phpBB vs. XMB vs. SMF vs. Phorum vs. FUDforum

General phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Version
3.0.8
1.9.11
2.0.6
5.2.9a
3.0.9
Release Date
2010-11-19 (13 years ago)
Febuary 28, 2009
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2008-10-12 (15 years ago)
2018-05-17 (5 years ago)
Last Update here
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2012-03-02 (12 years ago)
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2008-10-16 (15 years ago)
2018-11-01 (5 years ago)
Author
The phpBB Group
The XMB Group
Simple Machines
Phorum Dev Team
The FUDForum development team and user community.
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
License
General Public License
General Public License
BSD
The Phorum License (BSD)
GNU General Public License
License cost
0.00
0.00
0
0
Free
Main View
Classic forum list
Thread-Type
Flat
Flat
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Threaded or Flat
Setup phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Hosting available
No
No
No
No
Yes
Technology phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Programming Language
PHP
php
PHP
PHP
PHP
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
6
Firebird Database, Microsoft SQL Database, MySQL Database, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
1
MySQL Database
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
2
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database
7
DB2 Database, Firebird Database, Microsoft SQL Database, MySQL Database, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
HTML
No
Optional
Yes
Optional
Yes
Emoticons
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Formatting Toolbar
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
WYSIWYG Editor
No
No
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Syntax Highlighting
Yes
No
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
No
Forums phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
one level
unlimited
multiple levels
unlimited
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Trashcan Forum
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Anti-Spam and Security phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
CAPTCHA
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Flood Control
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ACLs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Blacklist
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Warnings
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Suspension
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
User Reports
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Plugin-based CAPTCHA system, Newly Registered Users permissions
An Akismet mod is available
Aksimet Plugin
Several others like SpamBot detection, prevent new users from posting links, etc.
Notification phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Jabber
0
Yes - via ICQ, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Jabber, Google Chat or Skype.
Bookmarks
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Community phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Rating/Karma System
Patch
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom profile fields
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Moderation phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Moderators
global and forums
global and forums
global, forums and threads
global and forums
global and forums
Move Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Split Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Close Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shadow Topics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Search phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Full-text search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Author search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Advanced search
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unread Topics
Database tracked
Session tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Customization phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Languages
0
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Yes
Templates
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global
Custom BBCodes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Plugin
Plugin
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Smiley Packs
Yes
Optional
Yes
Plugin
Patch
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Polls
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Calendar
No
Plugin
Yes
No
Yes
Friendly URLs
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Data Management phpBB XMB SMF Phorum FUDforum
Available Importers
Pruning
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Archiving
No
No
Plugin
No
Optional
Export Formats
SQL Dumps in .sql, sql.gz, and .sql.bz2
WAP(2), IMode
PDF (Adobe), ATOM, RSS, RDF, HTML
Export private messages
Yes
No
Plugin
No
Yes
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Optional
remove phpBB remove XMB remove SMF remove Phorum remove FUDforum