Forum junkies - what forum apps are free?

[LS20]

Are there any that are available for trial? or are cheap, easy to administer, and with a nice interface like vBulletin?

This will be used on an internal network, so almost no worries about security at all.

 

[nonameo]

PHPbb

 

[natto fire]

Simplemachines

 

[LS20]

thanks for the suggestions so far - i also caught a nice comparison table at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software

phpBB does not have Attachments... not crucial, but would be nice to have

if anybody has experience with the others please share

 

[So]

TFNN's Simplemachines install is nice. I've played w/ PHPbb and been relatively nonplussed.

 

[natto fire]

From a user standpoint, SMF has been my favorite so far, followed by Zeroforum, but I don't think that is free. I haven't tried the new version of PHPbb, and have never been a forum admin, so I cannot comment on that front, but it seems if you don't go crazy with the mods, SMF is quite easy to work with.

 

[snapper316]

im sure there is a PHPBB Plug-in for attachments

 

[Crazee]

Another vote for Simple Machines. Easy to administer and lots of nice features.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: So
TFNN's Simplemachines install is nice. I've played w/ PHPbb and been relatively nonplussed.

Yep, and having seen the admin tools on FISB, it seems pretty full-featured.
The key is to keep up with updates or script kiddies will "hack" you.

 

[2Xtreme21]

I used to be a huge fan of Invision (iPB) before they went commercial.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: snapper316
im sure there is a PHPBB Plug-in for attachments

First link google returned for me:
http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=74505