Best Forum software
Reviewed byTimon Thu, 18th August 2016
I have been using Smf for 4years now, and it has been awesome
fantastic FREE forum software verified
Reviewed byJohn Cumminson Fri, 29th January 2016
I've been using an older version of the forum since 2009. For various reasons I updated to the latest version, I've been putting it off because I thought it would be a problem, how wrong I was, it was so simple and worked with minimum fuss, all I've had to do is to add some graphics that I'd changed on my "old" version and job done! I wish I'd done it sooner
the best
Reviewed byahmed m. mataron Wed, 30th December 2015
the best forum manager i have ever used, simple, free, bugs-free... and have lots of support.. thank you guyes
SMF(Simple Machines) is best forum software as of now
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 29th September 2015
I used Kunena, Vbulletin, Xenforo, phpBB forum softwares and recentyly bbPress, but SMF is best.
There are CMS-level portal packages and stylishly designed themes for SMF by third-party of SMF.
It even excels vBulletin 4.x CMS and XenPorta 2 Pro on XenForo. SMF is the messiah for me.
Simple Machines Forum is still great 10 years later! verified
Reviewed byGameGrape Studioson Sat, 29th August 2015
Simple Machines Forum is great at what it does! It is easy to install, easy to manage and in completely setup within 24 hours max. It is the perfect solution for people who need to setup up a simple forum. We are using Simple Machines Forum for our HighFlyer Forum: http://gamegrapestudios.com/highflyer .
Simple Machines Forum is great!
Probably the best free forum software available today
Reviewed byVapen.beon Tue, 19th May 2015
I like SMF: it's free, it's versatile and it is widely supported by fans across the globe. Easy to setup and maintain also. And there are plenty of modifications available to enhance functionality. Top rating from me.
Outdated and Rubbish
Reviewed byITSMEon Thu, 30th April 2015
SMF is a completely outdated script that lacks any modern features at all. Their development team is neither willing to work with it's user base anymore. Oh and the themes users make for smf removed/locked if you use/support any software other than SMF!
Best free forum software. verified
Reviewed byWillyPon Sun, 25th January 2015
SMF works well, has a great feature set, fine grained permissions, many mods and themes.
The community is friendly and helpful.
If you want a simple support site or a complex community center, SMF can do it.
For a full website, wrap SMF in a portal such as Tiny Portal (http://www.tinyportal.net/index.php).
There are also bridges to integrate Joomla, MediaWiki and others.
Great!
Reviewed byMacon Wed, 6th August 2014
they say the best thing in life are for free. smf is a proof of that saying. what more can they offer for free? You needn't been a programmer to use their software and if you are a programmer, their is still lot you can do to satify you. Simple machine forum is just one great forum software.
excellent
Reviewed by2greedyon Tue, 11th February 2014
Easy to use, heaps of features and so easy to install and uninstall mods, i lover it!
Versatile, good both novice and advanced users. verified
Reviewed byThe DDC Networkon Mon, 3rd February 2014
SMF out of the box is very user friendly and powerful. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you like.
Combined with that, the community has always been very helpful.
BEST OF THE REST
Reviewed byiDownloadon Sun, 5th May 2013
Been a SMF user for 5 years and everything is just too good!!!!!!!!
EAsy to use, powerful, great community
Reviewed byGunslingers Gulchon Sun, 3rd February 2013
SMF is very easy to install and use. We were up and running in just a few hours and our userbase found it easy to use. Modifications are easy to install and backed with great support.
SMF
Reviewed bysakiuzoon Fri, 23rd November 2012
SMF.... Is there anything else?!?
Easy to use
Reviewed byMalcontenton Sun, 23rd September 2012
I think SMF is great. Easy to use, easy to add modifications unlike phpbb3. I htink it is a smooth looking sharp forum.
Best Free Forum Script
Reviewed byChopeon Sun, 10th June 2012
By far the best free forum script
Many security problems, poor coding
Reviewed byleeramanuon Mon, 4th June 2012
- Many security problems, my forum got hacked twice
- Template creation is really messy
- Poor coding quality
Five stars
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 11th March 2012
Good job guys! Thank you indded!
