MyBB Community Forums

The reality is that forums are less and less used since social networks are much more simple and dynamic. I think that if it has a future but for very specialized things not for popular topics, I think that social networks are going to eat it. especially facebook with their groups.

I write it again, a social network is very different from a forum.

In social network can communicate easily with many users, practically the conversations are fluid and easier but they have a big problem.

For example: if a user shares a photo, with the passage of time, it is much more difficult to see the comment of that photo and its publication characteristics, you must search for them in the group and file management is somewhat complicated.

That is fine for a group of friends, who want to share their photos, families and personal thoughts, but what if you need to better manage the information? with a forum communication and development of groups in something specific is much easier!

- Like Attachment File
- Search System
- Easy can performance the Forums and content
- Easier to interact on the discussion of a video and share it
- Can performance the forum in categories and private forums
- Can ratting forums
- The forums can be private or public

The information in a forum is easier to manage.

Enemies of the correct functioning of the forum:

- Spam
- Trolls
- Leechers
- ...etc

a forum system is very different from a social network

(2020-05-30, 07:03 PM)DiegoD Wrote: [ -> ]The reality is that forums are less and less used since social networks are much more simple and dynamic. I think that if it has a future but for very specialized things not for popular topics, I think that social networks are going to eat it. especially facebook with their groups.

Social media, particularly Facebook has been around for a long time and forums still exist. Like Diego has pointed out, forums are very different to social media and will always be around.

I agree. Forums seem to be a little more specific nowadays than they used to be. I run a general discussion forum (creative arts to be specific), which is a very saturated market and is generally pretty hard to succeed in nowdays. I can attest to just how hard it is to succeed in a generalized niche. It's definitely doable, but it's not as easy as it used to be.

There will always be a need for forums covering indivudual niches. Whether it's a support forum for a product, or a forum on one particular topic or another, they will always be able to accomplish something that social media can't. I very strongly believe that forums have only really gone to the wayside in the general discussion community. For more specific topics and niches, they are still thriving, and probably will for many years to come.

Does MyBB have a future? Well, let's start with the present. A Google search for "Powered by MyBB" comes up with about 4.3 million results. That seems to indicate a pretty solid installation base.

Some of its competitors seem to be doing better judging by this metric, but doesn't the saying go that comparisons are odious? Anyhow, here's that odiousness:

• "Powered by SMF": About 3.49 million results.
  
• "Powered by XenForo": About 15.5 million results.
  
• "Powered by phpBB": About 46.3 million results.
  
• "Powered by vBulletin": About 124 million results.
  

Of course, big caveats apply: we don't know how many of those forums have been abandoned, nor how those figures have changed over time, nor how many of those forums' owners plan to stick with the forum software they're running, nor how many forums are being planned and which forum software they are planned to run on - but this is just a basic attempt to introduce some sort of quantification into the discussion, however inadequately.

What's strange I get different numbers on my end for the same searches.

I guess that's due to Google's search personalisation. Are they very different numbers?

There's always going to be a place for free software like MyBB and phpBB for retail consumers who would like to start and run their own (cheap) forums.

However, social, lifestyle, and general conversations will flow to platforms that have considerably stronger benefits. MyBB is a legacy of the forum world from ten years ago, and while there will always be a need for those forums, that world is shrinking.

The question for MyBB administrators is: how do you build value where Facebook, Slack, Amino Apps, MeWe, and premium community software can't?

(2020-06-02, 10:30 AM)Laird Wrote: [ -> ]Does MyBB have a future? Well, let's start with the present. A Google search for "Powered by MyBB" comes up with about 4.3 million results. That seems to indicate a pretty solid installation base.

Some of its competitors seem to be doing better judging by this metric, but doesn't the saying go that comparisons are odious? Anyhow, here's that odiousness:

• "Powered by SMF": About 3.49 million results.
  
• "Powered by XenForo": About 15.5 million results.
  
• "Powered by phpBB": About 46.3 million results.
  
• "Powered by vBulletin": About 124 million results.
  

Of course, big caveats apply: we don't know how many of those forums have been abandoned, nor how those figures have changed over time, nor how many of those forums' owners plan to stick with the forum software they're running, nor how many forums are being planned and which forum software they are planned to run on - but this is just a basic attempt to introduce some sort of quantification into the discussion, however inadequately.

Does MyBB forum software have a future, most likely YES. MyBB is a great forum software to start out a new website.

One can learn a lot from the different sections of the AdminCP which you can modify your website to fit your agenda.

However, does MyBB have a future in highly advanced and robust user interaction type of website?
NO, unfortunately, MyBB is not designed to be such a thing unless you are willing to devote a TON of time and money to revamp literally the whole code of MyBB. There are less than a handful of websites that have literally taken this route and have done well with it.

One of the major drawbacks (in my opinion) is that MyBB is not conducive to hosting a heavy media based website.
When I say 'media', I'm saying all things visual... photos, graphics, videos, animation, and so on. 

This not even counting all of the MyBB extensions and/or custom extensions to make their website function the way they want it. 

I switched over to Xenforo, not because I hated MyBB, because the future direction of my website required an entirely different forum software and I tested all of the major ones, including vBulletin, InvisionPB, and NodeBB.

I chose Xenforo mainly because Xenforo has functions and features that can be easily implemented into the new direction of my website.

I have hired one of the top-notch website developers who is very knowledgeable of all things Xenforo and he runs his website using Xenforo and produces themes for Xenforo, phpBB, and vBulletin. That means he is an expert in many facets of coding and has produced a few customized add-ons for my website.

Having said all of that, MyBB forum software is GREAT for beginning admins, but not so great for large interactive website. 

Bottom line... MyBB forum software does have a great future AS LONG AS THE DEVELOPERS KEEP ON IMPROVING MyBB. 

Just my 2 cents...

Serpius

Below is a peek preview of what my website landing page will look like. It's NOT the final live version, there is more work that needs to be done.
It is hoped that the newly revamped website will become live around mid-July 2020.

The responsiveness is the only major thing that's really holding it back. Outside of that, little things do add up, but those are not difficult to fix. The authorization code breaking themes is an example of that, among various other things.

MyBB doesn't need a complete rewrite. It wouldn't be MyBB if they did. It's simple things that are holding it back. Not the entire essense of what it is.

MyBB is still the most advanced free software in existence. SMF has some very powerful plugins, but they are difficult to install and SMF itself is stagnant. I haven't really seen many communities that are started today using it. MyBB is still #2, behind phpBB, in terms of popularity for forums that are starting up today. It's still FAR more advanced than alternative free solutions, and it's namely alerts and responsiveness that are holding it back. It doesn't need a rewrite.

Xenforo, IPB, and so forth will always outdo MyBB. They are paid solutions, so that is pretty much to be expected. But phpBB doesn't even have a reputation system built in, and there are no official plugins in the phpbb.com repository that even offer it (at least as of a year ago or so). There is a bit of a divide between free and paid softwares, but that's okay. Xenforo isn't too expensive for someone who needs the functionality of paid software.

Honestly, I don't believe MyBB needs to be rewritten. It wouldn't be MyBB anymore if they did.