Forum Software Debate

Discussions center on preferences for traditional forum software like phpBB and vBulletin versus modern alternatives like Discourse, with comparisons to Reddit, Discord, and debates on the decline and potential revival of forums.

📉 Falling 0.3x Web Development
4,538
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#3901
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

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Keywords

outverse.com PHP PHPBB US II JS thehomebrewforum.co discourse.org codidact.com palmsdevelopment.com forums forum discourse discord old reddit php mailing list communities threads

Sample Comments

rcarmo Feb 12, 2022 View on HN

Check out Discourse, which is a proper, modern forum and a way better experience.

amadeuspagel Jun 17, 2022 View on HN

Why the past tense? Forums - like this one - still exist. And it's easier then ever to make a moderated forum (a subreddit, a discord server, a facebook group).

rg111 Feb 6, 2022 View on HN

> Give me some forum insteadThat's exactly why Discourse [0] exists. Try it.[0]: https://discourse.org

dorianm Nov 19, 2018 View on HN

I'm surprised they don't use Discourse for the forums

kovalevski May 17, 2022 View on HN

something like Discourse (old good forums?)

solardev Dec 13, 2023 View on HN

Why not just a forum? Discourse, etc.?

Already__Taken Nov 20, 2013 View on HN

why not reddit? Topical threaded conversation like miles better then the classic forums, they can't die fast enough.

tester756 Mar 8, 2023 View on HN

Discourse doesn't feel like old, real forums.phpBB has nicer layout

solardev Jul 13, 2024 View on HN

What about just an old fashioned forum? Discourse (not Discord) is still around and is great for threading.

KronisLV Apr 27, 2023 View on HN

> Please just use a forum. Discourse seems to be the good/popular one.Honestly it's a shame that forums aren't a big thing anymore.I especially loved the look and feel of systems like phpBB or SMF forum software. Just really nice readability and usability, good organization of everything and pretty limited hardware requirements. I'd argue that even better in some ways than Discourse, despite its more modern look.The only problem was that due to how they were deplo