| General | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version |
1.0β
|
2.4
|
5.2.9a
|
4.1.5
|
| Release Date |
2010 June 16
|
2008-08-18 (17 years ago)
|
2008-10-13 (17 years ago)
|
2011-07-27 (14 years ago)
|
| Last Update here |
2010-06-21 (15 years ago)
|
2009-09-02 (16 years ago)
|
2008-10-16 (17 years ago)
|
2011-08-26 (14 years ago)
|
| Author |
OnlineGroups.Net
|
miniBB Team
|
Phorum Dev Team
|
vBulletin Solutions
|
| URL | ||||
| Free and Open Source |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
| License |
GPL
|
GPL
|
The Phorum License (BSD)
|
commercial / visible source
|
| License cost |
$0
|
Free
|
0
|
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
|
| Main View | ||||
| Thread-Type |
Flat
|
Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
| Setup | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Installation method |
manual
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
| Upgrade method |
manual
|
manual
|
wizard
|
wizard with manual interactions
|
| Hosting available |
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
| Technology | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Programming Language |
Python & Zope
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
| UTF-8 Support |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Data Storage |
1
PostgreSQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
2
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
| Other Storage |
Zope Object Database
|
|||
| Source Code Repo | ||||
| Issue Tracker | ||||
| Posts | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| BBCode |
No
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| HTML |
No
|
Optional
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Emoticons |
No
|
Plugin
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Formatting Toolbar |
No
|
Plugin
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| WYSIWYG Editor |
No
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Quoting |
None
|
Single
|
Nested
|
Nested
|
| Syntax Highlighting |
No
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Attachments |
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
| Tags |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Mark as solved | ||||
| Forums | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Categories |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Subforums |
No
|
one level
|
multiple levels
|
unlimited
|
| Last Post |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Redirect Forums |
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Trashcan Forum |
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Anti-Spam and Security | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| CAPTCHA |
No
|
Plugin
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Groups |
Multiple groups
|
No
|
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
| Flood Control |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| ACLs |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Blacklist |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Warnings |
No
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Suspension |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Bans |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| IP-Block |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Audit Logging |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| User Reports |
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Other |
Spam Assasin is used for email spam control.
|
Aksimet Plugin
|
Akismet
|
|
| Notification | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| RSS/ATOM |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
| Instant Messaging |
Integrated Chat
|
0
|
0
|
|
| Bookmarks |
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Community | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Avatars |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| User Ranks |
No
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Rating/Karma System |
No
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Signatures |
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Users Online List |
No
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Private Messaging |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Custom profile fields |
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Moderation | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Moderators |
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
| Move Threads |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Split Threads |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Close Threads |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Shadow Topics |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Sticky Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Important Threads |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Search | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Full-text search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Author search |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Advanced search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Unread Topics |
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
|
| Customization | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Languages |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Mobile View |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Templates |
global
|
global and forum specific
|
global and forum specific
|
|
| Custom BBCodes |
Unknown
|
Patch
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Skin-Editor |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Smiley Packs |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Plugins |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Special Features | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Statistics |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Polls |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Calendar |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Friendly URLs |
Unknown
|
Optional
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Data Management | GroupServer | miniBB | Phorum | vBulletin |
| Available Importers | ||||
| Pruning |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Archiving |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Export Formats |
XML, mbox
|
Users' logins/emails can be exported in CSV or TXT
|
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
|
|
| Export private messages |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Lo-Fi View |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| remove GroupServer | remove miniBB | remove Phorum | remove vBulletin |