A Review of phpBB 3
January 15th, 2008With the release of phpBB 3 on Dec 2007, the phpBB forum system has finally received its first major upgrade in 5 years. Version 3 adds a vast array of improvements over version 2, including sub-forums, post moderation, attachments, caching, and many new or improved features. For those using phpBB 2 or another forum script, or wish to start a new forum, the question is, will phpBB 3 work for me? Certainly, every forum has specific needs and even the best forum script may not do everything you want it to do, but with this in-depth review of phpBB 3, perhaps a little more light may be shed upon how closely this forum system might meet your forum’s needs. We will look at phpBB 3 from the perspective of a forum owner and administrator. Of course, integral to the forum owner’s requirements is the user experience so strong consideration will be taken to the user’s point of view.
A review of any forum system should start with a definition of the purpose of a forum. Simply put, Internet forums are used to as a one-to-many interactive communication tool. One person posts a topic and many people read and reply to the post. Blog, by the way, are actually similar to forums with the primary difference being that a blog is focused on one poster, which is the blog owner while a forum is much more community oriented. We should also note that even older forum systems meet the basic requirement of a forum in the same way that an old car meets the requirement of getting a person from point A to point B. The difference with the old and new is largely a refinement in the journey, which we will see as we review phpBB 3.
phpBB 3 is a significant rewrite of phpBB 2. The developers focused not only on additional features, but also security, speed, and code extensibility. Therefore some of the changes may not be too apparent to the forum admin. The biggest additions of version 3 over version 2 are attachments, an improved permission system, post approval, additional post options such as saving drafts, improved private messaging system, attachments, sub-forums, a revised Administrator Control Panel (ACP), and a revised template system. Many of these features were available in phpBB 2 through modifications but it’s much better that they are integrated into the core system. In addition, some things such as increased speed through caching and better security through cleaner input handling will remain an advantage of phpBB 3.
From the administrator and moderator’s perspective, the additional moderation tools are a worthwhile upgrade. With version 3, administrators can choose to review posts before they are visible, reducing the amount of post spam and potentially heading off problematic posts. Additional moderation tools include user suspension, topic merging, and a warning system, and post flagging. One major overhaul of phpBB 3 over 2 is a more granular permission system, allowing administrators to set permissions over various usage parameters based on groups. The system is powerful enough to set permissions down to individual users. Overall, phpBB 3 has addressed many of the moderation shortcomings of phpBB 2.
phpBB 3 also has several additional anti-spam measures, including an improved CAPTCHA, display of forum rules, as well as all the previously mentioned moderation tools. Most likely, the new CAPTCHA will be vulnerable to spam bots, so at best this is a temporary solution. We should note that none of the competing forum systems have really solved CAPTCHA either.
Of course, for many forum owners, the most important aspect of the forum software is what it can provide to users. For anyone who has used phpBB 2, version 3 will not feel very different. The look of the forum is changed, but functionally, it remains very similar. Some of the most visible changes include sub-forums, right hand user information panel, topic searches, more topic and post sorting options, and a modular control panel layout for the user’s settings page. While every forum system is different, phpBB 3’s user interface does lack a few “standard” features. First, it does not have topic titles on the index as most forum scripts have incorporated. It also does not have quick reply and phpBB 3 is not as dynamic (read AJAX) as many of the modern competitive packages such as vBulletin and Invision Power Board.
Functionally, phpBB 3 now has new features such as attachments, friends and foes, member birthdays, cust0m profile fields, and more options for private messaging. Most of these features are set to enhance the community aspects of the forum, yet phpBB 3 remains strictly a forum application and is not suitable for social networking. Other competitors such as vBulletin and Invision have moved to add greater social networking features, such as profile comments, blogs, and photo albums into their products.
Of course, one of the biggest draws of phpBB is the mod community. Due to the popularity of phpBB 2, many modders have started or continued work on the shiny new version 3. phpBB 3 has a rudimentary plug-in system, but many mods will still need to be done by hand. With such a large mod community, forum administrators can find a mod to add almost all of the missing features listed above.
So the question is, who should use phpBB 3? That’s of course a personal matter, but we can give some advice. For people on phpBB 2, version 3 offers enough compelling features to warrant an upgrade. People who have heavily modded phpBB 2 boards will want to look at the features offered in 3 and decide accordingly. Remember that phpBB 3 is more secure than 2 in some aspects so that is also worth a consideration. People who are using a commercial system such as vBulletin or IPB would probably be better off sticking with the current system. For people who are starting a new forum, phpBB 3 is a good candidate for a forum package. The commercial products all have a converter from phpBB 3 to their system, so transfer to another system is possible for people who decide they need features not found in phpBB 3 in the future. Overall, despite some shortcomings, phpBB 3 is a worthy successor for the phpBB line and is a new starting point for what will hopefully be a continually improving forum package.