Where to find a cool message board?

Trying to find a bbs/message board system for a corpoate intranet

• I am looking for a stable/viable company which provides bbs/message board systems. We need to add such a system to a corporate intranet we are supporting. Prefer softare that we can integrate but will entertain hosted solutions.

• Answer:

  Hello again Cal, Not having MYSQL installed, or using some other type of database narrows this list down quite a bit. You can't use any of the ones I listed above, as they all utilize some sort of database for storage. I also assume your web technician would prefer to use Perl, and I will stick to that assumption for now ;-) You are probably going to have to use a system with text file storage, or one that comes with it's own built in database support. You can also host your forum with some of the ones I listed above. With that said, here are some that utilize Perl, without an external database requirement. When appropriate, I will list a 'Why' with the listing : Company : Aborior URL : http://www.aborior.com/encore/index.shtml Why : Best choice. Comes with it's own binary file database. (Simplex) Demo : http://www.aborior.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Forum&report=TopicIndex Price : $150.00 (Lite version is free) DB : Simplex Front : Perl Type : Independent Installation Company : ArtScore (CuteCast) URL : http://www.artscore.net/cutecast/ Demo : http://www.artscore.net/cgi-bin/cutecast/cutecast.pl Price : FREE or $85 to remove links back to CuteCast website DB : Text File Storage Front : Perl Type : Independent Installation/Professional Install/Hosted Company : InfoPop (UBB Classic) URL : http://www.infopop.com/products/ubbclassic/ Why : Very reliable, stable company. Experience. Demo : http://www.ubbcentral.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi Price : $199 - $699 depending on length of registration DB : Text File Storage Front : Perl Type : Independent Installation/Hosted Solutions Company : XMLboard URL : http://xmlboard.hypermart.net/ Why : Data stored in xml formatted files can be used elsewhere. Demo : http://xmlboard.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/xmlboardsolo.cgi?board=test Price : FREE (GPL) DB : Data stored in XML format. Great for external use. Front : Perl Type : Independent Installation Company : DCScripts (DC Forum) URL : http://www.dcscripts.com/dcforum.shtml Demo : http://www.dcscripts.com/cgi-bin/demoboard/dcboard.cgi Price : $99 Commercial DB : Text File Storage Front : Perl Type : Independent Installation The five above are probably the best you are going to find with regards to independent installations, that do not utilize a database. The best option for a hosted solution is probably Invision. They do use a database : Company : Invision Power Services URL : http://www.ipshosting.com/?forumhosting Demo : http://www.dcscripts.com/cgi-bin/demoboard/dcboard.cgi Price : $10 - $75 month depending on forum requirements DB : MySQL Front : Php Type : Remotely Hosted You can view more remotely hosted options at the following link. The only reason I didn't break most of these down like the listings above is because you seemed pleased with the direction we were heading. Many of the remotely hosted solutions place banners on your forum, or seem to lack a support department. More Remotely Hosted Solutions http://www.hotscripts.com/Remotely_Hosted/Discussion_Boards/index.html http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/hostsites.htm#cheapbbs http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/hostsites.htm#highpublic If your web technician can offer insight about your PHP installation, I can probably find a couple of PHP scripts that do not require a database. I wish the resources could have been more in number, but I think you will find the ones I listed are some of the best meeting your requirements. Search Strategy Used : I didn't need any search strategy in answering this question. I have made great use of many of the BBS/Message Board systems I have listed. Please feel free to ask me for clarification should you find out more of your capabilities, or decide you don't like any of the options I listed. I would love to be as much help as I possibly can. Thanks for the great question! SgtCory P.S. If you are in tune with an older Web BBS style, you can take a look at WebScripts WebBBS : http://awsd.com/scripts/webbbs/ I have used these scripts in the past, and they work great. The only thing to be concerned about is the current lack of updates. It uses text files for storage, and has a rather large section in their forum for hacks and modifcations.