The forum script phpBB might be the king of kings when it comes to free forum scripts.  However, the script itself if often susceptible to security problems and hacks due to its success.  So, with that said you might be looking for an alternative to this message board suite.

There is nothing wrong with have a few more scripts to choose from, and there are many great forums scripts in the sea.   Here are some of the best phpBB alternatives out there.

SMF – I had no knowledge of Simple Machine Forum till I had to use it when I used to work at Lunarpages.  Now, I really love it.  It is a free professional grade forum script with all the bells and whistles.

FluxBB – With a proven track resourced when it comes to security and stability, FluxBB is another great script to try. FluxBB was designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature heavy forum applications.

Vanilla – If you are looking for a forum script that gives you a different appearance than your average message boards can provide, give Vanilla a try.

bbPress – Love WordPress?  Then you might want to try out bbPress.  This is forum software put out by the same people who brought you the blogging script WordPress.  It shares many of the same great features.

UseBB – This next choice is a light and Open Source PHP and MySQL based forum package, distributed freely under the GPL license. Developed with simplicity and usability in mind, UseBB is ideal for small to medium sized websites which need a clear and efficient forum script.

AEF – The full name of AEF is Advanced Electron Forum. This bulletin board software is free software. It is written in PHP and MySQL. AEF has a very simple and easy to use Administration Panel and installing this software is a piece of cake!

PunBB – There is nothing funny about this suggestion.  PunBB is one of the fastest and most lightweight PHP-powered discussion board scripts out there.  It is written to be less graphically intensive too.

IceBB – IceBB is a powerful, fast, free, and open-source forum solution powered by the free PHP and MySQL. IceBB scales well, no matter how many users or posts, due to it’s clean and efficient code.

NinkoBB – Last, but not least this script is an open source forum script written in the PHP language and uses a MySQL Database. Small in size, big in features, and still simple as can be.

BONUS – miniBB – This small, yet powerful forum script is perfect for when and where you need just a simple forum without 1,000 extra bells and whistles your users don’t want or need.  Might be the best simple forum out there.

Now this is no nock to phpBB, which is a perfectly fine forum script for some people out there. It is time though some of the other choice out there got some time in the sun too.  Did I miss your favorite thread starting online tool?  Let me know in the comments.

Ninite makes installing a plethora of new applications really simple. With Windows 7 coming out, or those who feeling the urge to clean out Vista or Windows XP, we are all looking at simpler ways to install a lot of great programs out there.  That is what Ninite is all about. 

All you have to do is visit their web site, click the check marks for the programs you want to bundle together, start the customized installer, and presto – you are done.  They only install the programs you want (no hidden toolbars or spyware).  Heck, they don’t even install their own program – they only install the programs you want and need. 

Ninite definitely offers a cool way to grab your own bundle of software solutions to install.  For more assistance on how to get up and running with your own customized install, check out these articles from Simple Help and the How-to Geek. (also big thanks to Todd for showing my this great free service!)

This forum script uses PHP and MySQL to run the backend, so that means that any shared hosting account should be able to host it.  Here are a few more features:

• Comprehensive template system.
• Advanced permission and user management.
• Supports multiple languages at once.
• Open and well-documented source code.
• Tracking of new and old unread topics, not just from your last visit.
• Designed for optimal performance and scalability.
• Multi-media output.

Here are a few screenshots of it in action.  First we have the administrator interface:

Next, we see how the forums would look after you have installed SMF:

If you are looking for support, there are many ways to ask for help.  You have the FAQs, the SMF community, or searching on your own via their web site.  They also have an online manual which has many of its features and other details documented.

First time users might want to check out how to Install SMF or check through the various converters, so you can go from another forum script (like phpBB, vBulletin, IPB, and others to SMF).

Simple Machines Forum is free to use, and easy to customize.  If you are searching for a forum script of your own, you should definitely give it a shot.

Bonus -  be sure to check out our other free forum script reviews!

Via a request I got via e-mail I recently posted a tutorial for Lunarpages on how to install bbPress onto your run-of-the-mill Linux-based hosting account.  I have to say, I had never used bbPress before till then, and I like it a lot.

