Thats an opinion not a fact, for instance I only found out how to view my own profile using vB 3.x about a month or two ago, the link to it is hardly in an intuative place. Previously I'd have to locate one of my posts and view it via the link in there.

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

Sometimes it matters and sometimes its not. I`ve seen many sites using free forum softwares and their forums are going really good. So i believe you need to have just good contents and discussion in your forum.

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Yup, even though the VB for many isn't running in all its glory at the moment. Like the converted users have text editor set as default, which quite a few of them haven't changed yet. I am planning to fix that after I come back from my weekend trip.

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India Travel Forum | Why most forums fail within 1 year! | Free Travel Directory

I usually stay away from these threads because they usually degenerate into some kind of vB vs. Others debate.

But in my opinion the answer is yes script does matter. Simply because the direction you want your community to go in.

You have to look at the functionality your community needs compared to the functions a certain scripts to provide.

What mods will you need? Arcade? Points? Will your script be able to handle the mods you need?

Do you need to be able to code with the software? Can you do that?

What level of skills do you have?

There are many important questions you'll need to ask when picking your script.

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I think that the forum software being used does matter...to an extent. It all depends on the point from which the forum is being viewed.

Adminstrator's View:
To an administrator, IMO, the forum software absolutely does matter. When choosing the software, you should be considering where/what you want the community to go/be (ie: a basic board for discussion, a board with lot's of functionality on both the user and administration end, etc). For example, if you wanted to go the, "basic board for discussion" route, you may choose something like bbPress or PunBB, which are both simple, basic pieces of forum software that are not packed with features (they both focus more on the actual discussion, and not the extra features). If you want to go the "a board with lot's of functionality on both..." route, then you may choose something like vBulletin, IPB, or MyBB, which are all packed with features, while focusing on the actual discussion aspect of a discussion forum.

Most administrators are also going to look for a powerful backend, which is KEY when looking for the right software.

Member's View:
Usually, a member registers on a forum because they are interested in the topic(s) at hand being discussed. However, from my experience, I've also noticed that members tend to stick with the software they know (or, what they are most comfortable with). Yes, members are attracted by the topic of the forum, but they are also interested in the features offered, the skin being used, and the overall feel of the board. Is this the case 100% of the time? No, but members are usually interested in more than just the topic being discussed: that is, the feel of the forum, and what it has to offer them.

People that are new to the forum world usually don't really care or know about what features the software offer's, but experienced forum-ites usually have some sort of a preference.

All IMO, of course.

Chris

I don't like forum that look bad or have a stock/default skin. I don't care it's VB or IPB or whatever. If they don't have a unique style it's worse than having phpBB. I don't judge a forum by the script, I judge it by what that admin made for it to look and function nice. Paying 160 USD for a script doens't make a forum good.

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I dont think it matters which software is behind your forum, what matters is how you market and the content being posted.

Id join a IPB site that has great content and is active over a VB site that has 1000 broken english paid posts.

Just my $0.02

Um, I think anyone would.

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I tend to only join upto vbulletin or IPB, and in some cases PHPBB, MYbb etc

I think the layout of SMF isnt good, but if its a forum i would like to take part in, and its a theme i like, i do join them.