Over the past ten years, social networks have gained tremendous popularity among all categories of users. They allow you to communicate with like-minded people and share a variety of data: documents, music, videos, images and other information.
Looking at this state of things, many experts predicted sunset for such a format of communication as forums. But the latter live to this day, only a little surrendered their position. And some forums still flourish, proving that such platforms are still in demand and relevant.
The experienced owners of web resources have long identified for themselves the necessary set of tools for administration, including the software base where the site is hosted. They are also called engines, or CMS (Content Management System, or Content Management System). Beginners in this matter are wondering: which engine to choose for the forum? The choice of the latter is not so small, so this problem is very relevant. This will be discussed in this article.
So, let's find out which engine for the forum is better in this or that case and what to look for during the selection. Here are the main criteria for evaluating CMS, as well as consider the advantages and disadvantages of each specific case.
The main qualities of CMS for the forum
Taking into account the criteria described below, you can choose the best engine for the forum with an eye to your needs and tasks. This is very important, because in most cases, switching from one CMS to another is quite problematic.
Functionality
A good half of all popular CMS offer a very wide range of services and capabilities, that is, they are, in fact, universal solutions. But if you have any specific requests, then you should get to know the engine of the forum more closely and find out if it suits your needs.
It is also worth noting that professional users recommend choosing a narrow focus for CMS forums. Otherwise, you will get bogged down in finding permanent additions and improvements for your resource. That is, the engine for the forum on DLE, Joomla or WordPress will not be able to give all those advantages that the specific CMS described below have.
Community
The community plays a significant role in choosing a CMS. The vast community offers extensive options for customizing the engine for the forum: add-ons, plug-ins, modifications, some design improvements, etc. It is also worth noting that in case of problems with CMS, you are much more likely to solve the problem if the community has grown to a decent amount .
Updates
When choosing a forum engine, be sure to pay attention to the frequency of updates. If developers take care of their offspring and regularly release updates, then CMS is “alive” and involves the timely resolution of some problems and relevant improvements.
Issue price
This is one of the most important parameters, especially for beginning entrepreneurs. On the Internet you can find both paid solutions and free ones. The first option, judging by the reviews, is the safest engine for the forum and the most functional. But among the free CMS you can find quite worthy options.
Next, consider the most popular forum engines that can be found on the Web. For clarity, the list will be presented in the form of a rating.
Rating of the best forum engines:
- Invision Power Board.
- vBulletin.
- Xenforo.
- phpBB.
- punBB.
Consider the participants in more detail.
Invision power board
The IPB forum engine is the most popular and sought-after solution among professional users. CMS is distributed under a paid license, where it will be necessary to pay about 11 thousand rubles for the base platform and renew the subscription (1500 rubles) every six months.
This is a modular engine, so that all elements are bought separately, including support packages with localization. This is very convenient in terms of customization. CMS allows you to organize both a small community and a large portal with tens of thousands of visitors.
In addition, IPB is the most secure forum engine, where every user and administrator is reliably protected from hacking. There are no cases of leakage of confidential information on this CMS. The main thing is to install updates on time.
The functionality of the engine thanks to the modular control system is amazing. Almost any elements can be “screwed” to the forum: galleries, blogs, file archives and more. Also worth noting is the excellent SEO component of the CMS. Yandex and Google search bots are the first to visit paid engines, and IPB is their priority.
vBulletin
This is also a paid engine for advanced users, where you will have to pay almost 15,000 rubles for the base. But judging by the reviews, such expenses are justified, especially if you have a solid project with a large number of visitors at your disposal.
The engine itself has flexible settings and is customized as you wish. Separately, it is worth mentioning the well-thought-out rating system, the competent separation of groups and communities, multi-citation and support for podcasts. And this is only a small part of the tools. Everything is implemented very high quality and works as it should - without glitches and lags.
The engine would be in the first place, if not for the serious load on the server. When buying a license for this CMS, you should be ready to invest in decent, as well as expensive hosting. In addition, additional modules and scripts, which are likely to be needed on large projects, also load the server.
As for security, there are no problems with this. Large commercial projects are built on this engine, where user protection usually comes first. The local security service patches all holes in the CMS in a timely manner and prevents even a hint of a leak.
