| General | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version |
2.0
|
1.0β
|
5.2.9a
|
4.1.5
|
| Release Date |
2004-08-01 (21 years ago)
|
2010 June 16
|
2008-10-13 (17 years ago)
|
2011-07-27 (14 years ago)
|
| Last Update here |
2008-01-21 (18 years ago)
|
2010-06-21 (15 years ago)
|
2008-10-16 (17 years ago)
|
2011-08-26 (14 years ago)
|
| Author |
Battleaxe Software
|
OnlineGroups.Net
|
Phorum Dev Team
|
vBulletin Solutions
|
| URL | ||||
| Free and Open Source |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
| License |
Free
|
GPL
|
The Phorum License (BSD)
|
commercial / visible source
|
| License cost |
Free
|
$0
|
0
|
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
|
| Main View | ||||
| Thread-Type |
Threaded or Flat
|
Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
| Setup | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Installation method |
manual
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
|
| Upgrade method |
manual
|
wizard
|
wizard with manual interactions
|
|
| Hosting available |
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
| Technology | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Programming Language |
ASP
|
Python & Zope
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
| UTF-8 Support |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Data Storage |
2
Microsoft SQL Database, MySQL Database |
1
PostgreSQL Database |
2
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
| Other Storage |
MS Access
|
Zope Object Database
|
||
| Source Code Repo | ||||
| Issue Tracker | ||||
| Posts | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| BBCode |
Yes
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| HTML |
Yes
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Emoticons |
Yes
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Formatting Toolbar |
Yes
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| WYSIWYG Editor |
No
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Quoting |
Nested
|
None
|
Nested
|
Nested
|
| Syntax Highlighting |
No
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Attachments |
No
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
| Tags |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Mark as solved | ||||
| Forums | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Categories |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Subforums |
No
|
No
|
multiple levels
|
unlimited
|
| Last Post |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Redirect Forums |
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Trashcan Forum |
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Anti-Spam and Security | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| CAPTCHA |
No
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Groups |
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
| Flood Control |
Patch
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| ACLs |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Blacklist |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Warnings |
No
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Suspension |
No
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Bans |
Patch
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| IP-Block |
Patch
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Audit Logging |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| User Reports |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Other |
Spam Assasin is used for email spam control.
|
Aksimet Plugin
|
Akismet
|
|
| Notification | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| RSS/ATOM |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
| Instant Messaging |
None
|
Integrated Chat
|
0
|
|
| Bookmarks |
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Community | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Avatars |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| User Ranks |
Yes
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Rating/Karma System |
No
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Signatures |
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Users Online List |
Yes
|
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Private Messaging |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Custom profile fields |
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Moderation | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Moderators |
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
| Move Threads |
No
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Split Threads |
No
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Close Threads |
Yes
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Shadow Topics |
No
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Sticky Threads |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Important Threads |
No
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Search | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Full-text search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Author search |
Yes
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Advanced search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Unread Topics |
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
||
| Customization | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Languages |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Mobile View |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Templates |
CSS only
|
global and forum specific
|
global and forum specific
|
|
| Custom BBCodes |
No
|
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Skin-Editor |
No
|
Unknown
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Smiley Packs |
No
|
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Plugins |
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Special Features | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Statistics |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Polls |
Yes
|
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Calendar |
No
|
Unknown
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Friendly URLs |
No
|
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Data Management | bttlxeForum | GroupServer | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Available Importers | ||||
| Pruning |
Yes
|
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Archiving |
No
|
Unknown
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Export Formats |
None
|
XML, mbox
|
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
|
|
| Export private messages |
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Lo-Fi View |
No
|
Unknown
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| remove bttlxeForum | remove GroupServer | remove Phorum | remove vBulletin |