The best script out there verified
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 19th May 2010
Its trully elegant and fast. Everything can be done with just mouse clicks. It uses very little resources and processes datas as fast as you click on it.
SMF Rocks!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 18th May 2009
You guys really rock! I love your webinstall feature, does all the dirty installation work for you while you're drinking beer! Complex forum or a small corporate BB board - SMF is gotta be your choice.
Best free forum software
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 17th May 2009
I've been using SMF for years on several sites, it's the best free forum software I've seen.
The best forum softwre ever.
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sat, 4th April 2009
It is mostly the fastest forum ever, with a great support, clean codes. Whatever one may need.
Best forum available
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 22nd March 2009
Not only is it free, but it's well-written and easy to extend or modify. Much, much better than phpBB, its closest competitor.
It is first class
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 8th March 2009
You could not ask for anything simpler to load and operate.
Fantastic Forum
Reviewed byAnonymouson Fri, 20th February 2009
This forum is fantastic with lots of features and the option to install more features if you want. If your looking for a fantastic, fast and free forum, SMF is the one you should choose.
Elegant, Effective - and EASY!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 1st February 2009
Did I mention easy? How about helpful support? How about helpful and FAST support? Yes to all. Mind you, this is the opinion of a non-technical newbie user who needed a message board/forum for guests on his website and needed it to be simple for HIM -and easy for the guests/members to use. This puppy passes on all counts. Get you one!
4.5/5
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 16th March 2008
I have been using smf now for many years and know well what I am talking about. The script in many ways is comparable to vbulletin, which you pay $160! with the difference that smf is free.
Let me tell you in other words: smf is free, but I volontarily chose twice so far to be a Charter member (thus donating $50 / year each). I think you see the point.
SMF works nicely and is not even as resource greedy as vbulletin.
vbulletin is richer on some features. but smf is really lovely.
SMF Review
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 26th December 2007
IMO this is one of the best forum options out there, especially since its free. Very comparable to Invision and well maintained. I would have rated it a straight 5, but due to issues with Bridges to CMS's, which is almost always needed, had to drop it one. Other than that, this is a great piece of work.
Exactly what they say - Simple, elegant, powerful, and free.
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 12th August 2007
I went though all of them... phpBB2 and phpBB3, IP.Board, IPB 1.3, Ikonboard, mybb, xmb, and even vB. I would have to say this is the best software out of all them, best of it's free! Yes it's very surprising to see a FREE software doing as good as the paid ones. SMF is considered paid for me not just becuase I'm paying for charter membership but feature wise. I would recommend anyone to using this software. The team is great and the community is nice with fast acting support. SMF always wins.
Good software!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 14th June 2007
I have run this for about 3 years now and am totally pleased with SMF. They even let people show 3rd party mods on their website. Way better than phpbb, I have to conclude!
Complete and easy to use !
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 18th January 2007
Hello,
This is a really good php open source forum ! I mean, it's complete, you have many basic features and even more mods thanks to a growing community. Moreover, the code remains easy to use, to customize and the forum, easy to administrate. This a good point for PHP beginners like I am.
:-)
SMF -- headed in the right directions, while other packages lag
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 19th June 2006
I used PHPBB quite a bit for a while, but now I much prefer SMF. PHPBB has a very closed community -- very restricted feedback channels -- and they appear to be falling behind in developing the most important tools and framework relaitve to SMF. SMF is doing a lot of things right -- installing mods is a breeze, they seem to be foscuing on the right features such as increased separation of apeparance from content and functionality. Not perfect yet, but excelent and in the right directions.
SMF Review by Akulion
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 9th May 2006
SMF is simply the best free forum system available!
It is simple to use and simple to install just like the name and the support staff is extremely helpful as well. Its wide library of mods/hacks/addons make it a perfect solution for a very wide range of uses and users. I would recommend this forum to everyone who is looking for a forum system.
Wonderful free forum�.
