vBulletin, simply because it's packed with features, has a fanatastic front-end and back-end, is extremely versatile and flexible, and it's, well, awesome.

Chris

My favorite paid is vB, but I would still have to say that MyBB is a strong #2. it has a lot of great features and is free.

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So far the best for me is phpBB. Never had any issues with it. All hacks work, the updates were super easy (even if with code changes). My experience with the "hype" scripts has been bad .. let's detail:

vbulletin - the worse by far. I don't have hacks to function (at least a quarter of them are not functional after the upgrade to 3.6 series, the others never really worked. Now I have a forum with NO cash mod at all, no topic description (butchered some topics too while getting invalid, God knows how). I don't have the courage to upgrade again since last time I totally messed my forums and the theme. I just don't have the time and nerves to re-create my unique theme everytime I have to upgrade (which is monthly almost). I still have errors and issues after the last upgrade and waited for WEEKS for some of the awesome hack developers to answer to some questions. It's like I am howling to the moon .. uff ..

SMF .. horrid experience again. I turned a phpBB forum to SMF since I was curious to see the script. Everyone talked how cool it is and so on and I wanted to try it .. I moved the forums to SMF...

Most stupid thing I did (or maybe buying a VB license was the most stupid ... don't know). I worked for 2 days flat to move a theme I created for phpBB to SMF. I was so sick of this I quit and then reinstalled. I needed to make it in the end. Had a lot of errors and horrible display theme, but I made it. The support was quite OK, the guys replied to 2 support questions in 1-2 days ... as opposed to the vb.org members (the developers) who don'tprovide support for their hacks and if you lose your minds and tell them you'd expect them to support if they put the supported tag to their hack, they reply .. well it's free.

Yeah, it's free honeys. Same as PHpBB who's got a top notch support. And I have used it for over 5 years now. No question was left unanswered. All tried hacks worked and if I had an issue I would get an answer in minutes. And those guys are offering a FREE script and most of the time they work like crazy just because they believe in a good free script.

Never had issues with upgrading. ALL hacks worked perfectly even after 5 upgrades in a row. but wait .. these are CODE CHANGES upgrades. I mean you have to copy-paste code, not just wait to have something installed. Always hated the "fast install plugins" .. I don't have control at all over them. Those code changes, as weird as they seem, are best .. I was able to even spot some small mistakes and make the tweaks myself. No, I am not a coder, I am a forum admin who kinda installed MANY hacks ...

Let's discuss about MyBB now .. pretty nifty script. What doesn't make it the best for me; the huge cookies issues (of course I had them too), the template system is a bad as the VB's one and there are too few developers. but it starts looking more promising and I am sure VB will get a run for their money in few yeara. The script is very nice. Would like some essential hacks, but I am sure they'll develop them.

IPB .. hmm .. this might be my next purchase. I have 2 forums on 1.2 when it was free on the cpanel installer. The forums are a bit in problems since I need to control the spammers very seriously and cannot protect them as I should. But, even those "stupid' free versions are awesome. I have a lot of features in them and I can't wait to get my hands on a paid license (in few days) and see the script in all its glory. The template is a bit nicer than in VB/myBB's case and the hack installation was better for me ... on 1.2 i had to make code changes myself and I love this. When I butcher something at least I can revert to the original file without the changes.

So... on my list phpBB is still the one. And the 2.0 series, since I didn't yet lay eyes on the new generation. I know how to tweak that baby and it sings for me as none others can

On the paid list .. IPB rules right now. Let's see what i have to say after getting my hands on the paid license ... I expect some nice hacks to install and make that community rock.

I know my opinions differ from many others' but .. they're mine

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vBulletin is my favorite. Definitely a great solution if you want to go paid.

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World of Warcraft Forums - Your #1 place to discuss all things World of Warcraft.

vBulletin is my personal favorite, but that doesn't mean that it is the "best"...Every forum owner has their own individual needs...phpBB may be a better solution for some, SMF for others, and IPB for others. It all depends on what you're looking for and whether or not you have a budget.

vB and IPB are the most powerful and feature-rich, hands down. You cannot beat what they have to offer. That said, they also cost money which is a negative...There is a lot of great forum software out there that is free which means that they are better suited for some forum owners.

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...some super-sweet signature

Vbulletin is the best software in my opinion. it has so many features its hard to compete with it.

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WebMaster & PC Forum
NewJersey State Forum

SMF for me, fairly easy on the server & it's SSI.php features are essential for me.

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Liverpool FC Forum with 3 million+ posts. Powered by SMF

wbb for me
Its only missing 3rd party plugins and thats because its still very new. wbb the most complete and modern solution in my opinion.
Take a look here:
WoltLab® GmbH | Products | Burning Board | Information

IPB is my current favorite forum software.
I've owned several vBulletin licenses and recently sold them due to the fact that:

(A) Jelsoft had sold out.
(B) vBulletin lacks the innovation found at Invision.

vBulletin has been stale for the past several years in my personal opinion. Sure they have added a few extra features such as hooks, but they haven't improved the default theme, they haven't improved the awful Admin control panel, and they haven't updated their profile page to be modern.

vBulletin is currently in the past for me and until major changes are made, they will remain in the past. Invision is the future due to their Innovation.

That also means I have two vBSEO licenses that I will be holding onto until vBulletin becomes a viable solution for me once again. I am also a Pre-Release member of vBSEO and have been for several years now.

vBulletin..
If I'm gonna shell out cash for something, this is the one to get.. I've run a few other different softwares and this has been the best one for me thus far..

I love being able to customize it to my liking with various hacks and plugins and alot of the ones I used to have to add to other softwares, they were already standard features of vB!

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You're so jaded.. and I'm the one who jaded you!