Xenforo
Another paid engine for the Xenforo forum, but with more modest ambitions, unlike the previous two titans. CMS is distributed under a paid license, where once you have to pay a little less than 10,000 rubles. For wholesale buyers, substantial discounts are provided.
The engine attracts primarily a low entry threshold. The interface can not be called complicated or confusing. For middle-aged entrepreneurs who do not want to delve into the features of the code and customization, this is an ideal option.
The settings of the internal device and the external forum do not require any specific knowledge or skills. And connecting modules by API helps to write various add-ons by third-party programmers.
The server load compared to the two previous engines at Xenforo is noticeably lower. In the basic solution without additional bells and whistles, this is generally a light version that even a virtual server can handle. This will significantly save on hosting.
Engine security at a very decent level. Judging by user reviews, no critical vulnerabilities were noticed in the system, as well as leaks of confidential data. The only thing is, the security service constantly warns customers that hacking can occur through additional modules that were imposed by third-party developers. Otherwise, everything is stable and does not cause any concern.
phpBB
The engine for the phpBB forum can be called the most popular among other free analogues. This CMS is distinguished by a huge community and responsive support service. Such a tandem provides an almost instant solution to any questions regarding the engine.
In addition, the vast community offers a lot of add-ons, plug-ins, modules and some kind of decorations for CMS. All this allows you to significantly expand the functionality of the engine and turn your forum into a real portal.
Even the standard version of this CMS has good functionality and flexibility. Here, the creation of groups is intelligently implemented, the setting of the issuance of access rights, the identification of search bots, message branches, etc. It’s also worth adding a well-designed, and most importantly understandable administrative panel, which even a beginner will understand.
We should also mention the local help system. It is implemented here clearly not for show and really helps in difficult cases. In addition, on the same "Youtube" a lot of training materials on this platform. All this allows you to quickly learn CMS.
Engine Features
With the load on the server, things are fine. Tests in large forums show average results. If the number of visitors approaches the level of the portal, then lags with brakes may begin. In such cases, it is better to switch to the paid products described above.
But that is the good side. Free solutions have the other side of the coin. This engine is used by very, very many, therefore it is most prone to not only spam attacks, but also other troubles. Yes, regular updates help along with a non-stop security system, but judging by user reviews, this is not enough, and you have to modify the scripts by hand or buy them from third-party developers.
So if you plan to organize an impressive forum on this platform, you will have to go broke on a moderator and paid solutions for resource security. In principle, the engine is great for small non-profit projects. It is easy to learn, maintain and administer. Plus everything is free. But the disadvantages described above should be prepared in advance.
punBB
Another free forum engine. The platform is distinguished by its lightness and simplicity. CMS is able to deliver even a beginner in this business. The only thing, before installation, you will need to familiarize yourself with a small instruction. The latter is also in Russian, so there should not be any serious problems with the installation.
Developers focus on the compactness of their product and the high speed of the engine. As for functionality, here we have the weakest platform in terms of customization. Especially when you compare it with the competing solutions described above. But against the background of the rest of the free platforms, she is quite confident.
There is no such abundance of settings and modules, but additions and plug-ins, judging by user reviews, are enough to organize a normal forum. Many were particularly pleased with the admin panel. As such, there is no threshold for entering it. All tools are located in intuitive places and there is no need to delve into the branches of the menu. In addition, the local help system is implemented very intelligently and really helps.
Platform features
In any case, the punBB engine is in demand and has an impressive community. So if any problems arise, and support is silent, then you can always turn to like-minded people and resolve the issue, moreover, very quickly.
As mentioned above, the platform is lightweight, which means that the load on the servers is assumed to be minimal. Judging by independent tests, this is precisely the case. The forum is an average hand, it feels quite confident on a virtual server. Naturally, for large projects you have to reserve a separate and expensive host.
In terms of security, the engine pleased. Local programmers are quite capable of patching holes and fixing bugs. But here, rather, the reason is different. The fact is that serious hacker groups simply do not pay attention to this platform. Large projects are not located here and do not take root, so a waste of energy is simply unprofitable.
This engine will be a great help for aspiring entrepreneurs and those who want to try yourself in the role of forum administrator. So if you want to organize a small project that does not require serious financial investments, as well as spent man-hours, then it is worth looking towards punBB. In other cases, it is better to consider the previous option or even a paid solution.