So you want to start a new forum? You’ve found a great niche or idea, sorted out your domain and webhosting and now its time to move onto building your site.

But wait, What forum software should you use when creating your forum? This is a very important decision you will have to make as converting to another forum software in the future can be a difficult task depending on the size of your forum.

There are many different brands of forums out there now, phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, IPB, Just to name a few. This article will cover some key points you should consider before choosing your forum software.

Security

Spam can be a real problem on forums these days, many ‘bots’ are traveling the Internet hunting out forums that are not secure, and generally just putting so much spam posts on those forums that it can be very difficult to handle.
I would recommend ensuring that the forum software you choose has adequate security options like Capatcha (Image Verification), Email Verification, and the possibility to add more security features if needed.

Ease of use

Make sure you choose a forum software that is easy for your members to use, if it is difficult and takes them 5 minutes to work out how to sign up, you will loose a lot of potential members as they will just go to another forum that they are familiar with.
But also is it easy for YOU as an admin to use? Make sure the admin features are well laid out and easy to use.

Have a look at others

Search Google for other forums and get a feel for them, see what you like in various different forum software, get used to posting, changing your user options etc. If possible also try out a demo of the forum software so you can get used to the admin features.

Value for Money

Ensure you are choosing a forum software that you can justify the value of. If you are just starting out with a new idea that may not work, why not start with a free forum software solution?
When your idea does seem to be working well and you start getting a good member base then you can decide if you want to move on to a paid forum software, like vBulletin or IPB. But be sure to do this move before your forum gets too large… or converting your software could be a very big mission.

I hope this article helps you in deciding what path to take for your forums, If you still can’t decide you can discuss all aspects of forum software in our “Managing your Forum Community” section. Good Luck!

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