What do you think about SMF

[TwitchisMental]

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.

Atleast you are willing to go into detail haha.

It does sound like more of a default theme issue(Which I agree with).

I do have to ask about this though -

or the fact that lastpostinfo just feels like a mesh of text either by font choice or sizing or what have you.

I find this one surprising seeing as even Xenforo has the last post section in a very similar display. SMF uses the same font (Segoe UI). Has the same information, but different order, and about the same padding. phpBB is similar aswell.

Is it simply the order of the information being displayed that you do not like?

I appreciate the feedback .

 

[PGen98]

Atleast you are willing to go into detail haha.

It does sound like more of a default theme issue(Which I agree with).

Yeah, a cleaned up default theme would go a long way! What you've done w/ Raven on GexForums is a great example of where it could go with a little work.

I do have to ask about this though -

I find this one surprising seeing as even Xenforo has the last post section in a very similar display. SMF uses the same font (Segoe UI). Has the same information, but different order, and about the same padding. phpBB is similar aswell.

Is it simply the order of the information being displayed that you do not like?

I appreciate the feedback .

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of it on phpBB or XF. Invision and Woltlab look marginaly cleaner, but I think it's the cramming of information into the one space that makes it feel off. If it were me I'd remove the the "TIME by xxx" part of the lastpostinfo and add it in as an anchor or a tooltip sort of thing. Still there, but not in your face.

 

[TwitchisMental]

Yeah, a cleaned up default theme would go a long way! What you've done w/ Raven on GexForums is a great example of where it could go with a little work.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of it on phpBB or XF. Invision and Woltlab look marginaly cleaner, but I think it's the cramming of information into the one space that makes it feel off. If it were me I'd remove the the "TIME by xxx" part of the lastpostinfo and add it in as an anchor or a tooltip sort of thing. Still there, but not in your face.

Thank you again for the feedback.

 

[PGen98]

Thank you again for the feedback.

I'm not authority on design, but happy to help in any way I can! 25+ years of forum usage, I've gained a few opinions along the way

 

[JoelR]

Some things to add. IPS has pushed multiple forum views for several years now, along with WBB, such as fluid forum, grid view, and now forum feed. These views emphasize the content more than the containers. Something to consider to modernize some of your forum index views.

I will say that SMF is fast!

 

[TwitchisMental]

Some things to add. IPS has pushed multiple forum views for several years now, along with WBB, such as fluid forum, grid view, and now forum feed. These views emphasize the content more than the containers. Something to consider to modernize some of your forum index views.

I will say that SMF is fast!

Funny enough Diego(another customize team member) just made a theme with grid view and fluid XD .

https://smftricks.com/index.php?action=store;sa=view;id=51

 

[JoelR]

That's awesome!

 

[Senkusha]

I've used SMF since the very beginning! I began my entrance into forum administration using YaBB, then YaBBse. I was super excited when SMF came on the scene! It's pretty easy to customize and modding is super easy with the Package Manager. Speaking of mods, there are hundreds of them that are all available, most of them are free, although, you can pay for some of the more advanced mods. The theming capability is truly impressive, and although I haven't yet done this, you can actually use a different theme on each different board! I do plan on implementing this with some ideas I have down the road... I just haven't decided how I want the layout to work.

Whenever I detect an issue or bug, the response is usually very friendly (even if it's been said before in other threads), and the repair is usually pretty quick (like minutes or hours! The community is very active, and tends to be extremely friendly.

I like the current default theme, although, it probably could use a bit of "face paint". Maybe that's just because I'm used to it now, and it feels stale? It has a very linear layout, while some of the other forums I visit, have a different layout, even using more a "table" look. (Two boards in the same row, for example.)

Some things that I would probably add: I'd like to see the "multiple quote" feature I've seen on a few boards, where you can insert quote after quote after quote, before composing your message. Maybe calling this a "quote queue" would be a better term. There's a few mods that I use that add on pretty much any other features that I'm looking for. Maybe an idea for a mod would be a "friend network" -- where you could see a tree view of how your friends are connected to each other, like make this an enhanced "buddy list", like a degree level or something. That could just be eye candy though.

Since I haven't actually administered other forum software, I'm pretty limited on advancements I'd like to see. SMF is pretty competent as it is right now. Oh! Maybe (I'm not sure if this is a thing, I just thought of it), maybe a template editor. It has a skeleton structure so making custom themes is easier? Kind of like how there is a Package template/maker? Anyway, ignore this comment if this already exsists. LOL.