For those of you who may not recognize the name, bbPress comes from the creators of WordPress.  As they make note of via their web site, “bbPress is focused on web standards, ease of use, ease of integration, and speed. We’re focused on keeping things as small and light as possible while still allowing for great add on features through our extensive plugin system.”  Think of it as WordPress for forums – but a little less popular than WordPress is today.

You have plugins and themes there too, so you can customize the forums as much or as little as you like.  Personally, I kind of liked them how they were via the default install. I am sure though I’d want to add something eventually though, so nice to know the option is there.

If you want to try out the back end and front end demos, head over to OpenSourceCMS.com.  They have a working demo of both up for you to tinker with and see if you like it or not.  Those who have used WordPress before will be greated with a very familiar interface.  You can download bbPress or get more information at bbPress.org.

Bonus -  be sure to check out our other free forum script reviews!

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© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my hosting podcast too!

  ]]> http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/12/17/nice-and-easy-forum-setup-with-bbpress/feed/ 0 http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/12/08/flexible-bloggingcms-with-serendipity/ http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/12/08/flexible-bloggingcms-with-serendipity/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:38:33 +0000 Mitch http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/12/08/flexible-bloggingcms-with-serendipity/ If you are in the search for a PHP-powered blogging application that gives you an easy gateway into running a blog, online diary or even a complete web page – Serendipity is a free script worth checking out.

Looking over the fresh install instructions, the process looks pretty straight forward.  You upload, configure and get your blog going.  Some of the features include (but are not limited to):

• Simple. Designed for users of all technical levels.

• Robust Editing Interface. Featuring an (optional) WSYISWG editor, easily browsable image manager, extended entry support, entries statistics and a host of other features.

• Threaded comments, Nested categories and posting to multiple categories are supported.

• Anti-Spam / Comment moderation. Through use of a (bundled) plugin you can enable CAPTCHAs, SURBL-blacklisting, automatted comment moderation based on the content of a comment. Highly configurable.

Here is a little more about the blogging script from the developers:

Serendipity is a PHP-powered weblog application which gives the user an easy way to maintain an online diary, weblog or even a complete homepage. While the default package is designed for the casual blogger, Serendipity offers a flexible, expandable and easy-to-use framework with the power for professional applications.

There is also full support for both themes and plugins.  So extending Serendipity is an option, if you need a few more tools at your fingertips.  Also, be sure to check out the demo hosted over on OpenSourceCMS.com.

Want to know more?  Check out the FAQ.  I would highly recommend Serendipity to anybody looking for an alternative to MovableType or WordPress. 

They have ping and trackback, RSS, blogroll, permalinks, and come reading for moblogging too. 

How easy is it to install?  The installation process looks pretty straight forward.  Should be good to go on any Linux-based hosting setup with MySQL database support.

LifeType also has a very interesting history, as described by their about page:

The LifeType project started in February 2003 when its leader, Oscar Renalias, needed a set of dynamic scripts for his personal web page. Even though he did not know about the idea of weblogs back then, the outcome of the first iteration of the project already resembled one. A few weeks later Francesc, another one of the founding members, suggested that developing a blog with support for multiple users and blogs could be a better idea, and so pLog 0.1 was released on the 2nd of September 2003 featuring most of the features that are still part of the core features nowadays: multi-user and multi-blog from the ground up, template engine, localizable and extensible via plugins.

It seems it was also known as pLog for some time, but they had to drop the name due to trademark concern with Amazon.

Here are a few more links you may wish to have handy:

• LifeType Templates and Styles – The styles for LifeType are fully customizable, so you can fix it up to suit any design need you might have.
• LifeType Plugins – As with other blogging scripts (like WordPress) LifeType comes with the ability to add a number of different plugins too.

If you want to give it a whirl before you install, you can try out the admin and user interface demo over at OpenSourceCMS.

LifeType’s biggest feature is that they support multiple blogs and users in a single installation.  You can download LifeType via their web site, and if you have had any experience with it, I would love to hear your feedback.  Is it really the state of the art blogging solution it claims to be?

