This question is now live: What forum software should I use?
As per this answer, here is a new catch all for people looking for a forum script:
Question:
I have a list of features that I want for my website's forum script - where can I find a [free] script that includes all of them?
Answer:
The Webmasters FAQ outlines the nature of acceptable questions for this site: researching available solutions and providing anecdotal advice falls outside the purpose of this StackExchange site, so this type of question would be better-suited to chat or another discussion forum.
That being said, there are a variety of free and open source content management systems, as well as licensed software and paid services, which may meet your requirements.
Some of the most popular forum scripts include:
- PHPBB (php, free and open source)
- Pros: been around for a long time, so there are lots of documentation and mods for it. Has lots of features.
- Cons: Installing mods is not easy
- Fluxbb (php, free and open source)
- Pros: very lightweight and simple
- Cons: hard to install mods, not a lot of features.
All of the forum software listed above are built around the concept of mods (plugins) which extend the application's functionality - there are many mods, with new mods authored every day.
Sites like forum-software.org can help you compare different forum software, and have forum comparison tools and in-depth reviews.
If you have researched different forum software and available mods but cannot find anything that will meet your needs, you should consult a developer who can build something to your specifications either as a mod for an existing forum script or as a stand-alone application.
NOTE: This is adapted from this question: Which Content Management System (CMS)/Wiki should I use?
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