienced say a few words about it.

[anunlike]

I believe Custom Profile Fields / Extended Profiles and Post Moderation will be features in the next version.

What you mean by custom profile fields? also isnt there already post moderation?

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=78845.msg527548#msg527548

Custom Profile Fields / Extended Profiles
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=494.0

Post Moderation
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=40692.0
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=79627.0

[rockinaway]

hmm. i had a look at the Karma thing and it isnt really good, is there any other type like this?, also using images?

[Harzem]

I want to add something about SMF.

phpBB is on its 2.0.20 version right now. 3.0 is under development.

Don't be fooled by seeing SMF in its 1.0.x - 1.1 RCx series right now. SMF hasn't started by 1.0
It was "YaBB" in perl, then it become "YaBB SE" in php and got developed, after a lot more development it is now on SMF 1.1 series.

[rockinaway]

so how hard is it to make reputation mods for SMF, also which template is used here as the default temp is nothing like this, also how do i install mods?

[Harzem]

You can use "Karma Description Mod" to enhance Karma in SMF.

I strongly suggest you to use 1.1 RC2 series. The default template of it is the one used here. (the template here is a bit modified, of course)
www.sallapass.com/rc2 is my test board which has 1.1 RC2 default theme.
www.finaledogru.com/forum is my live newly born site, you can see how a few modifications on the default theme can make your forum look great.

To install mods, use admin panel > package manager.

You can apply mods from the mod site directly, even without downloading anything. (it's not like phpBB, isn't it? )

If you want, you can install from your computer also. Just download the zip file for a mod from the mod site, and upload it from your admin panel to SMF. No un-zipping is required, no FTP is required.