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 1st May 2006
If you are looking for the most powerful forum our there this is the one for you. If you are looking for the most user friendly forum out there again this is the software for you. Frequent upgrades, easy to install mod�s via a package manager. Only issue is there are not tons of skins, but its so �easy� to skin that that isn�t even an issue.
So newbie friendly...
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 17th April 2006
I dread doing updates/upgrades. SMF is so newbie friendly that didn't even know I'd done the update until it was almost done! It was literally about 2 clicks and I was finished!
Tons of help on their support forum too!
Thanks SMF!
SMF is Fantastic
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 12th April 2006
With it's incredibly easy install, amazing site integration tools, easy going intelligent support people, and amazing price tag (free) SMF is the clear leader in Forum and Bulletin Board software.
I don't recommend you look at any other board--try this one and you'll be pleased.
The Real GNU Forum Software
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 7th March 2006
The capabilities of this piece of software is without doubt. What really impresses me is the 24/7 availability of a very strong community. Because of its open source nature, the community is made up of a HUGE number of veteran developers, and more importantly, they have an open source mentality, meaning they're happy to share!
If you're running a serious community forum and not using SMF, there is something seriously wrong with you. I would rate it as 6 if i could.
The best forum software ever!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Fri, 24th February 2006
SMF is the best forum software that was ever created! The main aim of the SMF Team is to make a forum that's simple to use, yet feature packed. They have achieved this aim with flying colours. SMF has features that all the other forum software can only dream of, like a package manager for automatic installation of MODs, and an 'SSI' file. With the SSI file, you can grab posts from the forum and show them on your website, all with only a few lines of code! Overall, well done to the SMF Team!
SMF
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 20th February 2006
i like smf because of the mods and theme. SMF mods are really easy to install while the themes are very creative. Although phpBB have more mods and themes than SMF but their mods are hard to install! I recommend smf! Oh yeah, its very safe too! So far i never heard anyone with SMF got hacked.
Simply Fantastic
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sat, 18th February 2006
Who said that you get what you pay for? Because the best things in life really are free. SMF picks up where others stop. Most mods elsewheres are standard features on SMF. It's amazingly fast and through a terrifcly thought of SSI feature I was able to build an entire website around the forum. Four thumbs up!
Great but lots of problems
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sat, 4th February 2006
I used it for three months then an update screwed it up. They tell you they have mods, so you modify your board, but their updates erase or disable your mods, so you have to reinstall them. Until they get updates that do not effect your mods, I would stay away from this one. Why modify your board then have to start over again?
There are over 500 forums in this area to try. I have tried many and found that paying for it is the best way since I need a stable and low geek factor forum.
Best I found...
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 12th January 2006
while searching for free forum software. I put up a couple of different ones and SMF was the best. I had some trouble with the install (my fault)and their support was fast, gracious, and really pulled me through.
Brilliant
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 3rd January 2006
A really good free forum system. Thankyou simple machines for providing it to me for free!
Simply excellent.
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 15th November 2005
I honestly find smf an excellent script to use. It has all the features I need for my forums, even features that you can not find in paid software such as vbulletin. I can't but congratulate the developpers of that great job they did. I am really impressed. I have used vbulletin, invision board, phpbb, and pnphpbb for many years... and I never saw anything even close to smf. SMF is really what every forum admin needs. you have an absolute control of what your members are allowed to do. I love it
Simple to use yet surprisingly powerful
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 6th October 2005
I tried many different forums looking for the right one for my website, and I have yet to find one that rivals SMF. It's easy to install and set up, it's fast, it looks good, and still manages to pack in an impressive amount of functionality and customisation. If I had to criticise it, I would say that it's caused me to waste a large amount of my spare time just playing around with it and seeing what it can do! Strongly recommended.
SMF - Fantasitic
Reviewed byAnonymouson Fri, 26th August 2005
Absolutely top-class forum software. I use multiple languages on my site and have never had a problem. Excellent software and good support forums.
Awesome
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 27th July 2005
I've just installed this, not come across any problems yet but you never know! No, that's very negative, it's just great!