Some of the features of Eggblog are:

• easy to use web-based administration to add, edit and delete news articles
• easy to use web-based configuration to manage your web site settings
• WYSIWYG easy-to-use text editor for publishing or editing news articles
• download themes to easily change the style, layout and colors of your site

I also like the forum feature, which is simple – yet unique. You can check it out (with examples) on Eggblog’s own web site. Check Eggblog out in action here:

The installation process looks pretty easy.  You download it, edit the configuration files, and then you are done.  They also have an installation guide to help you along the way.  The server requirements are lightweight too.  You only need to have a fairly modern version of PHP, MySQL, and the PHP-GD library.  There are a number of different themes you can use too, just in case your not happy with the default one.

If you want to check out a demo of the script in action, be sure to visit this page for the login details.  Eggblog might not have all the features that a script like WordPress might have, but it is a nice alternative if you want to move away from the fold. Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Mitchelaneous Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my hosting podcast too!

  ]]> http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/11/27/eggblog-the-free-php-mysql-blogging-script/feed/ 0 http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/11/26/dotclear-great-blogging-alternative/ http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2008/11/26/dotclear-great-blogging-alternative/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:13:59 +0000 Mitch http://www.mitchelaneous.com/?p=2148 There are a lot of blogging tools out there under the sun.  One that does not get much credit, but I think is pretty nice is Dotclear.  An open-source web publishing software, Dotclear has been around since 2002.  The project’s purpose is to provide a user-friendly tool allowing anyone to publish on the web, regardless of their technical skills.

Some of the features included in Dotclear are:

• Automated install
• Fully customizable themes
• User-friendly administration
• Naturally optimized for search engines

You can read more about the many features of Dotclear over on their features page.  Did I mention they promise you can get it up and running in a minute too?

One minute install from Dotclear on Vimeo.

If performance is your main concern, Dotclear is fast.  It promises to be as responsive as possible, no mater the quantity of the blog.  Need some help to get it going?  They provide a pretty nice documentation guide to go along with as you customize it to fit your own needs.

Since it will not cost you a thing, Dotclear is definitely worth checking out.  

I’m happy to announce that version 2.6 of WordPress.org is now available, almost a month ahead schedule. Version 2.6 “Tyner,” named for jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, contains a number of new features that make WordPress a more powerful CMS: you can now track changes to every post and page and easily post from wherever you are on the web, plus there are dozens of incremental improvements to the features introduced in version 2.5.

Also here are some of the improvements, updates and upgrades:

• Word count! Never guess how many words are in your post anymore.
• Image captions, so you can add sweet captions like Political Ticker does under your images.
• Bulk management of plugins.
• A completely revamped image control to allow for easier inserting, floating, and resizing. It’s now fully integrated with the WYSIWYG.
• Drag-and-drop reordering of Galleries.
• Plugin update notification bubble.
• Customizable default avatars.
• You can now upload media when in full-screen mode.
• Remote publishing via XML-RPC and APP is now secure (off) by default, but you can turn it on easily through the options screen.
• Full SSL support in the core, and the ability to force SSL for security.
• You can now have many thousands of pages or categories with no interface issues.
• Ability to move your wp-config file and wp-content directories to a custom location, for “clean” SVN checkouts.
• Select a range of checkboxes with “shift-click.”
• You can toggle between the Flash uploader and the classic one.
• A number of proactive security enhancements, including cookies and database interactions.
• Stronger better faster versions of TinyMCE, jQuery, and jQuery UI.
• Version 2.6 fixes approximately 194 bugs.

You can read more (and watch a video tour) from WordPress.org about it here:
http://wordpress.org/development/2008/07/wordpress-26-tyner/

You can download WordPress 2.6 here:
http://wordpress.org/download/

Also looks like somebody has already found the easter egg in it too.

For those of you using cPanel/Fantastico to manage your install and upgrades, the upgrade for you might not come for a couple of more weeks.  Are you excited about WordPress 2.6 yet?

One solution would be to look and see if your web host has Fantastico installed.  Via this cPanel addon you could have WordPress auto-install for you.  Just login to your cPanel, and then go down to Fantastico and then find WordPress in the left navigation bar.  Follow the on screen instructions and your set.

The second option would be to let the people at Install4Free do it for you.  This is a team of volunteers who offer expert installs of WordPress for anybody who wants one.  Now passing over your login details to your hosting account might seem like a bad idea but I have heard nothing but positive reviews of them thus far.

For me the WordPress install process has not ever been to difficult.  I could see though where some people may be intimidated by it though.  If there was third option I would suggest trying to install it yourself first.