Help me choose some discussion forum software.
 

I'm putting together a website. (Actually, I have someone putting it together for me, but I'm contributing as I can with regard to design.) It's not about poker; it's more of a non-commercial, community education site. It will be a small site, without a lot of traffic at first, but there is some possibility of significant expansion in the future. I won't bore you with details which would fit better on the politics forum. A part of the site will probably be a discussion forum. There are lots of discussion forum software options out there.

Many are free, others cost something. In any event, it's a lot to research. So my question to you guys is: Do you have an opinion on the best discussion forum software out there? (Of course we all know UBB.threads is the best, but it may or may not be right for me. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]) Your reasoning may be based on nothing but your preference as a user, or might touch on advantages for the web designer, or what have you. Just hit me with your thoughts. Two possibilities have caught my attention so far. They are phpBB and AZbb -- each for different reasons. They are both free, but I'm not opposed to paying something.

I may opt to use a blog feature instead, but if I do I'm leaning strongly toward WordPress, as used here, for example. Thoughts on that are welcome too.

I figured the 2+2 users were the go-to guys for this.
Thanks for any input!

Re: Help me choose some discussion forum software.
 

I like phpBB, it's a pretty good piece of software, and if you know php you can customize it to the bone. If you're going with a commercial solution, I like Fuse Talk.

Re: Help me choose some discussion forum software.
 

[ QUOTE ]
I like phpBB, it's a pretty good piece of software, and if you know php you can customize it to the bone. If you're going with a commercial solution, I like Fuse Talk.

[/ QUOTE ]

Def phpBB is a great place to start, easy to customize, easy to install, lots of free support, kept up to date. Just use it, you should be happy with it.

Re: Help me choose some discussion forum software.
 

Thanks. Yeah, after examination of a number of other options I'm leaning toward phpBB -- well, or maybe PunBB. The people at WordPress have also developed a nice, fast, no frills package called bbpress, but I think it's still pretty early in development. (Still alpha I believe.) I must say, though, that I'd prefer an emphasis on clarity, efficiency, and a simple, sort of dignified look over bells and whistles. (e.g., I like the look they've given to UBB.threads at the Longbets site.)

On the other hand, I may just use a blog instead. I have some more thinking and research to do.

Re: Help me choose some discussion forum software.
 

phpBB. I recently got a dedicted box and was able to set up phpbb in like 15 seconds and start customizing it.

Freakin