SMF is one of the best forum software I have ever used. It runs fast and also mobile responsive. I have been running SMF forum for a year without any issues. I think the forum offers most of the features offered by premium software like XF. Have you used SMF, what do you think about this open source forum management software? Do you have any particular good or bad experience with SMF?
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What do you think about SMF
- Thread starter nomad
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I love SMF and I think it's the best free forum software. It's definitely perfect for those who don't have the money to purchase paid software. It's easy to set up forums and member permissions, plus almost all the themes look great even the default theme looks amazing and better than most other software's default themes.
A bit bias here, but I love SMF. I do think it is the best free software. It is easy to use, has alot of great themes & mods, has fantastic support, and has a small but dedicated development team 
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Besides the default theme(I think everyone agrees there) what do you feel is outdated about it?A lot of love for SMF
At the end of the day, SMF has a solid foundation for forum software, and has also come a long way. I personally feel it's a little outdated though.
I ask this not as a defensive fan, but as a staff member of the SMF team.
We are always looking toward the future so suggestions are welcome.
Actually even the default theme has come a long way. It's responsiveness is actually impressive. It could definitely use some touch ups, and ease on the gradients, but the theme is replaceable nonetheless anyways.
Albeit it's been some time since I used an SMF forum, I severely disliked the admin panel.
Maybe I'll set up an SMF on local to see how that's working these days.
At the risk of being a naysayer, I have a fairly visceral reaction to SMF forums. I find it a little bit like hopping into a time-machine back to the MySpace days. It's a primitive, visually unappealing forum software in my opinion. A lot of times, the forum owners using the software are either new / inexperienced, or don't really know of the better options available / don't want to pay for them. When I click on a forum using SMF, I generally come away with that impression.
I find that true about alot of forum owners in general nowadays.. Some do not even know how to move hosts... update x software.. setup ssl.. perform backups... kinda crazy to be honest.
Not sure why you would feel it is primitive though(well minus the theme lol) as it has most features that even premium software has... and if not by default, there is a mod for it.
There are a few exceptions like anything else though. Profiles being one.
Would like to know what you think can be improved though
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It's the general impression I have of it. Everything about it, really. Most of it is admittedly aesthetics rather than functionality. Of course, with any software, you can find work arounds for things.I find that true about alot of forum owners in general nowadays.. Some do not even know how to move hosts... update x software.. setup ssl.. perform backups... kinda crazy to be honest.
Not sure why you would feel it is primitive though(well minus the theme lol) as it has most features that even premium software has... and if not by default, there is a mod for it.
There are a few exceptions like anything else though. Profiles being one.
Would like to know what you think can be improved though
It's actually one of the best memories I have of running forums when I first started a decade and a half ago. I loved sorting through Invisionfree and finding creative ways to add a shoutbox or Arcade, and a lot of the same goes for phpBB. By now, I've used every software there is to use (at least forum-wise), if not for an actual forum than for mere curiosity and the desire to learn about how they tick. I think they're neat.
What I've also learned is that a lot of the work-around Mods, etc., usually tend to feel a little like buying a can of Dr. Thunder, where it vaguely tastes like Dr. Pepper, but you know it isn't the same. With SMF, I always have the impression that I am using a software that is several generations behind where the competition is.
I think there is an argument to be made that forums in general leave me with that impression nowadays, but I believe XenForo at least looks nice.
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So the default theme.
How so? If they have all features you are looking for, how does it make it taste like Dr Thunder instead of Dr. Pepper?
You say it feels generations behind, how so? I know it took a long while for 2.1 to actually get released but within the past year it has been released and several patches have been released aswell.
If you were to argue the coding behind the scenes I'd say you have a very fair point, but that is also why the future is being looked at.
Beyond that though, functionality wise it does have most of the features that you need by default.
Ofcourse that point is more down to ones person view of what features should be in a forum software by default.
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It's perfectly fine if you like SMF software. I respect that, but I don't. I think, in fact, it is bad. And I think that should be okay too.
And it isn't merely the default theme, I have run a forum of some kind off and on for the last sixteen-something years. I have never been able to find one good example of what I think is a nice looking modern forum that uses SMF.
This opinion applies, also, to ProBoards and myBB.
Of course, functionality is important. My analogy about Dr. Thunder and Dr. Pepper was more about how most features are obtained and comparing the quality of those features to the versions obtainable in other, more high-quality software.
What's simple is good for most people (including me)
I ran a SMF forum back in 2005 and i have great memories about it, personally i find phpbb more "complete" but also lacks graphic appeal IMO, mybb looks more "modern" but non-paid themes and addons can break your forum forever, i always thought that talking about free forum software, if your development community cares about its users then it's fine for me.
I ran a SMF forum back in 2005 and i have great memories about it, personally i find phpbb more "complete" but also lacks graphic appeal IMO, mybb looks more "modern" but non-paid themes and addons can break your forum forever, i always thought that talking about free forum software, if your development community cares about its users then it's fine for me.
I have a lot of great memories with phpBB.
I ran a couple forums with it, and found a couple themes I enjoyed. It, like so many others on the free market (and the premium market, for that matter), have an issue with options. I always used to feel so bothered when I would come across a dozen other phpBB forums that used the same theme as me (because there was only a handful of themes that were really good).
I used to love Invisionfree and Zetaboards. They were my gateway into learning basic code and I'm sad that they're no longer around, not because I'd use them, just for nostalgia's sake.
I think that the largest modding community is fond of phpbb and also you can customize your board with basic coding, and phpbb is also known to be home for most of the various linux distros official boards!
+1 for the open source community.
Ofcourse it is, everyone has an opinion. However as a SMF customization team member, I am trying to understand why you think it is bad. We are looking at the future and want to improve SMF. So getting information on what you specifically think is bad about it would help us improve for the future.
For example some people dislike SMF due to the back end.. It is dated. Eg not Object Oriented. We understand that and want to address that.
I am curious as to what your idea of a modern forum is? I hear this a bit, but have not been given a real answer. Can't make SMF "modern" if we don't know what people are considering "modern" these days. Some consider software like Flarum modern because of its new more "modern" layout and the way it works.
Others still consider IPB modern for x y z reasons.
If every feature is matched though how does that make one better than the other?
As someone who loved YaBB and YaBBSE, I really love that its legacy carries on with SMF, but it is a little bit of a time warp these days. Modernized, absolutely, but stuck in the past in many ways. I hope the development continues, I truly enjoy seeing it carry on, it's just not usually my first go-to anymore on the freeware side. Still a good shout for anyone looking for a competent forum option, though!
If you don't mind me asking, what are you feeling is stuck in the past about it specifically? We are looking at the future and wanting to improve
.It's hard to quantify, it's just out of the box it LOOKS like a forum for 2005, whether it's the fact that the nav/menu area feels cluttered, the date and time feels unnecessary at the top there (throw it in the footer, by all means, but where it is seems so odd), or the fact that lastpostinfo just feels like a mesh of text either by font choice or sizing or what have you. There are little bits and pieces all over that FEEL dated. I'm not conveying it properly, I know, but it's a lot of little minute details that add up, IMO. No forum software really NAILS it IMO, but if you put SMF side by side with YaBBSE, I'd have a hard time seeing the innovation. Unfair, I know, but there's a good deal of truth in it.If you don't mind me asking, what are you feeling is stuck in the past about it specifically? We are looking at the future and wanting to improve