Excellent
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 22nd June 2005
Works flawlessly, fastest and most reliable forum around. I defenatly recommend it.
Top-notch, feature-packed and FREE!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Wed, 15th June 2005
If you're in the market for a forum system, don't settle for anything until you've tested out SMF. I never thought anybody could pack so many features into a free system, but the developers have somehow managed to accomplish this. This system has just about everything you could ever want in a forum system - polls, a quick reply box, powerful permissions system, powerful template system that's easy to understand, easy-to-use admin center, lots of moderator features (including the ability to split one or more posts into a seperate topic and the ability to merge two or more topics into one) and tons of other goodies, such as XML, RSS and RSS2 feeds, 3 different wireless modes and an automatic mod installer. Simply put, SMF is the most powerful and most feature-packed free forum system out there. Don't settle for anything less.
Amazing, Much better than other forum softwares
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 5th May 2005
I have used and tested many other forum softwares, although I have found nothing to match the quality of Simple Machines Forums. The support is great, and the code is well written and maintained.
Things seemed daunting to me when I first changed to using SMF, although that was because there were so many features. Once you get used to SMF, you'll start to discover the capabilites of it. I have been using SMF for almost a year, and am still finding new features!
If you're doubtful, just give SMF a try. That's what I did, and I don't regret it.
SMF simply the best
Reviewed byAnonymouson Thu, 5th May 2005
SMF is amazing, instant install of mods with the package manager and upgrades take seconds, they dont even effect modifications! With no hostory of security issues, SMF is the best forum software out there. The community is better than any other and the developers are willing to help even the newest of people, no system better on the web. If your conisdering starting an online community then this is the way to go. If you want to change forum system, theres an easy way to do that too!
SMF is simply the most fantastic forum out there
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 1st May 2005
I tested many other popular PHP forums before deciding to use SMF. The main reasons why I picked it for my newest site are the following:
- ease of use for members and administrators
- ease of upgrading, adding mods, and themes
- speed of forum loading
- out of the box options available on the forum
- forum security
- resource usage in how intensive would the forum be on the server
SMF excels at each of the above. It has a package manager for automatic updates, it has more out of the box options that are mods on several other open source/free bulletin boards, it is fast and well-coded as well as having good security. The jewel in the crown for this script, however, is their support forum. They have the most helpful and nice people to answer your questions, whatever they might be.
The best forum software- EVER!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sun, 1st May 2005
I've used other forum software, but none can match the speed and versatility of SMF.
If you want a software that is easy to install, highly customizable, and has thousands of happy users backing it, then you want SMF. Even if you are running another forum, try out SMF, I bet you�ll like the admin panel better, and I know I did. SMF will allow you to convert from just about any other message board without loosing users or posts! I fully recommend SMF, you will be glade you did.
SMF simply the best
Reviewed byAnonymouson Sat, 30th April 2005
SMF is amazing, instant install of mods with the package manager and upgrades take seconds, they dotn even effect modifications! With no hostory of security issues, SMF is the best forum software out there. The community is better than any other and the developers are willing to help even the newest of people, no system better on the web. If your conisdering starting an online community then this is the way to go. If you want to change forum system, theres an easy way to do that too!
I'm really amazed!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Tue, 26th April 2005
I thought others are already dominating the forum's industry :) but I guess with this new comer things ought to be changed.
Everything in SMF ,so far, is a job well done. Only thing I lack is the shortage of hacks, though am sure they will grow with times.
Great stuff!
Reviewed byAnonymouson Mon, 25th April 2005
This board rules! Honest to god, I never thought this much functionality could be stuffed into something free, until I saw this software!
Considering buying software to run your board on?
DON'T!!!
This is free and can do everything those other boards can, and has the potential to do even more. If you have any experience coding, you can modify it in every possible way you want. If you don't, you can spend the money you saved by going with this board and get someone else to do the modifications for you - costing you less than with other boards and leaving you with more in the end!
The only downside I can POSSIBLY think of is that they're not promoting it enough, THIS IS WORTH PROMOTING, SO DO IT!
This is definitely worth downloading!
